Wild One

Ella Halder Ex-marine 26 years strong Turtle Enthusiast A little bit crazy

[ella-halder]

“Never had a chance not to be.” He really didn’t know why she was angry at him. He wasn’t the one who put the wall there. He had moved in here, but mostly because he was lazy. “Isn’t your apartment set up exactly the same? And I figured you were, there wasn’t that much of a hollow noise when you hit it.” He was concerned about the way it sounded when she did, like the termites holding it together were falling down. “Uh, couch is like…twentyish steps straight ahead.” He said, kicking aside a stray pair of shoes. “Just watch the coffee table. Or, you know. Don’t.”

“Good for you.” It was more of a mutter now, too annoyed with the fact that she couldn’t seem to ruffle him. He’d been upset at first, and if she’d been smarter, she would have just walked away. Or refused the drink. But now she was there and her pride wouldn’t let her tuck tail and run out of the apartment. “Twentyish?” She questioned, starting to move forward, meeting the coffee table with her shins just about as he issued the warning. “Helpful.” 

[ella-halder]

“I’m like a puppy like that.” He said dryly. Not like he could argue, his mom swore that anything shiny could distract him. He stared at her when she walked into a wall, unsure of what to even say to that. Who walked into a wall? Who questioned wall placement, for that matter? “What the fuck?” Was what eventually came out. “Uh, do you need some help?” That seemed more tactful. Obviously she was blind, he just wasn’t sure how he hadn’t noticed. But she didn’t exactly fit what he had in his head of what a blind person looked like.

“Well at least you’re self-aware.” She wasn’t even certain why there was so much venom in her tone now. She was embarrassed, that was for sure. More than anything she wanted to turn around and walk about, but that would be even more humiliating than dealing with it. So she forced herself to continue forward towards the sound of his voice, taking slow steps and trying to fool herself into the thought that he wasn’t staring at her, judging her. “Fuck off. I’m fine.” She added emphatically, half-hoping he would get angry and kick her out. 

[ella-halder]

“Yeah, but I was distracted by all of you before.” He said, giving a vague motion. Mostly by her anger. It was far too large for her. “Don’t worry, I’m not a big whiskey drinker. I’m just having a beer.” He opened the door a bit wider and stepped aside to allow her inside. “Come on in. Excuse the mess.” It wasn’t that messy, but his mother had drilled that much into it.

“So you’re easily distractable. Not my problem.” She smiled briefly, the kind of smile that said she didn’t want to be smiling at all. “Good.” Maybe it wasn’t. That meant she had the opportunity to drink far too much. She generally avoided drinking altogether. Ella stepped inside warily at his prompting, trying to step carefully without her cane to guide her. A few steps in she gained confidence, then she ran into something hard. A wall. “Shit. Fuck. Who the fuck puts a wall there?” She demanded, feeling her away around it. So much for passing herself off as an able-bodied person.

[ella-halder]

“It does, thanks for reminding me.” Tate chuckled. It was one of those situations where if you didn’t laugh about how utterly horrible your luck is, you would end up seriously injuring someone out of sheer anger. “Must be nice.” He should have made a cleaner break. He didn’t have family to worry about chasing after him and the only reason he even told Adam he’d moved to Woodridge was because he begged Tate not to just disappear. Not the first time Tate let his empathy get in the way of what he really wanted to do. “Well yeah, I leave out a lot of cussing. Lilly cusses, but not because of my Marines stories. Mostly because she overhears me talking to other people. She’s very light on her feet, I keep telling her I’m going to tie a bell around her neck.” Too many times Tate had been talking to someone either in the house or on the phone and he thought the kids were upstairs before he’d turned around and seen Lilly standing behind him. He’d gotten numerous calls from school about her calling people ‘douche bags’ and other various names. Another reason the class mom’s didn’t like him very much. Tate laughed a little at her words. “Exactly. Parenty stuff.” He nodded. “Alright, then we’re both getting nachos.”

“You’re welcome. I’m a sensitive person.” She wasn’t sure what he wanted her to say, anyway. She couldn’t change things. She wasn’t the person people went to when they were hurting,, she was the one people went to when they wanted someone to get hurt. “Yeah. Real fu-” She stopped herself, pressing her lips together. “Whatever.” Thankfully, nobody in the marines had ever found out about her past. She didn’t have to answer those questions, deal with the stereotype she would have been slapped with. The preppy rich girl who expected the best, because that’s what everyone assumed she had grown up with. “I cuss in front of them. They’re gonna hear it somewhere, and I figure it’s better for them to hear it from someone who can explain when it’s okay to use it.” She shrugged. Kel seemed to agree with her, or at least he hadn’t told her to quit. Then, it was probably because he knew telling her not to was a pointless endeavor. “If they’re shitty nachos, I’m making you pay.”

