"i was born with veins too small to hold the current at which my heart beats." - i was born with blood too eager to taste the world.
KAIYA PHOENIX WALKER.
twenty-eight. pyrokinetic superhero. a waitress trying her hand at writing.
âi am definitely polite, but iâm not too sure how i feel about being compared to the police. and i wasnât following you. weâre simply..â he waved a hand. âgoing in the same direction!â roman continued his good-natured attitude, even if her joke wasnât as lighthearted as he was. âah. i see. i guess youâre right about the she didnât hear you part. still, iâm kind of biased. could never call my mom anything like that.â he grimaced. âplus iâm sure even if i said it behind her back sheâd find out. and then itâll be me on the phone getting a verbal wwe smackdown. donât mothers seem to get snappier with age?â
âItâs an expression, donât take it personally, but sorry, I guess, for insulting you,â she replied with a grin, shaking her head slightly. Kaiya didnât want to smile, mostly because she knew it would be more of a grimace than a legitimate smile, but she felt one threatening to form regardless of her inner protests. âSure, likely excuse, but Iâll buy it,â she continued teasingly, raising a brow as though she were still skeptical of him. Although, she did find it hard to wrap her mind around anyone being this polite.. at least, nowadays. She had known someone like that once, but she didnât want to go there, not when she was actually feeling alright. âOf course Iâm right, but I donât have the greatest of relationships with my mother... obviously.â Not having a great relationship with her mother was putting it mildly. To Kaiya, her mother was the cause of everything bad that had ever happened in her life, leading up to the very worst thing. âYeahhh, mothers do seem to have some special sixth sense sort of thing going on, donât they? Itâs creepy and frankly, completely unfair--- it made it damn near impossible to get away with anything as a child. Doesnât everyone seem to get snappier with age? Or maybe thatâs just me.â The joke was followed by a soft chuckle and a smile that was surprisingly genuine.Â
 what  was  going  on  between  the  brunette  and  the  person  on  the  other  end  of  the  line  was  none  of  lucindaâs  business  but  her  attention  was  automatically  diverted  by  the  otherâs  choice  of  language.  âi  donât  really  care  for  that  word.â  her  eyebrows  raised  with  judgement.  things  hadnât  been  easy  for  her  whilst  growing  up,  every  comfort  she  could  possibly  take  had  been  ruined  by  others  claiming  she  was  an  attention  seeker  or  what  she  was  experiencing  was  a  psychotic  episode.  she  had  always  been  able  to  see THEM  for  as  long  as  she  could  remember  but  had  been  lucky  enough  not  to  encounter  so  many  malevolent  spirits  in  her  time.  âyou  should  have  a  broad  vocabulary  at  your  age,  perhaps  you  can  replace  it  with  a  more  fitting  adjective,  a  less  offensive  one  that  doesnât  have  negative  mental  health  connotations.  just  a  thoughtâŠâ
Kaiya felt herself tense in response to the womanâs tone of voice and as she let her gaze meet the otherâs, she felt her blood run cold at that familiar look in her eyes. She wasnât quite sure what the strangerâs problem was, but what she did know was that she didnât like being reminded of all of the people who had ever looked at her or spoken to her such a way. âPerhaps I should, but I did skip class a lot so Iâm afraid my vocabulary is lacking where most arenât,â she was quick to respond, shrugging as though to say âsuch is lifeâ. The words were not truthful in the least, but when someone barked, Kaiya couldnât resist either a ) barking back or b ) biting... This particular situation didnât strike her as one that called for biting, however. âI assure you that I will do my best to water down my insults in the near future, on the off chance that someone else may find themselves offended, but hereâs a tip for you: try not to be so unpleasant every time someone says a word you donât care for when they arenât even aware anyone is listening. Not everyone is as... polite and understanding as myself, sweetheart.âÂ
âwant a twix?â amiria offered, hand slipping into the bag she was carrying to withdraw said candy bar. she had just gone to the store to pick up a few things, and having poor impulse control when it came to food, she had slipped a few candies onto the register belt. the brunette told herself: one for now, one for later, maybe one for jett. but she could share, given the fact the other woman seemed in such wonderful spirits. âi know when iâm frustrated, candy always helps. i think itâs the chocolate - or maybe just the sugar.â scrunching her nose, amiria let out a breathy - perhaps sheepish - laugh.
