so cold & so sweet

[0abnithi]

Nine Naphat for LOOKER Magazine’s ‘The New Kicks‘ [2016]

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basics:

full name: blaze somsak chanthotri nicknames: blaze, formerly rebel, changed when his parents passed away age: twenty-five birthday: 5 september birthplace: khon kaen, thailand hometown:  hadong-gun, south korea nationality: thai ethnicity: thai sexuality: heterosexual languages: english, thai, korean, russian  occupation: mayor’s aide  accent: none

abilities:

element: earth training ( 5 / 10 ): thanks to his grandparents’ fear and mistrust of benders, combined with the accident that killed his parents, blaze has been hiding his abilities almost his whole life. it wasn’t until he ran away to seoul and eventually returned that he began fostering his interested in earthbending. his affinity so far is for metalbending health ( 8 / 10 ): standard health points awarded for being a guy that can get hit quite a bit before he quits intelligence ( 6 / 10 ): blaze has been kept away from benders and bending his whole life. as a result, his knowledge of what he can do or what anyone else can do is fairly limited, although he’s accumulating new knowledge everyday speed ( 8 / 10 ): it’s rare to guess what move blaze is going to make before he makes it. he moves quickly for a big guy, mostly due to the fact that his decisions are made split-second and he commits to them wholeheartedly strength ( 9 / 10 ): when cornered blaze tends to lash out, and there is a lot of hurt in blaze that he can direct outwards as he can move earth to match his turbulent emotional state dexterity ( 7 / 10 ): directed rage has its strong suits but it’s got an average hit rate-- sometimes he’ll miss or get his ass whooped depending on how much another bender’s abilities outstrip his weapon(s) of choice: fists, feet, and earthbending overall ranking: ( 7.2 / 10 )

appearance:

hair color & style: medium brown and kept professionally sexy-- suave yet touchable, adapted based on popularity at the time being eye color: russet brown complexion:  olive skin that rarely burns and tans well distinguishing marks: symmetrical features, signature smirk height: six feet two inches build: muscular, he’s a fit dude and that’s intentional so people think he’s impressive tattoos: snake on left forearm (x), yant suea koo back piece (x) piercings: daith in left ear

personality:

positive traits: charming, straightforward, & diligent negative traits: selfish, indifferent, & closed-off mbti: intj-t, the architect moral alignment: neutral evil zodiac sign: virgo sun, scorpio moon: the devious (x)

family:

father: sunday wiriya chanthotri, deceased (human rights activist) mother: star phawta phairot, deceased (human rights activist) siblings: none pets: none other significant relatives: maternal grandparents & yasmin phairot, cousin

health & medical:

allergies: latex smokes: yes drinks: yes drugs: not often, he prefers not to lose his faculties eating habits: blaze eats when he gets anxious, so he can usually be found with a snack in hand when he’s feeling upset. if he’s too focused on something, though, he’ll forget to eat exercise habits: all that eating and not getting fat means that blaze has to work out often and aggressively just to keep the weight off and himself as good looking as possible

misc:

theme song: if u c my enemies by rubblebucket aesthetic: signing your name with a flourish, steam on a mirror, escape routes, homemade pho, pulling a muscle favorite animal: tigers favorite shows: political and procedural dramas favorite movies: anything historical or related to nonfiction topics, something he can read about afterwards music taste: blaze was interested in music before he chose a more realistic interest in politics so his music taste is experimental and all-encompassing

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basics:

full name: audrey lihn ngo nicknames: none, really  age: twenty-six birthday: 30 january birthplace: newark, new jersey hometown:  newark, new jersey nationality: american ethnicity: vietnamese sexuality: lesbian languages: english, conversational vietnamese, some korean occupation: law student, thrift store employee, bouncer at the indigo fox  accent: jersey accent, mostly just loud

abilities:

element: water training ( 9 / 10 ): with a specific affinity for ice, audrey has trained almost her whole life to master her element. she will do her best to change the terrain of the battlefield as she fights to keep her opponents on edge. however, these powers are exhausting for her to use for too long or on too great a scale health ( 7 / 10 ): audrey would never admit it to anyone, but her stamina has never been quite the same after her injuries sustained in her accident. she's still going to give any fight her all intelligence ( 6 / 10 ): battle comes naturally to audrey, but strategy is hard-won from experience. sometimes she loses her head and leaves rather obvious blind spots speed ( 8 / 10 ): her chosen weapons are meant for close combat, so audrey prefers to push forward on, and of course, fall back from her opponents as quickly as possible strength ( 7 / 10 ): audrey's mentality is to strike first and strike hard. she tends to put everything into her offense, hoping that the weight of two swords and ice will catch her opponent off-balance dexterity ( 7 / 10 ): as a kyoshi warrior, audrey found solace in throwing herself into her training. castor and pollux obey her without question, but falter with her own indecisiveness weapon(s) of choice: twin swords castor and pollux, given to her by her father as a mostly unwelcome gift after she joined the kyoshi warriors overall ranking: ( 7.3 / 10 )

appearance:

hair color & style: black with bleached white undercolor. waist-length and usually kept out of her way in various complicated braids eye color: black-brown, nearly indistinguishable from pupil complexion: olive skin that rarely burns and tans well distinguishing marks: scar on left side of face, bisecting her eyebrow height: five feet, three inches build: muscular, audrey has been training every day as a kyoshi warrior and it shows tattoos: wolf skull on left hand (x), small teapot on right side of ribcage (x), crescent moon outline behind right ear (x), satanic ram on shoulders (x) piercings: two in each earlobe, helix in left ear, industrial in right ear, daith in left ear, septum, navel

personality:

positive traits: resourceful, straightforward, & social negative traits: impulsive, oblivious, & volatile mbti: entj-a, the commander moral alignment: chaotic neutral zodiac sign: aquarius sun, aries moon: the shoo-in (x)

family:

father: garridan aides (earthbender & united nations representative) mother: cam ngo (receptionist) siblings: none pets: black outdoor cat named spud other significant relatives: the extended ngo family included aunts, uncles, cousins, hoa pham, deceased grandmother

health & medical:

allergies: none smokes: in the process of quitting, easy to convince otherwise drinks: often to excess, for funsies drugs: would but she never really has money for them besides weed eating habits: like a human garbage disposal, will eat anything and everything she can get her little racoon hands on exercise habits: audrey wants to be strong always, so she works out a ton to keep her physique perfect and anyone’s face punchable

misc:

theme song: boys wanna be her by peaches aesthetic:  messy braids, walking a deserted stretch of highway, withered flowers, holding someone’s hand so tightly it hurts, soreness after a good workout favorite animal: feral cats, wolves favorite shows: any trashy tv or bingeable. audrey will perch and watch whatever’s on tv favorite movies: anything with seth rogen or james franco or both, preferably both music taste: riotgrrl music, anything that would play at a roller derby

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archetypcs‌:

It was hard not to feel another heavy, but different weight as Cyrus swore and drove off. But Lia could deal with that later, what was in front of her was the more pressing matter. Guilt settled in that she could stomach Cyrus leaving, but not Noah. From an objective viewpoint, Noah had been one of the most important persons she knew and she only recently got in touch with Cyrus…Her soulmate…They just weren’t there yet, or at least that’s what she figured to make it make sense to her. Noah didn’t leave, like she thought he might, but despite begging him, Lia hadn’t thought this entirely through and what she wanted to say at all. Slowly, she loosened her grip on his coat since it was clear he wasn’t storming off. “What’s…” Lia bit her lip, hesitating. “What’s your ideal outcome?”

Her question thew Noah off. Honestly, as he’d walked over his brain was kind enough to race through dismal outcomes. This new situation he’d thrown them all into was entirely unexpected. There was no way to prepare for it, or know what he was expecting. “Well, ideally, you wouldn’t be heading out with someone you matched. Now...” Noah’s shoulders lifted in a helpless shrug. Atleast his words were flowing more freely. He sounded less choked up about it now, and more frustrated with the whole situation. “What can I say that isn’t going to make me look like a selfish prick? I want to take you on a date.” He let out an exasperated chuckle at the whole thing. Noah was always so worried about being in her way, but when it came down to it-- he continued on, voicing his thoughts. “I know there’s somebody else who’s perfect for you, who’d probably pick up the phone and come back if you called him in five minutes, and my ideal outcome is still you ignoring all the brand-new complications it’d cause and taking a chance on me. That’s not fair to you at all.”

