Realistic or Modern Family Ties: 1980s Gangs - IC (Ended)

[Bellz]

Harper King
En Route to Harper's Apartment
~ Islington, London ~​

Harper willingly followed Jeremy to the car upon him demanding her too. He'd mentioned that lookouts had seen her and while normally she would have been more worried about it, she couldn't find it in her to care. None of it was going to matter if she allowed herself to get worse. Clearly, Jeremy was upset with her and she allowed him to be as he turned to look at her once they were safe inside his car. Harper didn't turn her whole body to fully look at him, instead just turning her head slightly, meeting his eyes from that position.

When he said that she was going to sit there and listen for once in her life, Harper weakly nodded her head. She was too tired to argue and she knew that he was only trying to help her in the end so there was no point in fighting him. Hearing that he was more upset about her not trusting him was interesting...she was sure he was going to be more upset about the fact that she had snuck off and she'd basically made it so that he'd have to have it out with Bruce and Spencer. The fact of the matter was, she didn't trust anyone anymore...at least, the people she had in her life since the beginning. While she didn't 100% trust her estranged father...he still opened himself up to her and gave her choices on whether she could leave when she wanted or not.

Jeremy stated that he wasn't her brother and that he'd known what it was like to not know his parents. Harper hadn't really thought about that. Yet another thing they almost annoyingly had in common. While Harper had known Jeremy for so long...it was almost as though she really didn't know him. He'd always been on the quiet side, not much of a mushy person who liked to share their backstory up until recently. So any reminder of information about his history always threw her off.

She straightened up slightly as he pointed out that if she told them, they would have been able to do this all differently. "Well I hate to break it to you, but before you are my friend...or whatever you are now..you work for my family. You really willing to stand in front of Bruce and Spencer and tell them I was right to visit the man that supposedly killed my mother?" Harper finally spoke up, though her voice was void of any sort of her usual attitude.

Jeremy brushed her shoulder with his hand and Harper didn't move to force it away like she normally would. "I shouldn't need to go to meetings, or rounds or any of it!" She said, slamming one of her fists against her knee hard enough to hurt. "I shouldn't be like this -- everyone expected me to turn out like her, that woman that didn't even stick around long enough to know me. All of the kids at school who picked on me for years! They were right, here I am, addicted to pain pills because I was unfortunate enough to survive that explosion." Harper growled. Jeremy had mentioned that he trusted her to make the right decision and Harper scoffed, "Don't speak too soon, Jere." Was all she said before looking ahead out the windshield, tears slowly crawling down her face.

There was a moment of silence before she sighed, "I'm sorry...for sneaking out. I just don't want to put you in the middle of my battle with my family. Even though I didn't know him, I think Trevor is trying to do right again...but my family is never going to believe that after what he did, huh?"
with: Jeremy BasDorcha
mentions: Trevor + Spencer Misty Gray ; Bruce Pyroclast

 

[BasDorcha]

Le Hospital
Michelle Romano​

Michelle laughed a little as her dad joked about dreaming of steaks and pints. A wink followed the statement as she whispered, “I think I could make that happen, if you really wanted.” She grinned and situated herself in her seat, getting comfortable. Her dad looked like nothing she had ever seen before – she had never seen him look like anything less than the powerful head of the family, strong and able to carry the weight of the world on his shoulders like it was feather light. Now he looked less of that, more… normal and realistic, rather than some giant of a man in the main character slot of a story.

When he asked if she planned on sticking around the first time, she nodded, “For a bit… I don’t want to take up all your time, I know Ali wants to come back and see you again with the girls. There’s been talk of a family dinner once you get home, so I want the kids back for that. Plus, it’ll be time to start back to school soon, so they’ll need to be here for that. Hopefully they’ve enjoyed their extended vacation with their father.” The word father was soaked in disdain as she said it but didn’t realize it herself. When he went on to bring up what she did and did not know about the family, she gave him a slight nod. “I know that everyone but Grandma Shannon basically killed each other in a war. She tried to keep info to the minimum – I don’t think she wanted to influence how I felt about you or your family. She only ever wanted to make sure I knew you.”

His sigh told her enough to say that he was either regretful in his old age, or on a different train of thought all together. When he asked again if she was planning to stick around, she perked an eyebrow at him, wondering for a split second if he had forgotten he just asked her that. Then she realized he meant it differently then before, more so in the sense of her living arrangements and Dublin in general. She nodded again, “I’d like that too dad. I was thinking if I could get into the local politics game, like I did back home, it might not be a bad thing for the family. I can help with things from the inside. Find a way to turn the narrative around on what people think about the Sullivan's. I also found a place just round the corner from the family house, a nice little three bedroom townhome. Its not as big or fancy, but I figure you don’t need your full grown daughter and two grandkids filling the house back up.” The last bit was said a little teasingly, even if it was serious.

“I… I know you’ve heard about me and Ali’s fight. I don’t want you to stress, just know I’m going to fix it, okay? I love you, and I love her, I just… I guess my head is a little messed up right now. Family is the most important thing to me though, and I haven’t had enough time with the whole other side of my family, and I plan on making the best of it.”
Mentions/Interactions Misty Gray - Conor
Melanin-Gxdess - Aliana

 

[Misty Gray]

The Royal Taphouse
~ Bethnal Green, London ~

Christian Brooks​

Christian couldn't help but let out a playful chuckle when May had flicked the chip at him. In his world, the vast majority of his time was spent in serious interactions, or at the least in the company of some uptight people. Unwinding and messing around didn't often factor into his life as of late, business or social. "Are you trying to get yourself barred form this fine establishment?" he asked May. "I bet you wouldn't do that if the owner could see you," he teased in reference to Spencer.

When May told him that the reason she'd asked him to look into her father was just for an excuse to call her, Christian raised a surprised eyebrow. It wasn't just the surprise at hearing she'd wanted an excuse to call him, but also him realising that she didn't realise the gravity of the situation. That one request she had made, that she was now casually shrugging off, had caused a lot of disruption that she was presently unaware of. She didn't realise just how controversial a situation was going on between the Kings as a result of her father's identity. "That's a healthy outlook to have," he told her when she played down needing to know who the man in question was. "You've got by all this time without your dad, so I have no doubts you could live the rest of your life without him too." Christian was glad to hear her show understanding that he had to keep some secrets and she knew he didn't do it maliciously. He just hoped if Trevor's identity came out and she was aware of how long he'd kept quiet about him that she would still be so understanding.

As all of the Kings eventually left the office and Spencer walked by with nothing more than a silent acknowledgement, Christian realised he would have to hold out a while longer yet before he knew the outcome of their vote. The atmosphere in the pub didn't feel so welcoming, though Christian suspected most of that was a personal problem, perhaps his own awkwardness at the situation coming into play. Seeing May had finished up her food, Christian downed the rest of his drink. "Alright, May. I think I'm going to call it a night as I'm up early tomorrow following up on some leads Bruce and Spencer asked me to look into. How about I walk you home?" he offered. "It's a nice evening for it."

BasDorcha (May)

 

[Misty Gray]

Syd Porter's House
~ Dublin ~

Adam Harper​

Adam had remained silent in his seat as Syd and Aliana spoke on a more personal level, not wanting to interrupt the moment between the nephew and aunt. He did straighten his posture a little when Syd made clear to her that he wasn't intending on waiting long before getting back at the Kings. That was about business and so it was of uttermost interest to Adam.

Before plans of retaliation could be discussed, the primary matter at hand was getting an update on Conor. Adam was keen to be a part of any attack on the Kings, but at the moment he needed to know if such orders would be coming from Syd or Conor himself. Adam could see Aliana was stressed even without her saying so, but it seemed it wasn't only Conor's situation that was putting a weight on her shoulders. Adam listened on as Aliana explained that Conor was awake, albeit having some small memory issues. He lightly nodded to confirm his understanding. Given Conor's head injuries, it wasn't surprising that there would have been some cognitive impairments, even if they were for the short-term. Aliana went on to make it clear Syd was to remain in charge for as long as it took for Conor to recover, and considering the man had to avoid stress, Adam figured the big guy wouldn't be rushing back to work. It didn't sound like Aliana would even let him if he tried. Of course, that meant Syd was to remain in charge and that also meant Adam was required to stay in his role as the younger man's right-hand guy. "Me and Ali are right here to help, mate," he echoed the woman's words to Syd.

Then Aliana mentioned that she'd told Conor about Aidan. Adam rubbed his chin between his thumb and fingertips for a moment as he fought past his own feelings about his friend's death. Of course he was going through his own grief over losing Aidan, but as always, he was able to separate his emotions from work. "Benjie's not been doing well, to be honest," he answered Aliana. Having seen the young man himself and received updates from Chase, he was aware just how much Benjamin was struggling. "However, I believe he's going to be fine. Kurt is back in Dublin and should already be at the kid's place as we speak. Having his dad back will give Benjie a boost and support, I'm certain," he assured Aliana and Syd.