âIâm pretty sure that not accepting candy from a stranger is one of the first things they teach people in kindergarten,â Kaiya teased in reply before allowing some semblance of a smile to grace her lips. âI always did have issues listening to authority figures, though,â she tacked on after a brief pause, which was her way of saying yes to the candy bar. âI think itâs the sugar. If only chocolate and sugar could be the answer to all of lifeâs problems, yeah?âÂ
itâs not that he meant to eavesdrop, itâs just that the conversation the other was having was loud enough to be considered one that was involving him. at least, to roman, thatâs how it worked. âexcuse me.â he tapped gently on one of the womanâs shoulders. ânot to be rude, but you shouldnât call your mom a psycho.â he paused for a moment, then decided to add, âat least not one you still talk on the phone with.â
Kaiya started as she felt someone touch her shoulder, but quickly played it off by adjusting her position on bench she had been sitting on. Her eyebrows raised as she let her gaze fall on the man speaking to her, and there was no hiding the slight amusement she felt in response to his words. âNo, excuse me... I didnât realize I was being followed by the polite police.â The words werenât exactly malicious, but they lacked the lightheartedness of a typical joke. âYouâre probably right, but see, if I didnât talk to her on the phone, I would have to see her and that would just be too much for my entirely too fragile heart to handle. Besides, it isnât like she heard me call her a psycho, so really, are anyoneâs feelings getting hurt? I think not.âÂ
âWell, your mother sounds like such a lovely person,â The brunette said with a little laugh, and though her words seemed to place her on the side of the daughter, she thought the girl had been rather rude. In fact, if she had a daughter who dared speak to her in such a fashion, she would have dragged her arm through that phone and slapped her silly. âIm guessing the two of you donât have the best of relationships, hm?â she questioned.
âThe loveliest,â Kaiya managed to reply with a mostly straight face. It wasnât that she didnât love her mother because she did, some days, but... well, the anger she felt toward her even after all the time that had passed seemed to overshadow the love. âI would lie and say weâre the best of friends, but pretty sure you wouldnât buy it,â she was quick to answer, a smirk tugging at the corners of her lips. âWhat can I say, I have mommy issues. Calling her a psycho helps, though, so no worries, Iâm not gonna sit here and cry about it.âÂ
Kenzie leaned her head back on the chair that she was sitting in, the crane that she made from a paper napkin flapping its wings a couple inches above her lips. She blew up toward the crane, making it seem as though she was making it hover through her breath alone. Every so often, she would take a drag from her cigarette and blow the smoke underneath to make it seem like fog rolling in. She was having a surprisingly fun time with it when she heard the woman next to her talk with her mother. A small smirk crept on the corners of her lips as she listened to the conversation, almost laughing when she finally got off the phone. âSounds like it sucked,â she murmured as the crane finally stopped hovering and fell on her face. She crumbled it up as she straightened herself.
It didnât bother Kaiya that the woman had overheard the conversation with her mother; after all, she hadnât exactly been speaking quietly. She half expected the girl to look aghast, but it became clear that her focus was solely on whatever she was doing with the paper hovering above her lips. A soft chuckle escaped her as said paper fell and she felt the ghost of a grin spread across her lips. âIt was pure torture,â she exaggerated, pausing long enough to take a drag from her cigarette, âbut alas, if I donât humor her on the phone, sheâll only find a way to make it worse in person.â Perhaps she sounded like a drama queen, but... her mother didnât exactly bring out the best in her. Not much did these days, however. âThat looked fun,â she nodded toward the piece of paper crumbled on the ground. âA fan of origami, Iâm guessing?âÂ
Caden really didnât need empathy to know that the woman nearby was not in a good mood. He hadnât meant to eavesdrop, but when the sensation of smoke in his throat pulled his attention from the book that heâd been reading, he couldnât help it. Besides, itâs not like he was eavesdropping for the sake of anything malicious. Just out of curiosity. He let out a huff of laughter at the ending comment, before realizing that heâd given himself away. âSorry, I didnât mean to listen in,â he apologized, before tilting his head, concern hinting in his expression. âBut is everything alright? If thatâs not too nosy?â
âEavesdropping is rude... didnât anyone ever teach you how to be mannerly?â Her lips twitched as she spoke the words and there was underlying playfulness in them. An attempt at playfulness, anyway-- Kaiya had mostly forgotten how to communicate with others, given that she didnât do so often outside of work. âNot too nosy, no... I was kidding about the eavesdropping thing,â she explained with a dry chuckle, tossing her cigarette onto the ground and putting it out with the heel of her boot. She wasnât blind to others not being fond of the smell and she hardly felt the desire to have anyone inhale smoke against their will. âEverything is just... peachy. Mothers... they can be a bit much, is all. Mine in particular, it seems, but I can handle her. She could be worse, I guess.â That was about all she would say on the subject of her mother. To say their relationship was complicated would have been an understatement and merely thinking of the woman tended to give her a migraine so she preferred to avoid thinking of her altogether.Â