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archetypcs‌: 

Lia thought he might be in better spirits when she’d apologized, but he looked as miserably as she felt. “Oh yeah, that sounds good.” Her words had trailed off once he’d turned to go. But then he was back again and he had her tilting her head in confusion as she pieced together what he was saying. “You were…?” Just as the realization occurred to Lia, Noah was retreating. But she’d had a burst of emotions that had her adrenaline pumping. Lia quickly moved to grasp Noah’s arm and tug. “Noah, wait!” She couldn’t have him go like this. But then Cyrus was there. But she had to talk to Noah. Lia dropped her grip and turned towards Cyrus, who was still on his phone, though she didn’t move from Noah. “Cyrus, I’m sorry, I have to talk to Noah right now. I promise I’ll make it up to you later. Please go to dinner without me. I’m sorry.” And whipping back towards Noah, she held onto his sleeve. “Noah,” Lia breathed, eyed wide, before pleading. “Please don’t go. Please.” 

Cyrus, to his credit, had been minding his business. Lia was going to deal with this dude however she had to. He scrolled absentmindedly through Stella Dalloway’s Instagram feed, which he’d followed on the down low last week, actually. At Lia’s  words to him, though, his thoughts of what still might be the one that got away completely abandoned in favor of annoyance. His head snapped up and he squinted disbelievingly over at her. “Are you shitting me?” he called out to her, but as Lia didn’t pay him any more attention, he took that for what it was. Cy got into his car and tossed his phone into the passenger seat. Easy come, easy go, he figured. It felt like a public dismissal. Maybe it was, he supposed he would find out if she called. And he had driven all the way to Hell’s Kitchen. God, he hated Manhattan.

Noah did his best to ignore the way his stomach was still, somehow, amazingly, sinking. He wanted to put enough space between himself and Lia that things stung less. Unless he planned to pack it up and head to his dad’s it probably still wouldn’t be far enough. Her hand caught his arm, and he wasn’t sure how he wanted to react to the firmness of her touch. And then he flashed back to that same conversation that was still fresh in his mind, how she said she’d leave her soulmate for him. It made Noah feel like an ass for somehow putting that to the test as quickly as humanly possible. He turned to face Lia, expression open despite very much not wanting to show the turmoil and embarrassment he was feeling. “You don’t have to blow him off for me,” Noah reassured her as Cyrus started his car and left. He sounded more hoarse than usual, forcing himself to speak past the lump in his throat. “I just wanted to let you know where we stood, in case anything changes.”

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archetypcs‌: 

“That was the idea,” Lia remarked quietly. She’d put him in the back of her mind ever since their fight and of course she’d been down, but a lot of her attention had been pulled to Cyrus. It was strange how her feelings for Noah bubbled back up at the sight of him. And it was hard watching him now. Lia knew he hated being in uncomfortable situations more than anyone else, but for once, she couldn’t help him out here. She switched up her weight from one foot to another as she listened and took him in. The question had her bite her lip because that was the kind of question someone who might’ve liked her would ask, but she knew better than to hope for that, so she chalked it up to nervous small talk. Answering made her feel stupid because she knew her answer didn’t really matter to him either way.  “Um, yeah!” Her arms fell to her sides and a sudden bright smiled plastered itself across her face as she answered him before glancing back to look at Cyrus. Giving Noah her gaze once more, her grin shrank into a small subtle smile. “He’s my soulmate. So you were right. As usual. I guess it really worked out best between the two of us. I’m sorry I made such a big thing about it, but since I’m not gonna feel bad hanging out with you anymore, we could probably still hang out if you wanted to.”

Noah didn’t bother to look over at Cyrus when she dropped that bomb on him. Last thing he needed was to see the idiot’s smug expression right now. Instead he just embraced the ice cold prickling sensation of disbelief and embarrassment washed over him like a tidal wave.  He felt uncomfortably like a teenager again, uncomfortable in his own skin and this conversation. Part of him wanted to lash out, point out that everyone she dated was exactly the same-- but maybe it was just what she’d been looking for this whole time, anyway. And his shot was gone, had been wasted what seemed like eons ago and just tiptoed around. Without thinking too much on it, Noah slowly shook his head. “If you’re still down to hang out for our birthdays I didn’t technically change the plan with Beau, I’m sure he’s still planning a week-long extravagant holiday.” The words were automatic, his tone just barely on the forced side of casual.  Noah started to turn away, then doubled back while shoving his hands deep in his coat pockets, shoulders squaring. “But, yeah. Text me, or Beau, or the groupchat, whatever. By the way, I think you might’ve been right, actually. About our argument? I was finally ready to take the risk, because life’s too short to waste time doing stuff you don’t like. But it definitely seems like a moot point now, so nevermind. I’ll see you around.” That was enough self-disclosure for one embarrassing lifetime. Hands still in his pockets he gestured vaguely to encompass the both of them together as he started back for his house. “Mazel tov, guys.”