[ella-halder]

“Well, you’re hiding your face, so I can really just judge off your height.” He decided not to point out the obvious, that the rest of her was kind of hidden by the giant sweatshirt. He couldn’t tell if she was an adolescent or a woman. “I have about half a bottle left, will that satisfy you?” He asked with a raised eyebrow. “And will you take the hood off? It’s not a deal-breaker, but I’d like to see your face.”

“I haven’t been wearing the hood the whole time.” She retorted, unwilling to let him bait her into pulling it off. She still hated for people to see her eyes, even if she couldn’t watch their expressions. “If you drink something else.” She had no intentions of actually drinking half a bottle of whiskey. But she did enjoy making people question her, wonder if she actually planned to do it. “Get used to disappointment.”

[ella-halder]

‘Touhce’. she said to herself. Kira was quite tickled by the ‘lifetime movie set’ comment, it took a lot from her not to at least snort. “Rolling Hills, Los Angeles,” Kira replied with her most convincing Valley Girl impression, sweeping her hair to the back. “And what about you, Miss Amityville?”

“Holy fuck,” Kira leaned into take a closer look at the woman, she noticed light scarring and that the disgusted look that was meant to be directed at her was slightly off key, “how the hell did you know I was blonde?” Kira said, astonished more than anything. 

She missed being able to roll her eyes at people in a more pronounced manner. It made sense, this girl coming from California. Hell, she’d probably heard of Ella in passing, on a magazine or on tv, back when Ella had still been playing her part. “Orange County, San Diego.” She responded in a bored tone. 

So she hadn’t picked up on that little gem of information. Fair, most people weren’t exactly assuming blind at every turn. “If you remember, I said you’re probably some blonde dingbat. Maybe not my exact words, but..”

[ella-halder]

He raised an eyebrow, slightly more interested. “Are you even old enough to drink whiskey?” He asked curiously. “I mean, either way, if I’m going to go to the trouble of finding it, I think you can sit down for the five minutes it takes to drink it and exchange names. But, you know. Good choice.” Except he was pretty sure his was shitty and shoved in a back cabinet somewhere because he didn’t usually drink it unless it had been a really bad night and he just wanted to get drunk.

An unladylike snort escaped her mouth. “I’m twenty five, you hippopotamic land mass.” She shot back. He had to be big, after all. His voice was coming from well above her. “If I have to suffer through that much, it had better be a decent amount.” She could put up with cheap whiskey, but to get through introductions, she needed more than a few sips. Typically she would never allow herself to be talked into something like this, but she couldn’t sleep anyway, she hated her sleeping pills, and the idea of going back to her empty apartment made her stomach sink. So she would drink a little and get tipsy enough to convince herself back down to her own apartment. 

[ella-halder]

He actually laughed at that, shaking his head. “No, you aren’t my type. I like blonde and somewhat slutty, not short and wearing a sweatshirt three sizes too big.” He said cheerfully. He had no problems admitting who he liked, especially if it meant he got a bit of company. He wasn’t the type of person who liked being solitary. He liked people, and this girl seemed interesting. Plus, he felt bad. “I promise, I have no evil intentions.”

A younger version of her might have blushed, with no intentions of implying that he actually found her attractive. Now she just didn’t care. She couldn’t see herself, but she knew what she looked like, and it wasn’t the perky blonde with a bright smile that men liked, which she took as an advantage. She wrapped the long sleeves of her sweatshirt around her waist and jutted her chin out. “If you have whiskey, I’ll take some to go.”

[ella-halder]

He winced at her reaction. Okay, so that hadn’t been his most tasteful move. In his defense, he also hadn’t slept in over 24 hours. Maybe it didn’t excuse it, but it did mean his mind was working too slowly to stop him from saying stupid things. “Fine, I’ll turn down the music.” He paused for a moment, considering her. “I don’t suppose you’d accept a drink as an apology for being an ass? I’d offer food, but I’m an awful cook.”

“Thank you.” Her words were still a snap, unsure of what had incited the sudden change in his voice. It felt unlikely that her words had somehow gotten through to him; she usually only succeeded in pissing people off more. “Really? A drink? What, are you trying to get in my pants now that you failed in chasing my off by being an ass? Excuse me if I don’t swoon at the offer.”