âWell, my day has been swell, mother--- thank you for asking,â Kaiya scoffed, her usual sarcasm lacing every word she spoke. Conversations on the phone with her mother were quite possibly her least favorite part of any day. To say that she had a favorite part of most days would be a lie, but if she did, these âmomâ talks would certainly not come out on top. âYes, I know.... No, I am not--- Yeah, yeah, donât disrespect you, blah, blah, blah... No, mom, Iâm not poking fun at you.â She paused, rolling her eyes as she used her free hand to take a drag from the cigarette that she had been attempting but failing to smoke for about half of this one-sided conversation. âListen, I gotta--- Mom, I have to go.â Another pause. âTo work-- where else? Uh-uh, love you, too,â she mumbled the latter words, ending the call with a dramatic exhale of relief. âThank fuck... I thought Iâd never get that psycho off the phone.âÂ
     scrolling through his phone during work hours seemed to be a new habit of his.  wasnât as though he was worried about being fired for it, he hated the SHIT - HOLE diner anyway.  far from good pay, an even worse boss.  he scoffs when he comes across it, an article on the twitter trending page that caught his eye almost instantly.  maybe for itâs headline, or for the ridiculous stock photo chosen as a cover image.  â  the media is such shit these days, huh ?  all these journalists write the same damn thing.  last i checked twitter trending doesnât take down those crime syndicates they complain about.  â  he droned, eyes darting up from his screen and onto the person at the counter.  â  what can i get âya ?  â
As opposed to sitting in a diner, Kaiya should have been working, but she had called off, once again. She didnât care much about her job-- at least, she cared less than she should have given that paying bills was somewhat of a necessity. Smashing her fingers against the keys of her laptop, she let out a sigh far louder than intended, a sound caused by her frustration at failing to write a single sentence of the second chapter she had promised her editor she would deliver later that night. Perhaps the privacy of her own home would have been a more suitable place for inspiration, but not even home had been enough to quiet her mind long enough for her to focus. âHuh?â She blinked, as though snapping out of a trance, as she heard someone speak. She had only caught about half of the statement, but it was enough for her to formulate some semblance of a response. âOh, right... I tend to avoid social networking sites for that very reason... among others.â She proceeded to shut her laptop, having decided getting any work done was not possible at the moment. âAs for the media in general? I have no interest in it. Iâd rather live in a world of fiction, anyway.â She shrugged before realizing that he had asked for her order. âIâll just have a coffee. Black, with two or three sugars.âÂ
LOCATION : PANDORA SUPERMARKET ;Â MUSE : JESSICA DAIR .Â
Kaiya needed a break. Not merely from writing, but from life itself-- she couldnât exactly achieve the latter, however, so she would settle for the former. Why she had decided the supermarket would be a good place to clear her head, she hadnât a clue, and yet... there she was, browsing the aisles for some comfort food she most certainly didnât need but wanted anyway. She had just stumbled upon the perfect truffles when her gaze caught sight of something... not quite normal. Then again, normal had not been a word in her vocabulary for quite some time. Faking normalcy, she could manage, but being normal? It was vastly overrated. âYou should be careful, darling,â she whispered as she approached the woman, a slight grin making its way onto her face. ( Although, it undoubtedly came across as more of a grimace... she wasnât one for smiling much these days. ) âWouldnât want to get caught by the wrong person.... but no worries, I didnât see a damn thing.âÂ
PHOEBE TONKIN. TWENTY-EIGHT. CISFEMALE. SHE/HER. | pandora wouldnât be the same without kaiya walker but you might remember her as blaze. iconic for pyrokinesis you knew they were around when you heard unstoppable by sia. but after supers were outlawed they hung their cape and now work as a waitress and writer. living in pandora for sixteen years has given them the reputation for being quick-witted and headstrong but also moody and destructive. do you think that explains why kaiya is against supers being outlawed? ( kara. 27. she/her. est. )
hiii, iâm kara and itâs been a while since iâve been in the game so bear with me. iâm beyond excited to be here and canât wait for yâall to meet my stubborn little troublemaker ( who causes more trouble for herself, but weâll get into that later ) and also canât wait to meet the lovely cast of characters here. ( btw intros arenât my strong suit, but iâll give it my best. )Â
anywayys, here goes:
so kaiya was never a big fan of supers in the beginning? that didnât last obvi, but she was just a girl from seattle, happy living a normal life as the daughter of two beloved owners of a mom and pop cafe which doubled as her home. she didnât even know she had powers until an incident occurred when she was about six where she got mad at her parents for grounding her and accidentally caused a candle to go up in flames ( not in the way candles normally do ). she tried to play it off as a freak accident, but her mother knew something was up ( kaiya was incredibly talented at fooling her parents, however. )Â
fooling her parents didnât last long because unfortunately for her, her mother wasnât nearly as blind as her father and had always paid more attention to her daughter. when her father realized what was going on, he basically had a meltdown and wanted to send kaiya to a specialist because he had never liked supers. he felt that no one should have such an immense amount of power and after branding his daughter âinhumanâ, her mother packed up in the middle of the night, took kaiya, and moved them to pandora, california, a place rumored to be peaceful and somewhere she felt kaiyaâs father would never look for her.Â
heading into her preteens, kaiya took on the cliche personality of a child ripped from the only home she had ever known. she wouldnât say that sheâd ever hated her mother, but she held a resentment toward this woman, still to this day even, and their relationship had never been the same since the move.Â
that resentment only worsened as she grew into a teenager and learned how to control the power sheâd wanted to ignore in the beginning. she was fourteen when she met the boy who would become her best friend and later the man who would turn her entire world upside down ( more on that later, as well, but iâll explain some of it here ).Â
that boyâs name was ace and his power was psychokinesis. he became somewhat of a sidekick for her and it remained that way even after they graduated high school. much to her motherâs dismay, kaiya moved out of their home and moved in with ace and it was around this time that he decided they should become heroes. it seemed to be something that a majority of people were doing and rather than use their powers for mundane activities, he wanted to use them for something good-- and a large part of kaiya felt the same.Â
so, at the age of eighteen, she fashioned an outfit made of red and black, something made to look like flames, threw on a wig that made her hair look like it was on fire, and called herself blaze ( it had been a nickname from ace and it stuck ).Â
saving people, fighting crime, using the powers she had fought to deny.... nothing had made kaiya feel more like herself, but as the story goes... nothing good can ever last.Â
as the city of pandora began to protest supers and the road to outlawing them was in sight, kaiya begged ace to go into hiding with her, to hang up his metaphorical cape and just live a normal life with her. ace had other ideas for them, however, and all it took was the admission of feelings that both had been hiding from each other since they were fifteen for kaiya to agree to continue fighting crime until they couldnât anymore... a decision she would quickly come to regret.Â
there is not a day that goes by where she does not blame herself for what came next... the both of them were caught using their powers when they werenât supposed to and ace took the fall. he was put on trial and found guilty... and killed. to say kaiya was devastated would have been an understatement, but rather than get even... she got angry and decided to follow the little rules made up by society... for now.Â
she may be twenty-eight now, but that day still feels like yesterday. she currently is working as a waitress at a cafe that reminds her far too much of the one she grew up living in and in her free time, sheâs a writer, currently working on a second novel that she plans to release when the time is right and itâs okay to speak her mind again.Â
for now, sheâll hide and pretend to be normal like everyone else, but when the day comes, she plans to fight... and to get her revenge.
iâm so sorry this was so long, but here are a few little things about her personality: sheâs a hothead and it probably goes without saying that sheâs very very secretive. she has this philosophy to basically never trust anyone but herself, but if you dig deep enough, i promise thereâs a heart underneath somewhere. she can come off a bit cold at first, but not necessarily in a mean way, more in a âi just donât care about anythingâ sort of way. match her sarcasm with your own, however, and youâve made a friend for life. deep down, sheâs actually v caring. she has somewhat of an alcohol problem ( not necessarily an alcoholic because she doesnât feel like she needs it, but she doesnât exactly say no to a drink when she should either ), loves cigs a bit too much iâm afraid, and basically has convinced herself that life is shit and humanity is doomed. sheâs not always bitter and unhappy, though-- she loves music and simple things like candles and that flash of rainbow that reflects off surfaces after the rain falls. horror films are her cup of tea and sheâs a HUGE fan of chick flicks and not even ashamed. she probably has a larger nail polish collection than is honestly necessary and red is her favorite color ( coincidence, maybe, but probably not ). more eventually, i promise, but i canât think of anything else atm, iâm sorry this probably made zero sense whatsoever. anyways, i would love to plot so feel free to hmu okay, i donât bite.Â