With thoughts of Syd's assurance to Aliana that they were going to get back at the Londoners responsible for the attack on Conor and Aidan, Adam sat forward, the subject fitting into his role. "We need to organise a team to send to London and make sure not only those responsible are dealt with, but also that we send a message that the Sullivans are not to be fucked with." Adam tapped his fingers on the chair arm as he recalled what they already knew about Conor's and Aidan's attackers. "We know that Spencer, Alex and Billy were there, along with Jeremy. We need to not only extract the identity of Aidan's killer and kill 'em, but also get our hands on Bruce and Spencer themselves. We identify which of them is the most likely to spill their guts and buckle under pressure to tell us what we want. I'm aware of Harper King, but she wasn't there that night and she's likely in the dark about what happened, so there's no point trying to drag information out of her. We wouldn't be able to afford to spend too much time in London, so we aim straight for one who would know the answers we're after and is most likely to squeal there and then. Billy's the youngest brother - any idea what he's like?" he asked, figuring Syd and Aliana would likely know the Kings on a more personal level than he did, given the two families were for a time linked on a more personal level.

Pyroclast (Syd)
Melanin-Gxdess (Aliana)

 

[Pyroclast]

Syd Porter's House
~ The address doesn't matter, 'cause you're not invited ~

Syd Porter​

Hearing that Conor had woken up from his coma and with his memory in tact brought a relieved smile to Syd’s face. “That’s good,” he said, reaching forward to briefly squeeze Aliana’s hand. “That’s really good.” She then clarified that Conor wouldn’t be well enough to return to his position yet, so Syd would have to be in charge. He nodded, having expected it, though it still gave him some anxiety to know that his uncle wasn’t in good enough shape to be in charge anymore - especially not knowing whether he would be able to return at all. However, with both Aliana’s and Adam’s assurances that they would be there to help him, he had faith that between them they would be able to hold the fort. “Thanks,” he said to the two of them. “You tell Conor he doesn’t have to worry. However long he needs.”

While he let it sink in that he was now officially in charge, Aliana let them know she had told Conor about Aidan and asked how Benjamin was doing. A fresh pang of grief hit him as he felt for his uncle learning about Aidan’s death for the first time. He suddenly wanted to visit him and talk to him about the day it had happened, but he knew the man needed to rest and might not want to go over it all yet.

Having been so busy, Syd himself hadn’t managed to check on Benjie, so he was glad that Adam was able to fill Aliana in on how he was doing. Thinking about the young man’s pain saddened him, but he agreed with Adam that he would be able to get through it with the help of his dad. Everyone in that room was all too familiar with grief, so Syd knew he wasn’t the only one grateful to know that Benjie was being looked after.

With the updates on Conor and Benjamin covered for the time being, Adam moved onto the subject of retaliation. Sweeping his arm across the table to stub out his cigarette in the ashtray, Syd gave a slow nod as the man summarised what they knew about who was responsible for the attack, and began to theorise on who would be their best target. After eliminating Harper from the plan, Adam asked Syd what he knew about youngest brother, Billy King.

Syd drew a deep, pensive breath and looked off into the distance as the face of the young Londoner came to mind. “He might be a good target,” he said, lightly drumming his fingers on the table now that there was no cigarette occupying them. Of course, he kept himself well-informed on the activities and history of both allies and enemies alike, so he didn’t have to search far to dig up his mental file on Billy. “He’s 28 years old - an architect who works closely with the family. Doesn’t have kids, and I don’t think he’s got a girlfriend. Definitely no wife. To be honest, he doesn’t seem like much of a natural fighter compared to his brothers - less of a temper and not built like the rest. As far as I know, he’s got a straight career and relies less on the family business than the others do…he’s more of a normal guy who just happened to be born into a dangerous game.”

Looking back to Aliana and Adam, Syd leaned forward and linked his hands together on the desk. “Listen, Spencer and his wife have just had a baby,” he informed them. “We do want Bruce and all three brothers, sure - but whoever we send out there, I want our team to stay away from that kid. I want that made absolutely clear. No house raids, unless positive the kid is elsewhere - it’s harder to scout them than a public place and I don’t want any chance the kid could get caught up in it.”

With another deep breath, Syd leaned back and withdrew another cigarette from his silver case. “I suggest we use Billy to get the information from, as he’s less likely to be used to withstanding pain. Torture him and any friends he's with. And, if it’s possible without leaving a mess, we capture Spencer, Alex and Bruce - and Jeremy would be a bonus, too. I don’t just want an eye for an eye anymore. I want this over.”

Interactions
Melanin-Gxdess Aliana
Misty Gray Adam


Mentioned:
BasDorcha Jeremy
Bellz Harper

 

[Pyroclast]

Garda Station
~ Dublin City Centre, Dublin ~

Elena Velazco​

The adrenaline from what had happened at the bowling alley gave Elena the energy to run all the way back to the apartment, with Lucky in tow. She wanted to be as far away as possible from the man who had assaulted her, not only because of what he had done but also because of what Thomas had done to him. Though it was still easy enough to tune out the English being spoken around her, Elena hadn’t wanted to hang around to hear people talk about what they had just witnessed, so even though she might have used their phone to call a taxi for herself, her first thought had been to get far away as soon as she could.

Once she was back at the apartment, she fumbled through their phone book and found Adam’s number. Thomas might not have wanted him to know what had happened, but she didn’t know what to do on her own. By the second time her father’s phone went to voicemail, there were tears streaming down her cheeks. Thomas’ parents were in the phonebook too, but Elena didn’t know them - all she knew was that Thomas didn’t have the strongest relationship with them, and she was worried that if she called them and let them know their son had been arrested that she would only make their relationship worse. So instead, Elena decided that she would have to do it alone. Lucky looked lost without her master, but she came to sit at Elena’s side and let her hug her tight. Then she drew a sharp, determined breath, dried her eyes. “Lucky, vamos por él.”

Elena didn’t know what her plan was when the taxi rolled up outside the police station - she had no idea how to get Thomas out of prison, or even how to speak to the police about what happened. Filled with a fresh confidence, Elena gripped Lucky’s lead and marched into the station where she promptly approached the desk. “My boyfriend está aquí,” she announced.

“What’s the name, lass?” the receptionist asked, but before Elena could answer an officer strolled past, a half-eaten pastry in his hand. “She’ll mean that lad who was taken in not long ago,” he said to the receptionist, pointing at the bowling shoes that Elena was still wearing. “The one with the pistol at the bowling alley.”

“He needs to have his dog with him,” Elena insisted, and the two behind the desk simultaneously peered down to look at Lucky. “Please let me give the dog to him.”

The officer took another bite of his pastry and shrugged. “Someone’s speakin’ to him right now, love,” he said. “Sure ye can sit in the waiting area for now. And the dog, too.”

Lip trembling, Elena clutched Lucky’s lead and walked with her to a line of chairs, where she sat and tried not to worry. Even though she had a feeling Thomas needed Lucky far more than she did in that moment, Elena was still glad not to be completely on her own. She had no idea who was speaking to Thomas or what they were talking about, but if nobody gave her an update soon she decided she was going to approach the front desk again.

A few minutes went by with no news and Elena was growing increasingly agitated as she worried about how Thomas was doing and what was happening to him. She was just about to get up to ask the receptionist for an update when the doors opened and Thomas stepped into the waiting room, a woman walking alongside him. Elena jumped up from her seat, tears returning to her eyes as her hands flew to her mouth. At first she hesitated, not wanting to stress him out by running up to him - but when she saw the slight smile on his face, she realised that he had calmed down significantly and so she let herself run up to him and catch him in a hug. “Tomás!” she cried out, tears streaming down her cheeks all over again. She pulled away but stayed close, looking up at him and letting her shaking hands take his. “I worry so much for you! I was so scared! Are you okay? They let you out now?”

She was interrupted by Lucky, who managed to wriggle into the space between them and rub herself against Thomas’ legs. Elena stepped back, allowing them to reunite. “Tomás, I’m so sorry,” she said tearfully, worried that he had felt pressured to leave the house because of her restlessness. “We can go home and stay at home, I don’t need to go out with you if you are not ready. I only want to be with you, and we can be in the home together, okay? Lo siento, Tomás…”

Finally realising what he had said, she tried to figure out how to explain why she hadn’t stayed at home like he had asked. “I-I go home to call for help, because I don’t want you to be on your own,” she said. “But I don’t know who can help so I come here to give Lucky to you…” The subject of help drew her attention to the woman who had led Thomas into the waiting room. Elena looked up at her with a serious expression, unsure how to act. “You help Tomás?” she asked in a quiet voice. “You are his…abogada?”