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archetypcs‌: 

Cyrus’s suggestion had Lia wrinkling her nose automatically, ready to refute it. If he’d known it was so insufferable, why would he suggest it? Then again, it sounded like a terrible, but fun experience. She’d figure it out when they got in the car, but then a voice caught her attention and her head snapped towards Noah. Obviously taken aback, Lia’s mouth parted slightly and she stared at him like a deer in headlights. Then Cyrus spoke and her eyes darted to whoever had held the floor up until Noah’s attention was on her again. Lia had no idea how to deal with this. She didn’t really plan on seeing Noah again considering she thoroughly ended it. The default was to be agreeable. “Hi Noah.” She paused before realizing he’d asked to talk to her and wanted a response. Turning her head back to Cyrus, she put up a hand. “Hold on, I’ll be a sec.” Then she stepped forward, closer to Noah, though not quite as close as was familiar and crossed her arms. “Uh. What?” There wasn’t anything better she could say, especially when she knew Cyrus was nearby.

Cy was responding before he’d thought too hard on it, tone quickly souring. “He was found not guilty in a court of law and we don’t do double jeopardy here in the States.” There was the smarmy attitude that made Cyrus dislike him so much. He bared his teeth back at Noah, but let the situation rest. He could wait for Lia, and he gave her his own look of annoyance but ultimately the indication that he’d wait as she figured out what this guy was bothering her for. He dug his phone out of his pocked and opened Instagram to browse as he leaned against the hood of his car.

Yeah, but barely not violating the law wasn’t exactly a landslide victory. Noah kept that much to himself, since he didn’t care what idiot thing came out of Cyrus’s mouth. Instead he watched Lia practically apologize to Cyrus and realized he was now very much a third wheel to what had to have been an actual date. Noah wanted to turn on his heel and be done with it all. Then Ripley’s words echoed through his head. Prudent, risk-averse, boring. He wasn’t going to be a coward, too. Didn’t stop that sick feeling from getting much more real. “Just, haven’t heard from you in awhile,” he began, moving to stand at just the right angle that Cyrus couldn’t make out what either of them were saying. “I kinda feel like a dick, I didn’t think I’d interrupt you while you were-- y’know, on a date.” It felt like his throat was closing up. Unfortunate. “You really like this dude?”

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archetypcs‌: 

When Cyrus finally spoke, it was easy to follow his train of thought. She saw the logical steps to it and she felt some relief for the first time in a long time. He liked her. Enough to give her a chance. Lia smiled at him, finding it a little hard not to now. “Oh? You don’t normally day drink?” She teased, feeling a little bit back on track. “But I like that idea. I’m pretty used to hitting on you, but it’ll be a nice change of pace for you to do it.” Biting her lip again, she thought about what she was going to say and decided she’d never been good at keeping her feelings to herself. “I’m excited it’s you, Rivera.”

She seemed to mull it over, and he was content to wait. It was its own reward to have her response be so positive. Flattery was probably an easier way into Cy’s good graces than most people realized. He grinned over at Lia as he lifted what remained of his drink to his lips. “Yeah, you’re not too bad yourself, Villace.”

--- “I think we can assume I’m burnt out on Italian for dinner,” Cyrus teased as they started towards his car. “You’ll have to pick somewhere else or I’m gonna drag you to this insufferable French place I know where they’ll serve us snails and nothing else.” They boasted a halfway-decent wine list, though, so maybe it wasn’t all that bad. He didn’t recognize the guy approaching Lia at first, taking a moment to place the face in his memory. It was the dorky friend from the good old days-- but Lia hadn’t said a word about him in the last couple weeks, and since they’d been seeing each other liberally, it definitely would’ve come up. But this older version also fired his synapses up again, and Cy greeted Noah Romero with enough measured warmth. “Hey, man. Haven’t seen you since you were interning for us at Huffman and Pace,” he called over. “Did you just read my dissertation and decide you just didn’t have the stomach to be a good defense attorney?”