[ella-halder]

“I kind of wish I was high.” He muttered, looking her over. “Are you crazy or something? Or on something?” There were plenty of druggies in the complex, but most of them stayed to their own area, not yelling at his door. “Have you ever considered not sleeping?”

She drew back a little at his comment, doing her best to remind herself that strangers did not know her past. But that didn’t stop the burn, or the swell of anger. “Fuck you.” She responded sharply, all her lines now taut with anger. “No, and last I checked, attempting to conquer insomnia is not a sign of insanity. Most of the general public does rely on sleep to get through the day.”

[ella-halder]

Aesthetic #2 - Ella Halder

[ella-halder]

“Yeah, it’s a good place for kids to grow up. Got that small town vibe, but at least there’s stuff to do around here. It’s a good place to runaway to. You know, until all the shit that you ran away from shows up again.” That was his own fault though, for giving one of their mutual friends his address. He should have known better apparently. “I can only imagine. Yeah I know. I’ll tell them more when they’re older. Not very many of my stories are PG.” Stories from overseas could be intense. And as much as he liked talking about it, some people didn’t like hearing about all the gunfire and explosions he experienced. And as for leave stories, most of that was not spent sober. “That’s a clever way to sneak that stuff in there though. Teaching her independence and tactical training, killing two birds with one stone.” He chuckled. Soon after they took their seats a waiter came and took their drink orders. Tate let him know they didn’t need menus. He knew what he wanted and a menu would be useless for Ella. He left and Tate spoke up. “It’s just classic diner food here. They have good burgers, and chicken too.”

“Yeah, that sucks for you.” Ella said with a snort. Anger gone, she would be the first to admit that empathy was not her strongest suit. “At least I don’t have to deal with mine following me.” She had been lucky enough to disappear off the face of the earth, and she somehow doubted that her father would put any effort into tracking her down, unless he wanted bad publicity. “You only tell them PG stories? I’m fucked, because I’m pretty sure Abigail curses because of me.” She actually chuckled a little at that, wondering if Kel had gotten complaints about his daughter saying the wrong things at school yet. But Abigail was smart, she probably knew when to filter her speech. “Right, that’s totally what I was thinking. Not just about how to keep her busy and tire her out to actually sleep. It was smart, parenty stuff.” She was slowly gaining a side of herself that hadn’t even come out much in the marines. With no impending doom, humor came a little easier. She bit back a comment that she had a screen reader on her phone to read the menu, setting for just sitting back. “I’ll just have whatever you’re getting. I hate picking food.”

[ella-halder]

Kit gave a roll of his eyes. “And you’re incredibly fucking short. Are you a hobbit?” He questioned, looking down at her. He wasn’t sure what her problem was when her head went down. Maybe she was worried because she was confronting him in the doorway of his apartment. It wasn’t like he was going to do anything but glare, but he sighed anyways. “Fine. Who are you anyways?” He thought he knew everyone in the apartment building. They all mostly liked him, except her, apparently.

“Oh my god, are you fucking high right now? Or do you just have a height fetish?” Who got so fixated on height when someone was attempting to yell at them? She reached back and pulled the oversize hood over her head, letting it droop enough to cover her eyes, not caring how strange that looked. At least it meant she didn’t have to keep her head bent over like she was staring at his feet. “I’m the person who lives directly under yo and is attempting to sleep. It’s a little difficult with this shit blaring through my ceiling.”

[ella-halder]

Kit’s sleep schedule was a thing of the past. He’d had too many overnight shifts, too many long nights watching fires or training or whatever else happened. Now, sleep happened when it happened, and that was rarely when everyone else slept. Usually the wee hours of the morning was when he finally crashed. 

Until then, he had music going, and was pounding on the punching bag he had hung in the middle of his shitty apartment. It wasn’t much, but it was his, and he hadn’t had to burden his parents with helping him. And most people didn’t care when he turned up his music. Except the dwarf he opened his door to see. “Jesus, don’t have an aneurysm. And my music isn’t shitty.”

Her head rocked up when he spoke, realizing that whoever this man was, he was probably about a foot taller than her and big. Not that she was worried about her safety; even without her sight, she could fight her way out of just about any situation. She might have to resort to some dirty tricks, but that was not her worry.