Interactions
Bellz Tomás, Roxie

 

[Pyroclast]

Benjamin Reznik's House
~ Fairview, Dublin ~

Kurt Reznik​

There had been many little moments since Kurt first stepped outside of prison when it really hit him that he was free. With such a long sentence to pay, he had had to fully adapt to life on the inside, which meant disconnecting himself from the outside world. Now that he was out, he was rediscovering what it meant to be alive, piece by piece. When Benjie told him of the other family photographs he had stored in the apartment he would soon be moving out of and said that they could go through them all together, Kurt was hit by that realisation again - that he could just spend a day with his son, going through old things and sharing memories, without any curfews or rules or alarms. He was finally free.

When Benjie suggested they develop his last roll of film, Kurt smiled warmly. “I’d love to,” he said. Many of the photos were either ones he had never seen before or ones that he hadn’t seen for so many years that to see them again might feel like he was laying his eyes on them for the first time. For Benjamin, however, that last roll of film contained the only new images he would ever see of his mother. That was no doubt more special for him, given how long he had held onto it - and Kurt wanted nothing more than to be with his son when they finally got to see the last pictures he and Dolores ever took.

Although he knew that an apology couldn’t give them back the twenty years they had lost as father and son, Kurt still felt the need to say it. The two weren’t complete strangers, of course, and so it didn’t surprise him that Benjamin was able to look back on it without any animosity towards him, having always been so kind and optimistic - but it would always amaze him. He nodded when Benjie said Kurt could set the pace of how they would navigate their new life together, seeming to understand that the change could get overwhelming for someone who had spent half their life in prison. “How’d I get to be so lucky, huh?” Kurt said, cracking a smile as he tousled Benjamin’s hair. “To end up with you as my son. I dunno what I did to deserve ya’, kid.”

Benjie then backtracked, bringing up Conor again to ask why Kurt wanted to check in with him. He seemed concerned about Kurt looking for work now that he was out of prison, and what sort of job he might fall into if he got in touch with the mob boss. Kurt looked at him for a second as the young man trailed off awkwardly. “Hey, it’s alright,” he said, willing him to look him in the eyes. “I know I ain’t meant to be associatin’ myself with the mob no more, but there are people I wanna thank. Y’know, people who’ve looked out for you. These guys are your family, Benjie, and that makes ‘em my family, too. Out here in Dublin, they’re the only friends I got on the outside.” He chewed his lip for a moment as he mulled over the potential risk of getting caught up in criminal affairs again. “Don’t worry, I ain’t interested in makin’ a livin’ off that side of the business,” he assured his son. “Honest work would do me good, but I know how hard it is for ex-cons to get hired. There’s guys in this firm who understand that first-hand, so I figure they’re my best bet. The rest of the world ain’t so sympathetic.” Kurt looked at his son again, with a fond smile. “Don’t worry about me, kid. All I’m interested in now is makin’ up for lost time with you.”

Interactions
Misty Gray Benjamin

 

[Pyroclast]

Spencer and Shona King's Home
~ Bethnal Green, London ~

Shona King​

At Spencer’s assurance that he still found her sexy, Shona raised her head and met his eye. It was easy to say it, but even if she believed him, it wasn’t enough to help her believe it herself. When she said nothing in response, Spencer took her face in his hands and moved in to kiss her. It took her a moment, but finally she leaned into it. It wasn’t his fault that they hadn’t been intimate with each other as often as they used to - she hadn’t felt good enough in herself to initiate it, either. With both of them having too much on their plate, it had been hard for either of them to get into the mood.

Now, as they kissed, Shona could feel it slowly return: that flame, the passion and love between them that had always kept them close. It was still there, it had just become neglected and fallen dormant. All it needed was a fresh spark, and it would ignite all over again. Shona leaned into the kiss, letting her hands slide around to his back, and when he pulled away and showed her that irresistible smile of his she felt a tingling blush upon her cheeks.

Soon he had taken her by the hand and the two were rushing upstairs. While Spencer’s actions had been prompted by her, it didn’t seem at all like he was just doing it to cheer her up. From the way he pushed her up against the wall and passionately kissed her, she could tell that he had missed being with her, too. She couldn’t remember the last time they had had sex, but now he was about to remind her of what the two were capable of. He took her breath away when he pulled off his shirt, but even though she felt ready for him, she was reluctant to take off her clothes just yet. The pregnancy had changed her body in ways she hadn’t yet come to accept; she found it hard looking at herself in a mirror, let alone showing her husband. On another woman she was able to see the post-pregnancy stretch marks and loose skin as something to be proud of, but accepting her own was proving to be much harder.

Although she was somewhat nervous to be naked with him again, Shona could feel nothing but love and respect in his actions, something she didn’t realise how much she needed until now. With their hands interlocked and foreheads touching, she closed her eyes and whispered, “I love you, Spencer King.”

Then came the moment she had been dreading. Yet, she didn’t resist, believing that showing her husband her body was a crucial part of overcoming her insecurity. She stood anxiously as Spencer slowly removed her top, and when he sat down to gaze at her, she found herself staring at the wall instead of back at him, fully expecting him to change his mind. But then he spoke up in a serious tone, calling her gorgeous as if seeing her for the first time, and she looked at him, close to tears. As he helped her undress, she could feel her confidence returning to her by the second, and the kisses he left on her neck erased any and all doubt that he wanted her as much as she wanted him…

~ fade to black ~

Shona gazed up at the ceiling as she lay beside her husband, a peaceful smile on her face as her breath gradually returned to her. Her arm lay splayed across his chest, her hand reaching up to lovingly stroke Spencer’s cheek. “Wow...I don’t remember when I last felt so relaxed,” she uttered. A moment went by before she tilted her head to look into his eyes. “I feel a million times lighter, Spencer…you are amazing. I love you.” With a sweet smile, she planted a tender kiss on his lips. “But let’s never go that long without sex again!”

Interactions
Misty Gray Spencer

 

[BasDorcha]

Harper's Place
Jeremy Gray​

Harper’s question about whether he was willing to stand up to her family and tell them she was right to visit Trevor was a long shot. It wasn’t that he was willing so much to say “Hey, let her visit Trevor.” It was more along the lines of standing up for her in general. “Harper, I don’t necessarily agree with you seeing Trevor, your uncle and brothers know what kind of man he was when he disappeared on you all. He was not a good man. I’m not defending you for Trevor’s sake. Still… I believe you’re old enough to make your own decisions and smart enough to make the right ones, and with me around, I could protect you if there was something you couldn’t protect yourself from.” Jeremy focused on the road as he drove, giving the steering wheel a massage unintentionally as his hands gripped and released the thing in an automatic motion.

The conversation took another turn when they continued on to talk about the meetings. Jeremy knew she wasn’t going to like the sound of it, and he was right. She immediately revolted against the idea. Sighing, he listened, not because he was frustrated, but because he knew Harper was strong and feeling weak at this moment was going to be hard on her. He finally released his hand from the steering wheel and reached over, gripping her hand without looking at her, and only occasionally releasing to shift gears. “There is nothing in this world that says you should or shouldn’t turn out like anyone. You’re not like her Harper. Yes, you’re struggling now, but you didn’t make the choice to start this path – the accident did. You didn’t make the choice to start taking drugs – the doctors did. Unlike Laura, or Trevor, you also didn’t move into a lot more illicit drug’s either. You’re not like her, Harper. Stronger people then you have fallen victim to medication, because they needed it to survive, but you are realizing and acknowledging it a lot faster then most of them and that’s what makes you different.”

Jeremy chose to ignore the comment about not speaking too soon, he knew what he said and he was going to stand beside it. There was a silence that followed, his hand casually stroking hers with his thumb before he released for the last time to come to a stop before her apartment. Her last question hit him hard, and he struggled to answer. He looked at her with straight face, reached over, and popped the door open, pointing to the door. “I don’t know, Harp, I’m sorry.”

Mentions Bellz - Harper

 

[Misty Gray]

Chapter 14: Into the Fray
Sunday 21st July 1985
...3 days later...
Dublin: Evening - Warm, Sunny, Mild
London: Evening - Mild, Dry, Breezy
New York City: Afternoon - Warm, Breezy, Overcast

******************************

******************************

Spencer and Shona Kings Home
~ Bethnal Green, London ~
​

Spencer King

Despite the issues surrounding Trevor, the Sullivans, and the May discovery looming over the Kings, Spencer had managed to maintain a level of normality over the last three days. Having spent the week prior to his bust-up with Bruce avoiding doing any work for the family business, Spencer had been back on track the morning after reconciling with his uncle. It wasn't just his work that Spencer had returned to, but before anything else, he'd returned home to his wife and son. Having realised how downbeat and self-conscious Shona had been feeling since giving birth, he'd made sure to treat his wife like the queen she was.