Noah didn’t have any sort of plan. It’d just been him and Ripley and now he was walking towards Lia’s place. He decided to ride the anticipation instead of letting it slow him down. It mostly made him walk more quickly, and sure enough she was right there in front of her apartment, headed out somewhere, presumably. Noah didn’t realize how much he’d missed seeing her face until she was in front of him. “Hey,” he offered by way of admittedly lame greeting, catching Lia’s attention as her head turned. “I just wanted to talk to you if you had a sec--” The lazy greeting brought his attention across the hood of the car parked in front of Lia’s building. And there stood Cyrus Rivera. The wave of dislike was immediate and endlessly familiar. He smiled tightly over at their old schoolmate. “I figured I could do better things with my time than get radio DJs out of harassment charges on a technicality,” Noah responded immediately. The guy had ignored him in high school, and ignored him again in law school, and his dissertations, frankly, sucked. Nepotism had earned Rivera’s associate spot, nothing more. After all, the DJ in question was very publicly employed by the Rivera family’s radio station. His attention slid back to Lia, brows lifting ever so slightly as he waited on her response. It was unlikely that Lia hadn’t seen Cyrus right in front of her. Noah realized they were probably hanging out, together, and that wave of anticipation took a sharp turn towards his sense of impending doom.

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archetypcs‌: 

Cyrus had gotten enough of a good look, she was sure, and she felt embarrassed again by what he’d said. Buttoning her pants again and brushing her clothes of wrinkles, she brushed her hair behind her ear and faced forward, placing a hand on her drink, but not going for it quite yet. “I mean, I’m not sure what to think about it. Frankly, I never even considered I really would meet…” She trailed off before landing awkwardly on, “Them.” Maybe he wanted to hear her say she thought she could see something between them, but after having just been brutally rejected for voicing her feelings, she felt a little tight about being the first one to do it. “Can you tell me what you think? Please? Between the two of us, I was always looking to you for the answers,” she admitted that, at the very least before biting her lip.

What was he thinking? She posed a very good question. It took Cyrus a moment to collect his thoughts, and he could tell from Lia’s expression that the pause was agonizing. “I’m not sure what to think,” he began, gaining confidence as his jumble of thoughts fell into line. “I wasn’t ever allowed to be attracted you in that capacity before. Back then I figured it would’ve stopped me from being so objective. “But I’ve always liked talking to you and you’re the only person who could get me into this sauna of a divebar at... ten past one on a weekday,” he continued, checking his watch on his wrist to make sure he’d gotten the time exactly right. “It looks more than a little, uh, fated to me, but maybe we can go out on a real date soon and try it again with clear intentions.” Which were that they were bound together as soulmates. Still too heavy of an implication. “At the very least it’d give us a chance to be on the same page from the jump.”

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archetypcs‌: 

The tone in which Cyrus had taken had Lia snapped from her stupor and turn to glowering at him. “I know what a tree looks like.” She felt a need to prove herself correct, taking him on for his challenge. In hindsight, it probably would have lacked tact, but most things Lia did were. A quick and fluid motion, she undid her jeans, lowering the right side just enough to show Cyrus her own mark and nothing else. She raised her brows at him, expectingly. “Well?”

He blinked at the slight hostility. He blinked again, a little bit harder, as Lia showed him hers. There was a whole scene inside the tree itself, but it was there. Interesting. “I mean, it’s compelling enough, for sure. I believed you. But what do you think about it? Really. Since you didn’t seem all that into me before you saw it. You seemed like you were surprised I was giving the same energy back to you.” There was the barest hint of irritation in his voice, which Cy covered by downing a good portion of his drink.

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archetypcs‌: 

If Lia thought hard about it, she guessed this could be counted as flirting– But she’d always did when it came to Cyrus. It mostly seemed like a joke and she would have kept bantering if her eyes hadn’t drawn to the tree on his arm. It really hadn’t hit her quite yet, not even when she pointed at it and said, slightly dazed, “I have that.”

