lightyears;

The man fighting to the left got a solid right hook into the jaw and went straight down. Apparently that was the less favored one since the crowd gave another uproar at the hit. Griffin waited till the voices died down again so he could talk at a moderately appropriate level. “That’s the question isn’t it?” He asked, grinning at her as he looked over for a second before looking back.

This fight wasn’t amusing to him in the slightest, but it did make him remember his first few fights after owning this whole procedure. That man was going to feel that for a week if not more. The fight was soon over and the clean up crew was out and about cleaning things right after. The crowd was chanting and he gave a small sigh. “I guess you’ll have to see for yourself. I hate to leave you but I have some business to do.” He looked over to one of his lackies that were hidden in the crowd and called him over with a wave of his hand. “She’s not to be touched in anyway or disturbed,” he said lowly. The man gave a nod and stood by her with his eyes towards the crowd. “Wherever you go he’ll go with you too, and don’t worry, he won’t hurt or touch you. Enjoy the show, Chey.”

With that he was off, melting into the crowd easily as he made his way to the back. There the locker rooms were mostly empty. The two fighters that were just on stage were there shaking it out. Pity the loser wasn’t knocked out, he thought to himself. He was already to go but there were still a few more minutes for him to spare before he would be called up. Off to the side he saw that arrogant kid who had been shit talking him earlier. The guy wore the same overly confident smile on his face but didn’t see Griffin. That was fine by him. He pulled out a cigarette and lit it, waiting to be called.

Soon enough the announcer came up and started to do the regular intro before the names were called- Cloak and Marrow. The other guy left first, still not seeing him, and went out with both arms raised. The people cheered and when Griffin walked on they went wild. The noise level startled the other man and when he turned around his eyes went wide. He stopped walking when he got to the ring still wearing the same thing he had been. Clean, straight, sharp clothes. The crowd began to chant, “Marrow! Marrow! Marrow!” It seemed like his snarky opponent knew that name, but it took a while for it to click. When it did the color of the man’s face lightened a bit as he swallowed.

#convo: griffin #convo: crossing lines

Cheyenne's eyes swept through the crowd when they got to the arena and was surprised to see all sorts of people there, far from what they expect. Some of them even looked like they all just got off from working all day in an office. All of them were different but they all wore the same wild look in their eyes, bellowing the same tune of the fight. Cheyenne didn't want to Griffin to leave her with someone else but she was going to hold on to his words; she would be safe. She really didn't think she would enjoy it but for some reason, she wanted to see how it would go all down.

"Be...I mean, good...Yeah." Before she could even finish what she wanted to say, Griffin was already off. Thankfully he was because she realized that 'be careful' and 'good luck' was a stupid thing to say to him. He did not need neither any reminder nor it didn't seem like he achieved things through luck. Cheyenne just moved her attention to the guy Griffin assigned to look after her. and smiled at him in attempt to be friendly. He didn't smiled back. He swallowed down the lump that was building up in her throat. "Chey is for Cheyenne. I mean, I'm Cheyenne. Ah, right. I'm just going to sit there." She thought he said his name but the crowd was too loud for her to hear what he said. The guy cleared out the area Cheyenne was heading, shooing some of the guys away to give her more space than she needed and then the guy sat between her and the rest of the crowd on that particular box.

For a second, she thought the people gave her a strange loo but they disregarded her as soon as the next round of fight was about start. Griffin was called out after his opponent was called up on the stage. With the way people howling for him, she knew they had seen him fight for more than few times probably. It was all too amusing for her and it surprised her. The next thing she knew, she was already murmuring his name. Well, the name they knew him for. "Marrow, marrow, marrow." She chanted under her breath while fist bumping with her knee as he quietly chant for him. She observed as regret flashed across Griffin's opponent's face. All of the sudden, she was not the person who didn't want to be there the most. Leaninf forward a bit, Cheyenne was already holding on to her seat and the fight has not even starting yet.

“I’m sure.” Eva nodded, sliding her arm under the other girl’s so she could pull her up. “Just tell me if it starts to hurt too much, okay? If that’s the case I’ll get the nurse and bring them to you instead.”

Eva was telling the truth though; she was extremely stubborn. Cheyenne suddenly felt absoluely pathetic which was not a new feeling to be honest. She used her good knee for support. "It's just a sprain, I guess." Even if it hurt, she didn't made any noise. Good thing, she couldn't see her expression. "I'm fine."

crossing lines - griffin&cheyenne

The laugh was unexpected but he found his smile grow a bit warmer from the sound. So the girl had a bit of humor in her after all. “I may be a complete asshole to everyone, but I don’t just go around slaughtering people the second I get annoyed. Relax, girlie, you won’t die near me or by me.”