Although it was a Sunday, Spencer had spent the morning checking in on some of the businesses, but had made sure to get home in the early afternoon to help Shona with preparations for their guests arriving that evening. Although it was only family; Bruce, Harper, Darcey, and now May, the evening was going be relatively serious and Spencer anticipated the potential for matters to get quite heated. After all, they were about to tell May she was Trevor's daughter and a sister to the four King siblings. With Alex not in attendance, one catalyst for an explosive evening had been removed from the equation. Still, he wasn't the only person likely to bring some tension along. Even if Harper took that well, there was also the matter that she had to stay away from her deadbeat father. Not to mention, if May wanted to know her siblings, she would have to sever any ties with Trevor before they could even be formed.

When Eddie had fallen asleep in his arms after a what felt like a long time to settle, Spencer put his son into his crib in the nursery before returning downstairs to find Shona. When he did find her he walked up to her to stand behind and wrap his arms around her waist. Resting his head against hers he lightly swayed her from side-to-side, humming along to one of the songs that he'd heard played on the radio earlier. Soon, he released her and stepped around in front. Taking both of her hands in his, he looked into her eyes and lovingly smiled, before pulling her in closer to dance to the music that was playing in his head. "Your love is king, crown you in my heart..." he playfully sang to her.

Spencer soon stopped dancing and let go of Shona so he could see her face again. "I'm going to arrange for one of our lot to babysit Eddie next week and I'm taking you out on a date, love. I'm going to spoil you rotten, my queen," he assured her. Hearing the knock at the door, Spencer rolled his eyes before grinning back at Shona. "Well, time for some drama," he remarked, anticipating how the evening's meeting would go. He leaned in to kiss her lips before turning away to let their first guest in.

Given the tensions with the Irish and having a baby son to think about, Spencer had kept the front door locked for security. After glancing through the window, he unlocked the door before pulling it open to greet his uncle. "Evening, Bruce," he said, stepping aside to let the older man enter. He gave the man a brief, firm embrace before turning to close the door again. "You timed that well, didn't ya?" he teasingly began as he walked into the lounge with him to join Shona. "Eddie's was screaming his lungs out a quarter of an hour ago. You should've been here for that, to share our pain," he joked.

Spencer gave Shona and Bruce chance to greet each other before offering his uncle a drink. After their recent falling out, Spencer was glad to be back on good terms with him now. Once drinks were sorted, Spencer sat beside Shona on the sofa, with Bruce seated across from them. "Did Darcey say what time she'll get here with May?" he asked his uncle. "Harper knows what time to be here for." Glancing to the nearest framed photograph of Laura, he looked back to his uncle. "May ain't the only one who's gotta stay away from Trevor," he noted, though he didn't doubt Bruce was on the same wavelength.

Pyroclast (Shona, Bruce)
Bellz (Harper)
Melanin-Gxdess (Darcey)
BasDorcha (May)

Syd Porter's House
~ Dublin ~
​

Savannah Callahan

Since receiving the letter notifying of Alex's intention to begin court proceedings for the custody of Callum, Savannah had struggled to get much sleep at all. When she did eventually fall asleep, she was plagued with nightmares of losing Callum. When it wasn't those dreams, it was ones of herself and her family being arrested for their past crimes, highlighting her fear of her family's business being dragged up in any court case. It had also brought back a lot of memories from her own past; primarily her recollection of the time she'd killed a man in New York. Whilst realistically there was no chance of the crime being traced back to her, it never stopped that niggling feeling from cropping up in her head once in a while, only now it was more intensified. It might have been done in self-defence, but the fact her family had covered it up and a man had still been killed made her certain any court would call her a murderer. Just as she couldn't live with losing Callum or being separated from him, she didn't believe she would ever survive in prison either.

Sleep hadn't been the only thing Savannah hadn't been getting. For weeks, she'd had no appetite and had barely been eating. Since receiving Alex's letter, she could feel it getting worse, yesterday having not been able to eat anything at all. That had served to remind her of when she was a child and Peter had been sent to prison for the first time. Savannah and her siblings had seen first hand the effects of Peter's incarceration on their mother's bipolar and her eating disorder. The longer her own despondency continued and intensified, the more Savannah worried she was destined to end up suffering with the same mental health issues Sinead did.

Savannah had always tried to be where her family and loved ones were. Dublin, New York, London, and now Dublin again. Despite the love she had for her family, she couldn't deny that danger and misery followed them. Even by staying out of the family business and doing her own thing, she'd still failed to break the cycle. With the recent attack on Conor and Aidan, as well as the London attack that preceded it, Savannah believed neither Dublin nor New York were safe for Callum. The fact she was genuinely worried she could lose custody of Callum had left her to come to only one conclusion, and that was to get far away from the dangers both sides of Callum's family attracted. Given the legal matters and Alex's determination to gain custody of their son, Savannah had decided the only solution to guarantee Callum's safety and for him to remain in her care was to leave. To get away from both Dublin and London without leaving behind a trace for danger to follow them.

With so much going on with her family, including Conor's hospitalisation, Savannah hadn't felt able to talk to her family about how she was struggling. In the past she would have spoken with her mother, but seeing how upset and worried Sinead was about Conor, she hadn't felt able to burden her with another problem. Others in her family would likely find Alex's court proceedings to be another attack on them and no doubt react aggressively towards the Kings for it. Thankfully, there had been someone Savannah felt able to confide in and that was Danny. Over recent weeks, she'd found herself gravitating closer to her ex - her first love. Although they hadn't kissed or shown any physical signs of being a couple, the two of them had been getting closer and sharing a lot with each other. Danny often came by the house to hang out with her, and sometimes with Callum too, and it all just felt so natural. Despite that, the concerns weighing Savannah down had prevented her from getting in any frame of mind to explore her feelings for Danny and move forward with them at all.

Savannah had told Danny about her intention to leave Dublin with Callum and he'd agreed to go with her. As it wasn't as straightforward as just buying some plane tickets and disappearing, they knew they had to involve her family if she was going to stop the Kings from tracking her down. With Conor recovering from his attack, she'd arranged a meeting with Syd to discuss her intentions. After they'd dropped a very excitable Callum off at his grandparents' house for a sleepover, Danny drove Savannah to Syd's place. Once the car was parked up, the blonde turned to Danny and softly smiled at him. "You know I would love nothing more than for you to come with me and I know Callum really likes you, but if you have any doubts about doing this with me, please don't keep them to yourself." She then leaned in to give Danny a hug before pulling back and checking he was ready to get out of the car.

Savannah walked closely next to Danny as they approached the front door. Having noticed the vehicles parked up, she glanced to Danny. "Looks like Roxie's already here," she said. She had some apprehension about how her best friend was going to react to the plans, but more than that, she knew it would be hard leaving Roxie again. Granted, leaving New York for London had still left plenty of opportunity for them to visit each other. Savannah knew this time she would have to stay away from Dublin for the foreseeable future. After discreetly reaching down to take Danny's hand and give it a gentle squeeze, she released him and pushed the doorbell next to Syd's front door.

Pyroclast (Danny, Syd)
Bellz (Roxie)

Lorelei Costello's House
~ Dublin ~
​

Benjamin Reznik

Despite Aidan's funeral still looming and without a confirmed date in sight, Benjamin had managed to hold up well the last couple of days. Granted, much of the young man's motivation to stay strong had come from his father returning home after two decades in prison. Benjamin was under no illusions. He knew that he wouldn't have been coping as well as he was had Kurt not returned when he did. The fact was, the man had returned and Benjamin was glad to have since found the strength to keep going.

Kurt had assured him that he wasn't intending on returning to going back to work for the mob, something which Benjamin could only see would lead the man straight back into a prison cell. After hearing his father out, Benjamin understood the man's need to still connect with the mob. Just as they were to himself, the mob were family to Kurt too and the man wanted to show gratitude for their help in looking out for his son over the years. Like Conor had done for him, Benjamin was sure the Sullivans would be able to find Kurt some work that was legitimate, so he knew he had to relax and not worry about his father. The man's return was one of the best things to happen and Benjamin had spent the last couple of days soaking up on the feeling of having Kurt home.

One of the other best things to happen to Benjamin recently was finding Lorelei and now he'd managed to at least drag himself out of his depression enough to think clearly, he knew the most important thing to do was apologise to his girlfriend for being so distant from her. Benjamin had stopped by at the restaurant in the afternoon to get up to date on how things had been going in his absence before confirming he'd be back at work in a couple of days. He returned home to get changed and make an effort to look presentable and not like he'd spent the last however many days avoiding the world.