He watched Lia’s expression change. Cy hadn’t thought he was coming on too strong-- after all, she’d marched right up to him-- but maybe she’d only ever been testing the limits on his patience by flirting with him in high school. He dragged his attention from a potential misstep to her staring at his mark. “What, an arm? The standard human model comes with two of ‘em,” he asked, but really he knew what she’d meant so he pressed on. It was an unexpected development, but not unheard of. A couple girls he’d seen over the years had their own marks of trees, but nothing really ever panned out. “Or you’re talking about the tree. You think we match?” He couldn’t see anything on her, but the sudden solemness in Lia impressed upon him had Cy guessing she would be the best judge.

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archetypcs‌: 

The reality of what’d happened had Lia frowning. She’d been rooting for them if not because it’d been the most personal thing either person then had been willing to share. “Why not?” She asked, forgetting any thought to his previous relationship. “Friends can get drinks. Nothing salacious about it.” She punctuated it by clinking her glass to his before drinking. The joke caught her by surprise and she covered her mouth for fear of spitting out and laughed again. “Oh, didn’t realize you wanted to be the fourth, Rivera. Since you’re trying to keep count and all.”

He’d already said it was about principles, so Cy only lifted his shoulders in his own defense. “I can give you a pretty good recommendation on divorce lawyers, is all,” Cyrus replied dryly, taking another drink after their glasses clinked together.  “But I’m also guessing that’s a no. So it’s entirely possible that this is all salacious.” It was on his part, a little bit. Cyrus leaned towards Lia as he rolled up his sleeves-- it was no use pretending like it wasn’t practically a steam room of a dive bar they were in. His elbows settled on the bar in front of him as he continued in a conspiratorial tone. “You and I talking now has more of a spark than Stella and I had the day she left.”

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archetypcs‌: 

Lia snorted. “I mean, I’m not gonna analyze every single thing you do and make assumptions from there.” She emphasized the point since he was doing it to her now. “I used to do that all the time and that was a terrible time. I’m wiser now. I’ll give you the benefit of doubt and ask you directly.” There was a bar not too far from the courthouse Lia had lead him to. It wasn’t very crowded given the time of day, so she picked out a good seat and was helped soon after. Getting settled, Lia began taking off her outer wear. “Hey, how’s your girlfriend? I was invested in that story of you and Stella, how’s it end?”

Cyrus hoped she was ready to embrace disappointment, because it was looking more and more to him that he didn’t have that much to offer her. “Oh, Stella? That was...” he let a low whistle as he settled next to her at the bar, sidling out of his coat in the nearly sweltering heat the bar provided. His own order placed after Lia’s he eventually continued. “That was over a long time ago. We talked a little but then she went to school in England somewhere and that was the end of that.  “Besides, if I was seeing anybody, I probably wouldn’t be getting drinks with you right now, on principle.” Their drinks arrived and he took a sip of his. “What about you? You’re not on your third divorce or something, right?” Cy didn’t think that was accurate, but Lia was pretty enough and impulsive enough that it seemed to be in the realm of possibility.

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archetypcs‌: 

There was less resistance than Lia thought she’d come by here, but she was delighted with it all the same. Syncing up in step with him, she pursed her lips. “That sounds awfully like you’re trying to incriminate me and I like to think I’ve learned from that.” She kept her nose up with an air of sophistication as she gave some thought to what they could do. Silent for a moment, finally, the idea came to her. “Let’s get a drink!” She clutched his arm zealously. “We could never do that before, but we can now and I wanna know what you, Cyrus Rivera, are like. Also, have you got a middle name? That’d be more effective.”

“Hey, you already agreed to it,” Cy pointed out in his best lawyer-neutral tone as he allowed himself to be towed along. “I’m just trying to get an accurate mental picture of where you’re at now. Day drinking is definitely a good start. As for my middle name, you probably would’ve had more luck finding that out in school. I saw yours often enough when your permanent record would get pulled for a biannual detention tally.” He was joking, but he’d poked through the school’s transcripts in his free periods often enough that he probably had run into Lia’s in passing once or twice. “I hope your interrogations go a lot better than this. I feel like I’m on Ellen, answering all these questions.”