The corners of his lips curled into a smirk as his eyes seem to dance with amusement. “Don’t you know the first rule of the fight club?” He asked in a warning tone though it was light and playful. “But yes, I do run something like that.” As she got up to walk around he watched her. “It’s split into two categories- Red or Black. Red is a normal match where whoever taps out first loses. Black is a death match where whoever dies first, well, they lose. As for the black market I sell drugs, alcohol, and serums. See those drawers over there?” He nodded towards the counters towards his right.

“Genetically modified to enhance different things. Strength, sight, hearing, defense.. The list goes on. Anyone can buy one and if they don’t have enough money then they sign a contract with me saying that if they win then they split their bets with me. Everyone pays a down payment before they can participate of course.” Griffin looked at his watch as he spoke and got up. “The first few fights are everyday things, but after that.. I’d say it’s not one for the weak hearted.” He walked past her and motioned for her to follow him out of the room and into the hallway. The noise grew louder as a big cheer echoed off of the walls. As he went down the stairs he went ahead to have the guard ease up so Cheyanne could pass. “Don’t get too close. The crowd get just as rowdy as the fighters do,” he said over the noise of the current fight that went on in front of them.

#para: crossing lines #para: griffin

"Right, I know. You do not talk about Fight Club. I know the second rule as well. And, yeah..." She made a motion as if she was zipping her mouth shut. "Not a word about it from me." She looked at the counter and shuddered as Griffin told her what he sells could do. "Yeah, not touching that too." As scary as everything she was just finding out now, she was pretty impressed with Griffin. Nobody was talking about it but running a business like this took a lot of wits, guts and well, power.

Crossing her arms, she had followed him out of the room and stayed closed to him. The noise coming from the fight, or that's what she thought at least and she was probably right, was becoming louder and so was her heart rate. "Uhm, well, that wouldn't be a problem. I can imagine what kind of audience you ahve here. Oh, well, I will probably get to see it." She let out a shaky breath to get rid of any jitters she had. "Well, what fight are you going to be in? Red or Black?"

“I’m stronger than I look, trust me.”

“I know. I’m just going to call...” She groaned as she realized that was not an option. “No, Jesse will panic and won’t let me out of his sight for weeks. Are you sure you can support me?”

“Cheyenne, I can feel how much weight you push against the ground. You’re tiny.”

“But you’re also tiny!”

“You’re hurt, I’m taking you to the infirmary. I’m more stubborn than I look, fighting with me is just a waste of time.”

"Then you'll hurt yourself. I-I'm heavy."

Eva sighed, giving her head a small shake. “Whatever you’re late for can wait, I’m taking you to the infirmary.” She countered, her tone unwavering.

carverhalliwell-deactivated2015

She shook her head. “Eva...no.”

#con #convo: eva #eva2

with all the ruckus with the reporters ending carver was finally able to sit outside and enjoy the sun, a beer and a few cigarettes. He was thinking about Eva, he liked her, he liked her a lot but couldn’t decide what to do about it, he was always shit with this kind of thing. He felt someone standing over him “Yeah”

"Uhm, no...I'm just...gonna sit...yeah." She pointed at the bench across where he was sitting and hurried over there. "I-I'm just going to wait for my food." It was the only place that has the view of the gate but quite far away from it, just in case reporters start to show up again. He looked at the guy apologetically and could almost sense the trouble from his face. "Uhm...e-everything alright?"

#convo: carver #carver1

crossing lines - griffin&cheyenne

As she kept quiet he waited patiently. Unlike that snobby piece of ass he knew that this girl wouldn’t set out of line like that. As she started to rattle off some words he couldn’t help but be amused. Maybe it was the fear he felt or maybe it was the way she worded things. Either or, he just knew that he was okay with her company.

When the questions came he sat back and thought them over for a while before he opened his mouth to speak. “Stupid? Maybe, but then again did you have much of a choice? If you said no back then and didn’t come then for all you knew I could’ve tracked you down and taken you here anyways,” he said calmly. “You don’t know who or what I am yet you came here. I’ll give you points for being brave enough at least. As for being ‘terrified’ of me.. Well, I can tell you now that I don’t find you annoying enough to want to kill you. So whether or not you’re scared of me is up to you. And concerning what I do.. I run a black market and an underground fighting ring.” That was said with a sharp closed lip smile. “I can warn you of what I can do, but that man that just came in gave me a reason to actually participate in my games tonight. You’re more than welcome to stay and watch, but if not then I can have someone escort you home safely.”