It was still warm, light, and an overall pleasant evening. The drive to Lorelei's house was a peaceful one, despite his growing anxiety the closer the got to his destination. Once he had parked the car, he climbed out before he had chance to talk himself out of anything. He soon found himself at Lorelei's front door and after a firm knock, he placed his hands in the pockets of his jeans. Idly stepping back, he almost stumbled as he'd forgotten he was near the edge of the doorstep and his foot landed on the level a few inches down. "Ah, shit..." he muttered as he brought his foot back up onto the step and composed himself just as the front door was pulled open. "Lorelei, I-" he began, his cheeks now flustered. "Hi," he began, sending her a sheepish smile. "How are you?" he asked her.

Bellz (Lorelei)

Currently Active Cast: Misty Gray Bellz Pyroclast Melanin-Gxdess BloodLightning27 BasDorcha​

 

[Pyroclast]

Chapter 14: Into the Fray
Sunday 21st July 1985
...3 days later...
Dublin: Evening - Warm, Sunny, Mild
London: Evening - Mild, Dry, Breezy
New York City: Afternoon - Warm, Breezy, Overcast

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******************************

Chinatown
~ West End, London ~

Billy King​

The family had somehow become so shrouded in secrets that Billy had to remind himself of who knew what. There was, of course, his own secret - of his sexuality and of being with Erik, which only a select few people knew about. For that, he generally found it easier to avoid the topic altogether and just act like friends in public, not only to avoid any slip-ups in front of people who weren’t aware of the truth but also because he still found the idea of being publicly out of the closet too uncomfortable. Then there was what he had done in Dublin. Killing Aidan wasn’t a secret within the family, but he still had to be careful where and with whom he talked to about it - the easiest option was to not talk about it at all. And of course, there was the situation with May - the fact that she was tied by blood to the Sullivans, and more recently, that she was Trevor’s daughter, making her a half-sister to the King siblings.

His relationship with Harper was weighing on him, too. It hurt to see how much she was suffering as a result of the explosion, only able to watch as she struggled to keep the relentless pain at bay. Her trust in the family seemed to be declining rapidly and he was deeply concerned that her apparent openness to Trevor would drive an irreversible wedge between her and the rest of the family. If he tried to stop her from seeing him, it could ruin the close relationship he had always shared with her, but if he didn’t, he risked losing her to Trevor and ending up torn between her and his brothers and uncle. Knowing what Trevor had done to their mother and having heard of some of the ways he had abused and neglected his older brothers, Billy had no interest in having Trevor in his life, but he was feeling increasingly helpless to convince Harper to avoid him - she was clearly sick of being controlled and influenced by the men in her life and it was turning into a challenge to talk to her without driving her further away.

Altogether, it was safe to say that Billy had a lot on his mind. Fortunately, the process of reconstructing the Mercury Nightclub was beginning to move, so he had enough to be getting on with to keep himself from getting consumed by all the drama. Spencer was holding a family meeting at his house where May would be informed of her relation to them, but since Billy had already cast his vote, he decided he didn’t need to be there to see the potential fight unfold. Instead, after a long day of work and meetings, and with further work to do that evening, he had scheduled a refreshing break to catch dinner with some people who were aware of at least most of what was going on.

“I wonder which of us will hear the drama first,” he mused to the table, twirling his chopsticks into a dish of chow mein before loading it onto his plate. Billy would no doubt be expected to check in with his uncle as soon as possible after the meeting, but he had a feeling May might want to talk to Christian or Erik about it, and, regardless of whether their relationship was up or down, Harper naturally spent a lot of time around Jeremy and might offload onto him as soon as she had the chance. “I don’t see this endin’ well,” he went on. “May comes across as the sort of girl who needs family around her, but I don’t think we’re what she wants. ‘Specially after the whole Sullivan connection made everythin’ tense…Alex already hates her, Bruce is wary and the whole thing is pushin’ Harper away. Last thing anyone needs is family who don’t want nothin’ to do with ya’...” He trailed off, knowing that he wasn’t the only one at the table to know what that felt like. Bruce had done a good job of ensuring Billy didn’t grow up feeling abandoned by his father, but it had still affected him to an extent, and he knew that Erik was still damaged by his relationship with his father in certain ways, too. “I dunno,” he added with a shrug. “What do you lot make of this? Are we bein’ total dicks here?”

Interactions
BasDorcha Jeremy
Misty Gray Christian
Melanin-Gxdess Erik

 

[Melanin-Gxdess]

Chapter 14: Into the Fray
Sunday 21st July 1985
...3 days later...
Dublin: Evening - Warm, Sunny, Mild
London: Evening - Mild, Dry, Breezy
New York City: Afternoon - Warm, Breezy, Overcast

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Sullivan Family Home
~Dublin, Ireland~

Aliana Sullivan

​

Sliding into her new role hadn't been as easy as Aliana thought it would be. For years she purposely kept out of the things her husband was doing and focused primarily on their children and businesses. If she couldn't manage to get out of it, she would ignore it. However, with Conor taking a break and her decision to stand by him 100%, things were about to change. Planning a retaliation with Adam and Syd was tiresome and though it had only been three days since the decision was made, they'd come a long way. Ali never saw herself as a violent person. But as she sat in the bath on a day she could relax, she found herself thinking about the times she had been. It made her wonder if she was just as violent as those around her and had just gotten soft or if it were just a front during those times. Whatever the case, she wasn't going to run and change her mind. The King family had hurt them to the point where she wasn't going to play nice anymore; she couldn't.

Following the meeting with Adam and Syd, Aliana found herself trying to figure out how to juggle all of her responsibilities. It was hard figuring out how to properly schedule everything between businesses and her family and the meetings. She'd found herself appreciating her husband and his sacrifices a bit more. But with the help of Allen, Leo, and various other family members it got easier. And now that Conor was finally home, it cut down on her travel time. Both she and the girls were happier with the man in the house - Sydney more than the rest because she could bother him more often now. Ali was still trying her best to keep his stress levels down, giving him only a minuscule amount of information when asked. Ali was sticking to her guns by only telling him things he needed to know. The last thing she wanted to do was let something slip that worried him, so being vague was the next best thing. She'd also kept the argument she had with Michelle to herself- there was no reason to involve Conor in her opinion in a situation that didn't involve him. Well, it sort of did but not in the way that mattered right now. In order to attempt to smooth things over, Ali invited her to the dinner Rhiannon suggested having. With Michelle's children now being in Dublin, it would be good for them to see their grandfather.

"We can make all of dad's favorite foods," Rhiannon said as she and Ali walked through the grocery store. Aliana nodded her head in agreement, leaning over the shopping cart as she pushed it along. "By we do you mean me? Or are you actually goin' to help this time?" She teased. Rhi turned to her and playfully rolled her eyes before adding things she figured Conor would like to the cart. "Of course, I will. I'll have you know I boil a mean pot of water." Ali let out a laugh as the two of them resumed their shopping. When they returned home, they set out to start making dinner. Wanna Dance With Somebody played in the kitchen while the two of them danced around cooking. Leo walked in holding Sydney, a smile on his face. It was nice to see his family in such high spirits with everything going on. He couldn't quite remember the last time something like that happened, so he savored whatever of it he could. He'd just been about to leave when he heard the music and decided to see what it was all about. They informed them they were cooking dinner that night and expressed their regret that he wouldn't be joining them. "The first real family dinner with Michelle here and you're just ditching us!" Rhiannon stated hands on her hips. Leo placed Sydney on top of the counter, flicked Rhiannon on the forehead, and stole one of the asparagus spears.

Leo managed to get out of harm's way before standing in the doorway of the kitchen. "I already had plans. Besides, this can be a girl thing, yeah? Let the old man spend time with his favorite ladies." Though his argument was sound, Ali nor Rhi appreciated how well it worked. Rhiannon rolled her eyes, placing her hands on her hips. "Lucas is coming, too. As my guest. You could've brought the others." Leo let out a scoff, shaking his head. "A house full of children? No thanks. 'Chelle bringin' the kids?" Leo asked Ali, the two of them locking eyes. He could tell there was something going on between the two women and figured it was still the argument from the living room. She hadn't told Leo either about the hospital. "Er, I assume so," she dropped her eyes, looking over to Sydney. "Otherwise, Syd has a lot of chicken nuggets to eat by herself." After his goodbyes, they returned to the kitchen to finish things up - Aliana putting Sydney safely on the ground. She'd put the girl in charge of music and was pleasantly surprised when she heard something other than Chopin or Bach playing. Dinner was nearly done and just needed to be plated. While Rhiannon took care of that, Ali went to go check on Conor while instructing her to answer the door if it rang.