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archetypcs‌: 

“I’ve never been more flattered, Cyrus.” He did have her laughing out loud at both the comparison and the memory he’d resurfaced. Lia had forgotten how easy it was to talk to him and how much fun it’d been, even if he’d only agree under threat of certain death. “Aw hey, I was gonna say something about being power hungry but it looks like you already pegged me.” Lightly, she backhanded his arm. “But maybe you made me realize hall monitors do more than give out detentions. There’s justice and a sense of accomplishment sprinkled somewhere in there.” Lia wanted to talk to him more, catch up more, but she also didn’t want to impose. “Were you busy now? Any chance I can convince you now to play hooky with me?”

It was her laughter that sealed it. Lia was a bright little blast from the past and Cyrus was content to ride out whatever happened from here on out-- after all, he wasn’t her superior in any capacity now. Her comments surprised him a little, since he figured her one dorky friend would’ve been more of an inspiration where developing a moral compass was concerned. Cy brushed it away as he considered her offer. “I can send a couple emails,” he agreed, playing at reluctance. That wasn’t necessarily true-- he wasn’t due back to the courthouse for another week, and there hadn’t been any other obligations for the day. But Lia didn’t have to know that. Cyrus nodded a little towards the flow of pedestrians on the sidewalk, so they would start walking as they continued. “What does a crooked cop do when they’re playing hooky, exactly? I’m ready to be impressed.”

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archetypcs‌: 

“I really wished you would have done something more surprising. I can’t believe you would choose to do something so counter-intuitive to aligning with me in the slightest.” Lia clucked her tongue, hands on her hips as she moved back by just a step to give her a better look at him. The compliments he laid on her did tint her face with a streak of pink across it, something Lia wasn’t used to at all, and she presumed it was simply because she could acknowledge objectively he was attractive and no once ever really complimented her on her smell before. There was always something inherently intimate in that. “Lucky for you, I did us both a favor and became a cop. Now we’re on the same side. Though I will miss our thrilling star-crossed love affair.” She gave him a bright grin that supposed she thought it was funnier than it was. 

“Should’ve known our career paths would intersect even if we aren’t exactly always on the same side,” Cy commiserated with a grimace. Cops usually didn’t like when lawyers from his firm showed up. “But it sure seems like knowing you way back when made me realize maybe not everybody’s as guilty as they look.” He noticed that he made her blush, which was certainly new. But then she was back to teasing, and it was the same as ever. Cyrus’s brows narrowed playfully as his head cocked to one side. “Sorry, our what? If anything it was a very civil Tom and Jerry kind of situation. You were the Jerry, but I was always coming up empty-handed. Except that one time you didn’t almost accidentally burn down the gym. I’d accept that as a pretty big success on my part. How’d you adjust to always following the rules? Are you a crooked cop, Villace?” 

[poisontcngue]

archetypcs‌: 

When it came to Noah, Lia wanted to tell anyone and everyone about him, gushing or firing off about one thing or another, but more recently, the sole thought of him settled in her stomach like a stone. There wasn’t more she could do because she’d done enough, so she didn’t pick at her faults, what she should’ve done, or vented to anyone. Cold acceptance had washed over her and she went about her life very listlessly– Still cheery as ever, but it felt a little hollow. It was an absolute surprise when real enthusiasm hit her in the face at a courthouse on a Tuesday in her Sunday best. “Cyrus!” Lia exclaimed, not having seen her friend in years. She couldn’t have been mistaken either because he’d always been so distinctive. A quick and decisive hug left him no room to push her away before she pulled back. “What’re you doing here? Did you finally turn towards a life of crime?” She asked with feigned seriousness.

The calling of his given name was enough to drag Cy out of his mental review of the deposition he was supposed to give after lunch. He mostly went by his surname now, since it was the only way the senior partners bothered to acknowledge the junior associates like himself. Some part of his interest was piqued when he was hugged by the person who’d caught his attention. He hadn’t seen the queen of chaos herself in what was very close to a decade. Lia was still something nice to look at, so he could stand to carve out a couple minutes for conversation.  “Well, I know I’m dressed for court, but you should know I’m actually working keeping people that aren’t myself out of jail, actually,” he informed her, arms crossing over his chest. “I’ve been good, can’t complain. What’ve you been up to, Lia Villace?  I bet you’re keeping on the right side of the law-- you look good. Smell nice.” Which was true. A little floral with just a hint of impending danger. Cy was dying to hear her answer, since there was no way it’d be boring.