#para: griffin #para: crossing lines

A smile, wholeheartedly genuine, dashed through he face before it stretched into a small laugh. She found it funny how she was getting points for bravery when her nerves were shaking. "Well, that's a big relief. You not wanting to kill me, I mean. That makes it slightly comfortable. Yes." She said with a force casualness on it as she attempted not to ramble like an idiot. If she based it on first impression, Cheyenne thought that he would be that kind of guy that would easily be pissed with her and frankly, she wouldn't risk having that impression surface to life.

Out of intense curiosity, she raised her brow instatntly upon hearing what he was running for a job. "Underground fighting ring? Like fight Club or something?" She didn't know what 'black market' entailed but she guessed she would find out. For someone who was extremely curious, Cheyenne was definitely patient. That or she was actually terrified to know. Feeling her muscles stiffed from all of the tension from earlier, she slowly got up from her seat and started to paced around, slowly and calculating, just to release teh tension from her body. "I...well, I can watch right? I think I wanna see it." Truth to be told, she was not pleased to see people fight for sport or something like that but she was definitely not going to walk home by some stranger.

Eva’s lips fell into a frown when a sudden vibration shot through her from the ground beneath her feet. It only took the girl a few moments to locate Cheyenne and she quickly crouched next to the girl. “I can’t see if anything’s broken or badly hurt, but you’re not getting up so ‘m gonna take that as a bad sign. Do you need the nurse?”

"N-no." She said as she pushed herself to go on a sitting position, inhaling sharply the pain off through her teeth making hissy noises. "I'm late."

arabellavanburen

“That’s true. Like people who can control metal.”

"Maybe. But they are real badass though."

#convo: lorna #lorna2

crossing lines - griffin&cheyenne

He kept his expression neutral as he listened, giving slight nods as she rattled on with observations. Warm, warm, warmer. The smoke drifted around him lazily as he breathed in and out slowly, relaxed. The nicotine made him calm- not that he wasn’t beforehand. “Correct,” he said plainly, giving a ghost of a smile before the cigar was back on his lips. At the question and the look on her face, Griffin grinned mentally.

Time was ticking and speaking of time.. His eyes slicked over towards the door as he felt another pair of bones approach. Without taking his eyes off of the doorway he took the cigar out form his mouth and pressed his finger to his lips again in a shushing gesture. A man walked in a few seconds later dressed similar to how he did.. Short and stocky with cropped hair- an obvious fighter with the way he moved and postured himself. Young, cocky, energetic, and a fool in his eyes but he didn’t do anything to show what he thought.

“In the flesh and blood of every life,” Griffin said in a monotone drone, raising his cigar to his lips as he waited for an answer.

“Til death do us apart,” the man said with a grin.

Griffin gave a nod as he took a long drag to fill his lungs with smoke. “Red or black?”

There was an inner eye roll to the man that portrayed the man’s answer and attitude. “Uh, red,” he man said sarcastically.

His expression still didn’t change but he bet his money on this man’s opponent mentally. “Fix up or no?” He asked, still in the same tone as before with no emotion on his face.

There was a laugh. An actual laugh as the guy shook his head. “You kidding me man? Nah, don’t need that shit.”

A smile came to his lips though it was tense. Disrespect on all levels came from this guy but he still didn’t say anything. Not that he needed to since the man left with that idiotic swagger to his step. Finally the room was peacefully quiet again. His cigar burned emptily and he snuffed it out now with disinterest. “I’m sorry about that,” he said to Cheyanne, not taking his eyes off of the door for a few seconds before looking at the girl with an apologetic touch to his eyes. “Plans have been…. Changed. I can explain what I do and any questions you have for half an hour, but after that you’ll have to make a decision on if you want to stay or not.”

#para: crossing lines #para: griffin

Cheyenne had subtly shifted on her seat when all of the sudden, they had a company. Whether the guy was a mutant or not, Cheyenne started getting uncomfortable. She looked away and hoped the guy wouldn't notice her. Her curiosity always surfaced no matter how terrified she was though. She stole glances from the two of them then her eyes settled on Griffin since she had learned to get comfortable with his presence. Well, as comfortable as she could manage. His calculated yet graceful movements and stern eyes and his own brand of charm still made him appear dangerous. Cheyenne could see how Griffin gave the man a smile but the way his jaw clenched for a moment that his thoughts may be far from friendly.

She just wished she could have control of her emotions just like him. Relief rushed through her body when the guy was already out of sight. Cheyenne shrugged in response to what he said. "It's okay. I thought the plan is just to take me here anyway." Questions started running in her mind, a load of them and though it was as if she had granted an opportunity to do a whole interview session with him, Cheyenne knew that she had to be very careful with what questions to ask. She nodded at him then gave herself time to think.