As Ali walked into her bedroom, she also realized she needed to change her clothes. Being as it was just family coming over, she wasn't about to put anything fancy on. While undressing she walked over to her husband. "Hey, old man. How are we feeling? Still up for dinner?" Ali then reached for the pill bottle on his nightstand to open and set out the proper amount on the top. "It's okay if you aren't," she said, pointing to his meds and signaling him to take them. She walked towards her closet to rummage around for something comfortable to put on. "We've got a full house tonight, so if it gets overwhelming just let me know."
Conor, Lucas ( Misty Gray ) Michelle & Children ( BasDorcha )

The Clover Casino
~Dublin City Centre, Dublin~
Leo Sullivan

​

After his talk with his Uncle, Leo found himself in a much better headspace to make his decision. Knowing that he wasn't pressured and didn't have to do something because he was his father's son was a relief. Despite his parents telling him this over the years, he probably needed to hear from someone who'd never been obligated to lie to him. Whatever the case may be Leo's head was a lot clearer now than it had been the past few weeks. The only problem was telling Natasha. If there was anything Leo knew how to do it was pissing off the women in his life. Taking it a step further, one might say the reason those women were pissed off was because of his decisions. He may have thought they were good ones that he really thought about. They obviously thought the opposite. With the family business being the cause of her father's death and even the cause of strife and grief in their family it made sense why his girlfriend would be so upset. And while Leo loved and cared about Natasha more than anyone he ever dated, he didn't feel like he could just abandon his goals because it made her upset.

Which is why he suggested a fun outing to the casino! With Thomas and Elena, no less. With the two of them around surely she wouldn't... Explode? Considering it was going to be a fun atmosphere and Elena's first time meeting and going out with people other than Thomas. Natasha wouldn't yell at him... Right? Or at least, it's what he was hoping for as he got ready for the night. He'd felt a little bad about skipping out on the family dinner that his mother and sisters seemed to be excited about. However, with the tension between his mom and older sister, along with the fact he'd already made these plans, he was able to justify within himself that it was okay. Before walking out Leo briefly took a moment to check on his father and say his goodbyes before leaving. Whatever animosity Leo may have felt or had towards his father had all melted away. None of it mattered after the attack. All that mattered was being by his side and making sure he recovered. After seeing his father and a quick bantering session with his mother and sister, Leo set out towards Natasha's place.

To say he was nervous about the evening to come was an understatement. He knew how Nat was going to respond, but he secretly hoped she would respond differently. As in, a more supportive, "Okay Leo. I understand and support you," sort of way... The moment the thought fronted itself to his mind he shook his head. "You don't know your own girlfriend?" He said out loud. He'd just have to figure out how he was going to convince her both not to kill him and come over to his side. In the meantime, he figured he would butter her up until he revealed the news by being the sweetest, most punctual boyfriend ever. Which is why he'd gotten ready earlier in the day and even left the house earlier than he should have. Now he was going to rub his punctuality in Natasha's face.

Because he felt like it still wasn't entirely safe, Leo had kept his gun with him at all times. At the moment it was stashed away in the glove box. Before he got out of the car he made sure to check the chamber and how many bullets he actually had. Once sure he would be okay, he got out of his car and walked up to the McCarthy household, knocking on the door. The moment the door opened he smiled and shoved his hands into his pockets, looking over his girlfriend. "Hey blondie," he teased. "Ready for the best night of your life?"

Natasha, Thomas ( Bellz ) Elena ( Pyroclast )

Aqua Shard
~Southwark, London~
Alexander King

​

For once in Alexander's life, he wasn't the dramatic one. Or the one getting in trouble. Or the one causing trouble. No, for now, that crown had moved on to his little sister, Harper. Ever since Trevor's unfortunate return to London, Harper had been instructed to stay away from him. That the man was no good and there was no reason for her to be around him. While the first time hadn't been her seeking him out, she did sit and have a full conversation with the man. While he and his brothers were gone, no less. The second time, however, she'd actively snuck out from under Jeremy's nose to see the POS. This time she knew what she was doing and decided to ignore the advice of her brothers and uncle. It was deliberate and it pissed Alex off. He felt he was trying to protect his sister from heartbreak and other bullshit Trevor was sure to put her through. Alex wouldn't wish the treatment on his worst enemy (that's a lie, he would). Seeing that she didn't listen and had no intentions of doing so caused Alex to be done with the situation altogether. Harper wanted to be treated as an adult and make her own decisions? Then so be it, he thought. Whenever Trevor broke her heart - and he could only assume it wouldn't be too long now - she would see that they were trying to protect her. Trying to make sure she didn't experience the shit he and Spencer had. But until then, Alex didn't want to hear about anything pertaining to Trevor and Harper. He may have been overreacting but he figured you couldn't help someone who didn't want it.

To make things worse, the news that May was not just a Sullivan but also a Stewart was brought to their attention a few days ago. Alex had been in complete and utter disbelief and hadn't accepted the information to be true. There was no way in hell that it could be true. It was bad enough she was a Sullivan but now she was supposedly their half-sister? Maybe it was the 'Sullivan' part that he was still hung up on and the fact that her brother worked for them. He struggled with getting over it and remained skeptical of the girl. How she would ever be able to calm that voice in his head that said something was off about her was a mystery to him. But until then, he was going to try his best to avoid her. Which may have been why he decided not to attend the meeting today. Bruce, Spencer, and Darcey were going to break the news to both Harper and May about the latter's heritage. He'd already made his decision about what he wanted to do and how he felt, therefore felt no reason he should be there.

Instead, he was getting ready for his night out with Ms. Kerry Patrick. He'd never felt nervous going out before nor had he wanted it to go as right as he did tonight. As of late Alex found the woman taking up a good amount of his thoughts. And while it scared the hell out of him, it was very much welcomed. She'd listened to all of his bitching and moaning without being asked and seemed to want to every time. Alex couldn't fathom why- his skeptical mind racing again. She knew every dirty deed he'd ever committed and yet she was still here? It didn't make sense. But, instead of worrying about it, he worried about how it was making him feel. She had become the first person he wanted to tell things to. Something crazy happened on his way home? "Oh, wait 'til Kerry hears about this!" His sister pissing him off? "Kerry, you'll never believe it." It was a strange sensation and since he didn't feel it with Savannah, he couldn't make sense of it.

Tonight, however, he was hoping Kerry would help him do so. Even if it meant spilling his guts and secrets then so be it. He just needed to get to the bottom of things. Plus, he owed her dinner. He was a man of his word and this would be the best way to pay her back. While buying her drinks at the pub was nice and all he wanted to do was something more to show his appreciation. Really, had he been old Alex showing his appreciation would've meant something different entirely, but tonight he was to be a perfect gentleman. Well, semi-perfect. Seeing as the restaurant he wanted to take her to wasn't that far from his place, he suggested they meet up there. That way he could also secure a table with a lovely view of the Thames and the sunset. People could say whatever they wanted about Alex, but what they couldn't is that he wasn't a romantic. He'd been pacing in front of the building, one hand in his pocket as his index finger ran across his bottom lip. Should he had brought flowers, he thought. She didn't seem like the flower type so maybe not?

Kerry ( Misty Gray )

 

[Bellz]

Lorelei Costello
Lorelei Costello's House
~ Dublin ~​

Lorelei had been biting at the bit trying to give Benjie the space he wanted and needed. Being a natural empath and nurturer, she wasn't used to not being able to help him through his pain as she had so desperately wanted to do. On top of it, the things she had seen that night had really messed with her head. While she was sleeping somewhat at night, there would be times when she would wake up in a cold sweat from a nightmare. She even slept at her parents' house a few nights right after the attack -- wanting to make sure she was safe before heading back to her own place.

Her mother and father insisted that she could stay as long as she wanted to, knowing just how difficult this was for her but Lorelei didn't want to burden them any further. They had enough to deal with as it was with Cian's endless ball of energy and Lorelei didn't want to worry them further. She'd heard along the grapevine that Benjie's dad was out of prison and back in Dublin. Lorelei hoped that would help her boyfriend's grief and that he could focus his attention on his relationship with Kurt. As relieving as it was to hear that he was reunited with Kurt, Lorelei still couldn't help but worry.

Focusing on work was a nice distraction but it only kept her attention for so long. Much of her time there was spent helping clean the glasses behind the bar and staring towards the entrance hoping Benjie would walk through it but that moment never came.

Tonight after work, Lorelei had decided to stay in for the evening. She was meant to meet with her parents for dinner at some point but canceled, not feeling like her cheery self, therefore, determining that she was saving them from her sour company. Curled up on the couch with a book, the living room was completely dark except for one lamp beside her as she just enjoyed the calmness of the evening. However, she noticed that she hadn't turned the page in a few minutes...reading the same sentence over and over again as her mind grew increasingly distracted. For a brief moment, her sight lifted from the page, and looked to the phone next to her on the side table, wondering if she should dare to call him. She had tried the first few days they'd been apart but it was clear that he was ignoring her calls and Lorelei didn't want to come off as clingy when he clearly needed space.