“It’s incredibly fucking shitty.” She replied, trying to even think around the sound of it playing too loudly in the background. Her hand touched her face and the realization that she wasn’t wearing her sunglasses hit her. “Shit.” She said, head going back down. She never went without them. She hated the thought of people looking at her eyes. “Whatever, just turn it down, alright?”

[ella-halder]

“They haven’t been here much longer than me I don’t think. Theo’s having some trouble making some friends too, so it’d be good for him. He’s a quiet kid. Lilly just assumes everyone is her friend.” Tate chuckled. There were few things he was really passionate about and his kids were definitely one of them. The past three years had brought him a lot closer to them. At least he had one thing to thank Louise for. “I’ve told them stories, but I doubt they remember any of them. — Well Theo might, but Lilly was never very interested in my Marine stories.” He shrugged. Even if Theo did remember, he wouldn’t remember her by name. Tate hadn’t told them any war stories in a while and Theo was just a toddler back then. He grinned at her words. “Teach them while they’re young, nice. Theo’s my only hope for a soldier.” They approached the diner and Tate held the door open and lead Ella inside. “There’s a step there, be careful.” He warned her. Once they were inside he went to a booth and let Ella sit down before he did the same.

“A couple months, I think. It’s been good for them.” She did smile, listening to him talk about his kids. She was used to Kel going on and on about his, so it felt natural to her to listen to. And she always appreciated hearing from parents that actually gave a shit about their kids, made her feel like maybe there was some hope for the world. “Probably good. It was rough enough trying to explain why I was so different to Abigail. But you should tell them stories. Let them know who you are.” She shrugged. What did she know about parenting? She played the aunt often enough, but she didn’t know if she was even doing that right. She wouldn’t know the first thing to do with a kid. “I mean, it’s mostly me playing a dragon and telling her she has to save herself instead of waiting for a prince, but I try to get those tactical things in there.” She stepped up quickly when he spoke again, wondering if she should have said anything. Kel was the only one who knew she did that, and he only new because he’d walked in on it. She stuck to merely following his guidance, then gratefully wiping her hand on the side of her pant leg as she sat.

[ella-halder]

She finally had her own place. It wasn’t in the best area, and it wasn’t very big or clean or in the best of shape. But the apartment was hers, at least. Kel had insisted on helping her disinfect it as thoroughly as they could, then he had helped move all her things over, leaving her with a piteous amount of items to call her own. She was almost glad she couldn’t see, look at how bare and empty the apartment was. All she could concentrate on was that it was hers, and she had to learn the layout as best as she could. That and getting some decent sleep after a long day, if only the idiot above her would stop blaring shitty music. 

Ella wasn’t even sure what time it was when she dragged herself out of her bed and pulled one of the sweatshirts she’d stolen from Caiden over her head. The sleeves fell well over her hands even as she twisted the knob to her door, marching indignantly up the stairs (as quickly and menacingly as she could while she couldn’t see where she was going). She ran her fingers along the wall on the next floor, counting the doors until she came to the apartment above hers and pounded on the door. “Open up, fucktard!” She yelled. “Turn down your shitty music before I decide to beat your ass for it.”

@kitoriley

[ella-halder]

It was really nice to be talking to an old friend. The friends he had on the island, he had only known since his family moved there a year ago. Which in hind’s sight, was most of the reason he had decided to move there. But it was also nice to have someone that already knew him around. Someone he could really be himself around. “That sounds nice, I’m sure Lilly and Theo would have a blast.” Tate smiled, liking the idea of having a sit down family meal with some friends. He didn’t have any family, so sometimes he felt bad that the kids didn’t ever get to experience that sort of feeling. He knew that was something he felt he missed out on growing up and he didn’t want the same for his kids. “I’m sure they’d love to meet you.” He replied with a smile, hoping to keep her mind from wandering to a harsher place. “Remind me not to get on their bad sides.”

She nodded a little, feeling more wary the more they walked about not being in control of where she was going. She wanted to reach the restaurant and not have to rely on someone else to get her where she needed to go. With Tate she was willing to trust him because she’d been forced to trust him with her life before. But she still had her limits. “I know that Abigail and Little Ella would love it. They haven’t made many friends here yet.” It felt terrifying domestic to even consider; the feeling of family turning her stomach into knots. Already her feet were itching to run from it, but she knew that she didn’t have a choice. She needed to get over herself. “God, I hope you haven’t told them any stories about me.” Ella frowned. She didn’t want them to expect someone better than her. Then again, that was making an assumption that Tate would tell stories about her. “Abigail would already make a great marine. I’ve taught her some strategies.”