Well, first, she wanted to know what the noise was all about but she thought, she would learn it by herself. Cheyenne just took a deep breath and decided to just shoot it. "W-well," she said, finally breaking her silence. "I know what you do here is dangerous. For me, at least. I can tell by the way you want me to keep quiet as if I would get in trouble if I speak. But...uhm...Am I being stupid going down here with you? Should I be terrified of you? I mean, you told me before that it's probably smart to be afraid of you or something like that. But you know, should I? I mean...yeah." She rambled, or more like compensating to those times she was just being quiet. Cheyenne thought she should regret asking that but the deepest part of her needed to know that. Yet, she huffed and made gestures on her hands as if to say to just shake off the question. "And, pft, yeah, what kind of business you are running here? You can just answer that, yeah."

In five minutes, she has to meet his twin for a jog and five minutes before the meet up time was already late for Cheyenne. She was practically taking a flight down the stairs and when she reached the last step, she ended up tripping. Sprawled on the floor, she attempted to move but the sudden motion shot up the pain from her right knee.

#thexstarter #in case u haven't notice i suck at starters #bye #no kidding #love me

valigiirl

“Well, a’least they’ve finally left us alone for the most part.”

“Now ‘m just hopin’ it lasts.”

#convo: anna marie #anna marie2

"Yeah, I highly doubt that."

stvrcrcssed-deactivated20210201

Open

stvrcrcssed-deactivated20210201

Tatiana was curious now. But she would not use her powers. She would not use her powers. “Are you sure you’re alright?”

#convo: tatiana #tatiana1

She gave the other girl a small smile, just quickly then she went back on heating chicken nuggets. "Yeah, I'm fine it's just..." She trailed off as she sighed deeply. "I-t's just I get paranoid and meeting new people...not even new, just....if I don't know a person well, I am just not comfortable, that's all. I just...remember things, you know. Don't mind me."

crossing lines - griffin&cheyenne

#para: crossing lines #para: griffin

bone-headed:

The door was unlocked and opened with ease before he stepped in and left it opened for Cheanne to step inside. Unlike the hallway and the outside of the warehouse this room was furnished. Simple black desk with a few simple black chairs sat at the far end of the room. There were modern and sleek low cabinets that rested against the left wall and a table near the door. His collected demeanor didn’t let up until he put the suitcase on top of his desk. Then he let out a quiet breath through his nose and moved to sit in his chair behind the desk.

“Welcome to my abode,” he said with a small smile, gesturing around the room with a hand as he nodded for her to sit down. A drawer was pulled out and he opened a box within it to pull out rather expensive cigar. Special occasion he guessed. “Want one?” He asked as he lit his, giving it a long drag in before letting it steam out from the corners of his mouth.

The night had just started but even from his office he could hear it. The faint noises of people yelling and things getting bashed around- especially since the door was still open. “You’re confused on what I do. Want to guess my line of work? It’s two things that can coexist together- at least that’s what I’ve made it as.”

As she went in the room, Cheyenne took in the place and shook her head when he offered her a cigar. Her gaze roamed around the room and although it was small and simple, it reminded her of big company CEO offices which she only seen in movies to be honest. The way it popped from everything else she had seen in the place so far had given off that vibe.

Cheyenne sat on the chair nearest his desk and kept her hands on her lap that was starting to be less clammy. She was far from being relaxed though; her shoulders blades were tightened on a straight line, carrying a tension down her nape even if her back was against the backrest. Bringing down the hood off her head, she looked up at him and poked out her curiosity. He could tell she was confused and curious at the same time. It seemed like he was being cryptic about it but for Cheyenne, it felt like she was slowly being dropped down on an empty well as a big suprise awaited for her; a drop that was less painful but nonetheless, still a drop. She pushed all the negative feelings that was building up aside. It was no big deal. She was just about to see something that already existed, just knowing about it for the first time. And surely, Griffin didn't mean her harm, right?

They were alone in the room and talking should be fine. It would also be a distraction from any pessimist thoughts. "Hmmm," she hummed while drumming her fingers on the armrest as she was back to connecting pieces together. "It's probably illegal since well, everything just looks sketchy. I-I mean, n-no offense." She spoke her observation then cleared her throat as she felt like stuttering again. "I'm not exactly sure what was going on here but with that guy just letting me in because you give him the look that I came with you and you have this neat office, I can at least tell that you are the boss here. Am I right?"

The noise coming from somewhere inside grew louder. Or rather, she was starting to actually hear it. Earlier, she was so pre-occupied with her own thoughts that even if she did notice it,s he didn't mind it. And now, with all thoise pushed aside, it was coming clearer now; howling, loud, deep cheer and what seemed like war cry and all other things mixed along with it. With her eyebrows almost knitted together, Cheyenne looked back at Griffin then back to the open door. "What in the world is that?"

crossing lines - griffin&cheyenne