Letting out a soft sigh, she threw her book onto the couch cushion next to her before moving to stand restlessly. She was just on her way to the kitchen when someone knocked on her front door. Lorelei stared in the general direction of it, her heart leaping out of her chest -- immediately getting her hopes up. Biting her bottom lip, Lorelei walked towards the door before moving to look through the peephole to see who was standing there. A smile immediately graced her face as she watched Benjie stumble slightly. Moving to fluff her hair slightly, she wondered if she looked okay before forcing herself to tone her smile down, not wanting to spook him with her forwardness. Finally, she opened the door and he looked up at her immediately, their eyes meeting causing her heart to leap in her chest again. A small smirk appeared on her face as she bit the inside of her cheek to keep from smiling too wide. "Hi." She murmured softly, her effort to keep a smile off her face was completely destroyed as he gave her that sheepish smile that she loved so much. Her cheeks actually hurt from smiling so widely, as if her face wasn't familiar with the muscle movement anymore. It had been a while since she genuinely felt happy.

"I'm..." She hesitated in her answer, wondering if it was good to lie to him or just tell him the truth. Despite being happy to see him, she was confused about where they still stood. "I'm...just worried about you. Are you okay?" She asked the question and then realized perhaps this was too heavy of a conversation to have on her doorstep. "Please come in." She said, looking around the area behind him momentarily as she allowed him inside before closing the door behind him. Lorelei moved to turn on the lights, realizing just how dark it had been in her home before leading Benjie into the living room. Once seated, she looked at him to answer her previous question.
with: Benjie Misty Gray
mentions: Kurt Pyroclast

 

[BasDorcha]

Chinatown
~West End, London~
Jeremy Gray

​

The past few days had flown by so fast Jeremy barely remembered them. Harper had been in such a state of vulnerability when they got home from Trevor’s, he couldn’t leave to tell Bruce. The next day had not been pleasant with having to explain to Bruce what had happened. Understandably, he had been upset, but not as much as Jeremy had anticipated in his mind. He was lost in deep thought about it when Billy’s voice brought him around to reality. He had t stop thinking about Harper all the time, it was becoming annoying.

Still, Billy didn’t do much to help as he started pondering whether which one of them was going to get an earful first. Harper had found out after the incident with Trevor she now had a half-sister - something he wasn’t sure how she was handling yet. She had so much on her plate that he wondered if she felt anything half the time, or just moved through it in a daze from one thing to the next. Watching as Billy swirled up the noodles, then followed his example, piling his plate high. “You know Harper will have something to say sooner rather then later. If May is anything like her sister, she will too. Considering that May is Sullivan – all fire and brimstone – and Stewart – I can’t imagine she’s one to sit back quietly. Especially since I’ve heard tale that she already got in Alex’s face for calling her spy and slapped him.” The grin on Jeremy’s face couldn’t be hidden at the mental image of Alex’s cheek getting his knocked silly.

“Little King, you’re worried she’s the kind to need family around, but did you forget she has been in London for over 2 years without any family around? Think you got her figured wrong mate. She wants family, wants friends,” He waved at Erik, thinking back to some of the stories he’d heard about her being excited to go to America and play the tourist, and things he’d seen when she worked at the bar, “Wants, but doesn’t need. Can’t blame her, it’s human nature to want people around you, especially people who love you. It’s a physiological need. Its how we survived evolution – we’re pack animals, you know.” Jeremy’s grin had faded and the straight-laced, stoic scholar had returned.

“From an outside perspective none of you fuckers have, May just seems like a girl who had shit luck for parentage. If it had been anyone other then a Sullivan that had mothered her, would you have thought twice, or just tried to protect her from Trevor? You may not remember, but the night of the bar explosion, if she hadn’t stopped Spencer from going in again, Spencer might not be here. I know you were…. Distracted.” Jeremy had to stop himself from saying something more specific about the budding relationship before him. “She was genuinely trying to help as much as she could. If she wanted to hurt the family, she easily could have done it that night. I think her heart is in the right place, she just got the short end of the stick when it came to luck.” He shrugged, looking at Erik again, “You spent some time with her, she seem like the sneaky kind to you?”

Interactions Pyroclast - Billy / Bruce
Melanin-Gxdess - Erik
Misty Gray - Spencer
Bellz - Harper

 

[Melanin-Gxdess]

Chinatown
~ West End, London ~
Erik Snowden

​

Since the night he and Billy were found out, things had been going well between the two of them. They'd fully confessed their feelings and took their relationship to the next level - Billy asking him to be his boyfriend followed by a night of passion - and he couldn't be happier. It wasn't until he thought about the fact that technically they were still a secret that his happiness would waver. He should've been happy with the fact that Billy's family knew about them. That Billy was no longer running and hiding from his feelings. The acceptance and support should've been enough to satisfy Erik, but he found himself not fully there. Despite the people who mattered understanding and accepting them, he still felt like he was hiding. And, technically, he was. But it was for their safety and reputation, right? Who cares if he has to wait a couple hours before he's able to stop pretending they were 'just friends'? It was all worth it in the end. Yet for some unbeknownst reason to Erik, he couldn't stop thinking about it.

Just before he'd left he was getting advice from his cousin. He updated her on the whole thing and she was more than ecstatic to hear the good news. Erik almost didn't want to tell her about the negative thoughts plaguing his mind. She seemed to think he'd gotten over his relationship trauma when that wasn't the case. After deciding he wanted her full, unfiltered opinion he spilled his guts. For a moment she was quiet and trying to figure out what to say before a sigh broke through. "It sucks, sure, but I think Bruce's got his head on straight. 'S a dangerous world out there still, Erik, an' while we may not care, other people sure do. I wanna say jus' go for it and screw 'em, but I can't." She continued by reassuring him how much she loved and cared about him in excess which may have been because she just lost her husband. Checking the clock on his while he thanked her, returned her words, and hung up. He waited until he could gaslight himself into thinking his thoughts were stupid before finally leaving his apartment.

How or when he agreed to have dinner with Billy, Jeremy, and Christian was beyond him. Maybe he said yes because Billy was going, but the three men found themselves at a noodle place. Erik had taken his sweet, precious time finding a fried rice option seeing as he didn't care for noodles, and was relieved when he did. The four of them held empty conversations until their food arrived, saving the best conversations for their meals. Billy brought up wondering who was going to get to hear the drama first, and Erik smirked. "Ten bucks says May tells me first," he said, pausing to look at Christian. "Sorry. Best friend perks." He teased, knowing May sometimes confided in him as well. He turned back to Billy as he continued speaking. The man went on to talk about the situation, stating no one deserves a family that didn't want them. If anyone understood the sentiment it was Erik - considering his mother skipped out on him and Roger was... Roger.

Jeremy then spoke, recalling the meeting when May slapped Alex after he'd grabbed her. Erik couldn't help but let out a brief chuckle thinking about the day. "Ah, what an event," he stated, glancing at Billy. "Sorry, but he deserved it." Shrugging his shoulders he used his chopsticks to shovel rice into his mouth. "But, depending on how this all goes, I mean. That'll determine how May acts. She's the type of girl to react off energy- fight or flight typa' deal. Won't be too bad if things don't get too rowdy." He wanted to comment on how dramatic he thought some of the King members could be but decided to keep it to himself. The last thing he needed was to get into trouble for making a distasteful joke. It wasn't until Jeremy then asked his opinion on the matter that Erik settled into his seat. With his arms crossed and legs spread, he tried to think of an answer, looking between the three men. Finally, he shrugged his shoulders and scratched his ear. "I don't know," he started, trying to find his words. "I mean, I think she needs one as much as she wants one. She's never had one outside of her brother, so 's only natural."

"From a business perspective, it could be a tactic," he said, rubbing his chin. "I mean, you never really know in our current environment. However, as her friend and the person who's spent the most time with her, no. She's nothin' to gain from it and nothin' to lose. Plus May's a very in-your-face typa' girl. Sneakin' ain't her jam." He shrugged his shoulders again, bouncing his knee in thought. "Just give her a chance. I mean really what's the worst that could happen if you do- she annoys you? Plus all the time she's been spent 'round Winny you don't think she'd notice if somethin' was fucked?"

Christian ( Misty Gray ) Billy ( Pyroclast ) Jeremy ( BasDorcha )

 

[Pyroclast]

Spencer and Shona King's Home
~ Bethnal Green, London ~

Shona and Bruce King​

For the last few days, Shona had been feeling on top of the world. She and Spencer had found their spark again and even though she still had a million things to do around the house each day with the baby constantly pulling her attention, she felt more energised and awake than she had in months. It was entirely her husband that she had to thank for it; he was making her feel strong and like she could take on anything. That was why, when Bruce announced that he wanted to arrange a meeting, she was happy to have it held at their home. Even though it created extra work, Shona was a natural host and always took pleasure in making people feel at home. Besides, even though it wasn’t for the purposes of a catch up, she was still keen to be surrounded by family again.

