fragile toys in conspicuous places

[Miss C]

Her porcelain face reflected the harsh light flooding the area; yet tucked away into a secluded corner of the deserted playground the wide yellow circles were just out of reach, lowlighting the enamel and turning her skin a sickly shade. In the semi-dark, the structures reared from the earth and twisted into insidious cages; taking vile shapes that hid dark pre-school secrets in their plastic bellies.

It was nearing two in the morning, the sprinklers having gone on and off some time ago and the grass surrounding the boxed-in playground was damp and glittered like broken glass. The entire area was set on a small hill, slightly above the one-way street down which every half hour like clockwork a police car gently glided by. The area in which she sat was filled with damp sand that leaked in places from the warped wooden barriers.

Directly beyond the sandy expanse was a sidewalk with three benches for watchful parents to sit, and behind those were the bathrooms, decorated in years of graffiti. A small parking lot sat to the left, usually filled with one or two cars at night, but tonight no one was about. The swingset, like a giant legged insect, groaned and made piteous shrieks as one of its four seats swayed to and fro, propelled by the constant motion of her knees bending.

Forward, back, forward, back. Her wooden fingers gripped the chains as best they could, the harsh metal threatening to flake off her carefully painted skin. The swing was set far back into the corner, to allow brave children enough room to leap safetly into the sand, although more often they leapt into the patchy sod to test the strength of their bones.

Her eyes were closed, though beneath their lids they were a glassy whitish-blue, her mouth a carefully painted line with fine cracks extending from the corners. She had light pink hair, so light it tipped towards white, with long bangs that brushed where her eyebrows were applied in neat swoops and the rest braided in two thick ropes that fell over her chest. Her arms, as was the rest of her, were jointed with ball-and-sockets; the paint slightly chipped where they ground together. From her throat, nestled between the neckline of her dress, hung a length of string with a ring affixed to it, tempting fingers to pull and see what happens.

From her back sprouted a pair of makeshift wings; just simple lengths of wood with intricate stringwork forming the webbing and two joints, allowing her to bend them in as needed. A simmilarly-formed tail lay just inches above the ground, swaying with its own motion as she moved to and fro. She had no control over it, it seemed, since it was just segmented wood strung together. In fact, it seemed that all her limbs should have been vestigal; but by some medical miracle, she was granted movement.

And speaking of that dress, the one that seemed to be ripped from some antique doll, with a double-layered skirt and cap sleeves; grey with white checks all over, forming a sort of grid or tartan-esque pattern. Long black socks clung to her skinny legs, and where her knees jointed it formed an ugly-looking knob before vanishing into black leather shoes with light-colored wood for soles, a thin white ribbon spiraling up her calves and tied in sloppy bows holding them on.

Now this...girl, if you could call her that, sat slumped in her moving seat, noiseless and still as the dead, wrapped up in whatever thoughts an idle mind might carry. She had an eerie complexion, and looked as if some master puppeteer had been entertaining here during the day, but left in a rush without his toy.

[Darkduskk]

((Woo, long post. I hope you don't mind too much if mine's a bit shatty in comparison to yours. x3 Just tell me to shove it if you'd rather wait for someone else ))

How long had it been since he'd left the quarters? It must've been a few weeks now since his flesh and fur had tasted something relatively close to fresh air. Xeduu didn't consider the close air of the city to be fresh, but it was better than the claustrophobic spaces in the offices and underground.

The day was new to him. It had been nearly half a year since his last day off and the park seemed to be the best place to stretch his legs. Paperwork and new-meat was relatively kept out of the grassy area and the lack of concrete seemed incredibly inviting. Stepping onto the still moist grass, the outdoorsy smell of it was relaxing and the lack of noise was pleasant on the mind. On that note, Xeduu suddenly realized just how hard on the ears all that noise pollution was.

The earthy tones of the park were welcoming too, greens brows and distant shades of Indian red... No irritatingly colorful posters or paintings to bombard the eyes and stab the mind. Nothing man-made and loud the rape the ear drums and leave them sore and aching. This was what he'd been missing in his time caught up in work. Somewhere along the line he'd lost his connection with something from nature and the reunion was as sweet as any now. Even the soft buggish sounds of waking cicadas were a special treat.

He felt like a child again. Stepping through the grass, his pant legs picked up and remaining wetness; the worn black of his pants becoming deeper due to the water. Thinking back on his childhood, it all seemed so long ago. He'd become twenty-one when he was only thirteen. The swings were always his favorite parts in parks. Being able to leave the ground was an exhilarating feeling, leaving all your worries behind - even if only for a short time.

So there he went, to the swing set, only to find another there. A stranger who was obviously someone not of the 'normal' world. As he neared he eyed her toy-like features and cracked ...skin? was that skin cracking, or something else? He could hardly tell. He'd seen too much in his career to be overly bothered by her differences though.

Tearing his curious look from her, he spotted out a chain-held seat and claimed it. Sitting heavily and with a relaxed exhale, he closed his eyes. One hand reaching up and grasping the cold metal of the one chain while the other pulled a cigarette from the packet in his shirt pocket, placed it in his mouth, then searched for the lighter. To no avail, however, he gave up after a short time and made due with just the cancer stick and no smoke.

[Lord Sami]

(( Haha. I have finally gotten over my writer's block and have pulled my little Emotique out of my toy chest like I said I would x3 Whee! We have a three-some xP Now, isn't that a pleasant word? Sorry. Sam and Dani did this to me. Ya. Sorry in advance for this crap. ))

Partially hidden in the dark shadows, a white Lupe was perched on one of the taller plastic play sets. A fountain pen was held in between his fingers and the tip gracefully moved across the paper, staining it with perfectly formed cursive letters. They were the results of endless hours of practicing his penmanship with his father keeping an ever watchful eye over him of course.

His ears twitched as the pleasant night breeze tickled the white fur that was blemished only by a large splotch of black at the tips. Brilliant emerald eyes hidden behind a pair of black rimmed glasses were fixed on the white paper, slightly narrowed in concentration. Strands of raven-colored hair fell into his eyes every so often, causing him to blink and tuck them behind his ears, only to have them fall back moments later. There were dark rims under his eyes, the end result of a case of insomnia that plagued him for a few weeks now.

Nightmares would fill his mind once he fell into unconsciousness, memories of his former life, the life he had run away from, the one with the abusive father and alcoholic mother. This Lupe was a mute because of a wish that his father had made during a rather strong fit of rage. Now he was cursed to remain silent and that silence had only provoked his father’s anger even more. His eyesight was the second thing to go before he ran away, deciding that he would rather live on the streets than be a constant victim of violence. Without his glasses he was blind as a bat.

His fluffy tail swished behind him, sometimes curling up. The fabric of his black and white striped T-shirt was loose and billowed slightly in the gentle breeze. His worn blue jeans were slightly too small for him and ended well above his ankles. A pair of soft orange lace-less Converse protected his feet from any sharp objects that might litter the ground.

Suddenly he stopped writing, capped his pen and closed his writing pad. His shoulders went up as if he were sighing, but not sound came out. What a surprise. He then looked up and spotted two other people in the park. Well, one was actually a doll, but who really cared what he thought? Not exactly the talkative one, he remained seated where he was, ignoring the pain in his rear from the bars, and observed them.

[Miss C]

ooc: i am....so sorry for taking aeons to reply to this. =__=

ic:

The tiny hearing implants told her tired machinery that someone was sitting beside her, someone alive and warm. Tiny neurons firing in her brain were already sending messages to the pre-programed reactions proper for this type of encounter, though it took a minute or two for everything to settle into place and alert the motor-skills into moving, her body now moving in a finely choreographed shudder and sigh as she twitched into waking, head jerking slightly and fingers registering an object held firmly in her palms, though she couldn't identify what it was until she had seen it.

A raspy sigh like escaping steam issued from her voicebox, one eye flicking open and the other following it halfway, drooping down again before it was corrected and receded into her face. Both eyes now properly open her head turned to see the man on the swing, and where before there was silence a deep, slow breathing had started up. She was like a machine stirred from an idle sleep, waking and finding the world anew and different than from when she shut down.

Of course she could not speak, though if she had any reason to pull the string with the plastic loop nothing but static would come out, since nothing had been decided to say. So she sat, studying him with unblinking, glassy eyes, every so often ticking as her body prepared for movement.

[Darkduskk]

Allowing the cancer stick to cling to his semi-dry lips, he tongued the butt of it for that tar-like flavor. All too comforting it was and it's faint smell gave him a distant 'buzz'. Opening his eyes to stare at the tree leaves, he watched the wind play with the green and tangle the suspended tears of a willow tree not far off.

Panning over the scene, he caught sight of the females eyes on him. Slightly surprised, he only looked back, curiously, for a moment. Smiling soon though, he nodded a greet, " 'Ello."

Friednly tone. Rough and aged, aged much further than his body was, it was apparent that Xeduu was realitvely experienced with life. At least his life.

"Nice out, ain't it?" he said, not asked, for the srtring of words was made like a sentence, a statement, a fact. His opinion and her answer would make no difference to what he thought of this particular day.

[deadsketch]

ooc: Would it be too late for me to join? Feel free to kick me out, I'm fairly sure that my writing isn't nearly as good as all of yours. I'll just write my intro for now, and ignore it if you want. I sound so confident with my writing, hehe.

bic: A slim, red toned figure entered into the park, her head drooped as she stepped through the green grass. Her short, vivid red hair fell over empty brown eyes that watched as the grass passed by her with each step. Small pinkish ears sprouted from the top of her head, decorated with numerous piercings from her more rebellious phase as a teenager. Stripes went through all of her fur, though the majority of these patterns were hidden by her short -sleeved red shirt and orange vest, as well as baggy black pants that clung to her hips by a tattered belt.

Sure, she looked as though she was sleepwalking at the moment, though don't be mistaken. She can be very energetic, when not in these thoughtful, distant moods. Currently, as she encircled the park, she was thinking on her strange past, and plans for the future. Right now, she just wasn't pleased with her life.

Her head rose slightly as she continued her thought provoking stroll and heard some distant voices in an empty chat that humans seemed to use in order to break those 'awkward silences'. Suddenly, her eyes seemed to awake as the sun finally touched them through dismal clouds that fell over the park, and her hair unveiled her beautiful face, which had a frown about it for some unknown reason.

A random few people, none she knew. She though, glancing from the swings to one of the play sets. On certain days, she may try to be more social, but this bleak day seemed to have brought an equal amount of depression. Damn, she was wallowing in her brothers death, now. She hated it, feeling weak and helpless. She needed to stop that, it's in the past, right? After some more pacing, she finally came to a hault, sitting on yet another one of those plastic play sets. She needed some thinking time.