While Shona was piping the frosting on the cake she had baked, Spencer entered the kitchen and stepped behind her, coiling his arms around her waist. A bright smile spread across her face as she worked, and she gently swayed in his arms as he hummed along to the Sade song playing on the radio. Placing the piping bag down on the counter, she abandoned her decorating and let him draw her into a close embrace, giggling as he sang to her in the sweet voice he reserved for her and Eddie.

When he pulled away to look into her eyes, her face was alight with love and warmth. He told her he planned to arrange a babysitter for Eddie so that he could take her out on a date and her heart swelled as though they were back on their honeymoon. “I look forward to it, my King,” she whispered through a smile, leaning into the space between them. Right before she could kiss him, a knock on the door distracted them both and Spencer rolled his eyes. “I’d better finish this cake, you go let ‘em in,” she assured him, and after a tender kiss on the lips Spencer left the room and she returned to her icing, singing along to the Sade track that continued to play.


“Spencer,” Bruce greeted his nephew when the door was opened to him. He returned the man’s embrace with equal vigour before turning into the cloakroom to hang up his coat. Spencer remarked that he narrowly missed sharing the pain of Eddie’s cries, to which Bruce gave a mirthless smile. “Oh, I think we’ve got plenty of pain to share tonight, don’t ya’ think?” he grimly joked back. “Now, where’s that lovely wife of yours?”

“In ‘ere, Bruce!” Shona called out, and when the man walked into the kitchen she took off her apron and came to receive a warm embrace from him. “Guests ain’t meant to see the kitchen when the party’s in the lounge, so pretend you don’t see the mess.”

“All I see is a lovely cake and an even lovelier baker,” Bruce grinned, and as the words left him he couldn’t help but notice that Shona had a glow about her that he hadn’t seen in some time. “And I wish this was a party, love. I’m afraid that cake’s gonna be the only cheerful thing about it.”

“Well, you’ve got to have somethin’ to bring the mood back up,” she said, offering the two men a smile. “Now get out my kitchen, both of ya’!” Shona playfully urged, shooing them out of the room. “I want to have this cleaned up and cleared away before everyone else arrives.”


As commanded, Bruce walked with Spencer back into the living room where the meeting was to take place. Extra chairs had been brought in to accommodate the guests and they were all set to face each other around the coffee table. Bruce took a seat closest to the door for the time being, expecting to get up to greet people as they arrived. While Spencer set about making him his usual drink of Dalmore whiskey, Bruce contemplated how the meeting might go down. He wasn’t one to over-rehearse things or grow anxious about such confrontations, but there was still a general concern that he held for everyone involved. There were tensions hitting the family from multiple angles, with Harper’s troubling relationship with Trevor threatening to unfold, the disagreement over May that Bruce had been having with Darcey and Alex struggling to handle the news of May being his half-sister, on top of waging a legal battle against Savannah for custody of his son. Everybody was going through so much that emotions were bound to be high.

It wasn’t long before Shona came to join them in the room, and Bruce quietly thanked Spencer for the drink as the couple took their seats on the sofa opposite to him. His nephew asked about Darcey and May’s estimated time of arrival, before subtly drawing attention to the ongoing issue of Trevor trying to worm his way back into their lives.

Bruce heaved a sigh as he reached for his tumbler and took a sip. “Soon, I expect,” he said of Darcey and May. “I’m glad Alex ain’t here to cause a scene or little Eddie wouldn’t be gettin’ much sleep. No matter what happens tonight, I intend to keep things civil and calm. You’ve been kind to lend us your house as a place to have this discussion and I want to respect that.” His eyes then drifted to the photograph of Laura that Spencer had previously drawn his attention to, and he let out another sigh as his concern for Harper surfaced again. “This ain’t the time to discuss it, but I do want to catch Harper alone,” he said. “I can feel her turnin’ away from me. She’s an independent young woman…why should she care how much I worry?” Bruce looked down into his drink as his heart grew heavy at the thought of his youngest falling victim to Trevor’s charms. “But like I said, this ain’t the time to get into it now. I’ll talk to Harper another time and get this sorted out…”

Interactions
Misty Gray Spencer
Melanin-Gxdess Darcey
Bellz Harper
BasDorcha May

 

[Misty Gray]

Chinatown
~ West End, London ~

Christian Brooks​

Christian was by now used to keeping secrets and large pieces of information to himself, having had to do so for his job as a detective and now under his employment for the Kings. Despite how familiar it was to stay quiet, he had been struggling with hiding the truth from May, especially when he was in her presence. He hoped that after tonight he could be more himself around May without the burden of keeping such a big secret from her holding him back.

Christian had agreed to meeting with some of the guys at the restaurant, glad to be getting out of his house and away from the cases he was working on. Still, despite being sick and tired of Trevor Stewart's name and life by now, he was fully aware the man was bound to come up in conversation given what was going on back at Spencer's house around the same time. As they ate their meals, Billy spoke up to wonder who would hear about the drama first. Christian flashed a weary smile before taking an intentionally long drink from his pint. He knew there was a chance May would want to talk to him about it, especially if she realised he'd known the truth already. When Billy went on to ask if he and his family were being dicks about the whole thing, Christian lightly shook his head. Whilst he would rather the Kings were much more open and accepting of May, he understood how the Sullivan connection and their issues with Trevor would sour what should be good news. Christian liked to think he'd be welcoming to find he had a half-sibling, especially if it was someone as nice as May.

Christian carefully held his chopsticks as he continued to eat his food, listening on as Jeremy gave his input on the matter. The man asked if the situation would be different if she wasn't part Sullivan, which Christian agreed certainly had some affect on why the likes of Alex were being so cold towards their newfound family member. It was clear Jeremy saw May's side of things and was speaking up in clear defence of her. He then asked Erik for his thoughts, Christian glanced to the man in question as he awaited his response. The man came to reason that he saw nothing to gain from May using tactics, that she wasn't a sneaky person. Christian nodded when Erik told them to give her a chance and reminded them that Darcey would have noticed if something wasn't right with May.

Christian wasn't often asked his opinions where the Kings' private lives were concerned, so it wasn't natural for him to speak up on such a personal matter. Still, he was in the presence of friends and neither Bruce nor Spencer were present to make it feel anything like business applied in his current exchange. "I believe what they've said is true," he assured Billy. "I don't think you need to be worried about May and I think this is going to be pretty hard news for her to take in too. Not only is she related to the Sullivans, but now she's going to find out the whole other half of her family and that she's been around them for so long already. Not to mention, she's going to learn the identity of her biological father and I expect any positive feelings about discovering such a thing will be stripped away immediately. Let's face it, your family has scathing views where Trevor is concerned." Reaching for his pint, he took a small sip before clearing his throat. "Hell, even I can't stand the man and I've never even spoken with him," he remarked. "Whatever you're all going through, Billy, May is going to be going through a lot too. Trevor is a problem for a lot of us," he admitted.

Pyroclast (Billy)
BasDorcha (Jeremy)
Melanin-Gxdess (Erik)

*******************

Adam Harper and Emery Callahan
& Dermot Murphy
Christian Brooks​

Adam hadn't been overly impressed upon hearing about the circumstances of Thomas getting arrested. Of course, he himself was far from innocent when it came to breaking the law and getting into trouble, but the fact it had happened whilst Thomas had been on a date with Elena was what had got to Adam. Whilst he had been tempted to confront Thomas about what had happened, he had to remind himself that Elena was an adult, not to mention, he had only just found out she was his daughter and so it didn't feel like his place to interfere. Regardless, Adam decided he would to try keep an eye on things and make sure there were no further concerns that Thomas was going to lead Elena into danger. Perhaps once he was back in Dublin and had chance to, he would have a casual word with Thomas; man-to-man.

For now, and the last few days, Adam's attention had been mostly focused on planning the retaliation against the Kings for the attack on Conor and Aidan. The three King brothers and Jeremy had been confirmed as involved in the attack, but the identity of Aidan's killer remained to be determined and one of the primary objectives of this evening was to find out who was responsible, through whatever means necessary. In addition to dragging out the truth, the Sullivans wanted to put an end to the troubles once and for all, which meant both Bruce and Spencer both needed to be dealt with.

With eyes out around the city, Adam had been hiding out in an unmarked transit van along with Reina, Edwards, Emery and Tom, until they received the surveillance updates. Whilst Alex remained unaccounted for so far, the other Sullivan men around the city had fed through to Adam's group the location of Billy and Jeremy, who had been seen entering a Chinese restaurant with Erik and Christian. Another set of eyes soon after radioed through to confirm the location of both Bruce and Spencer, but any ideas Adam could form were rapidly shot down the moment he heard the two men in question were at Spencer's home. Through his living room window, Spencer had been sighted holding his baby son and that piece of information alone immediately shot down any ideas about a home invasion. Syd had been very specific about not bringing any harm to babies and children, which for all his ability to switch off his humanity, Adam was glad about. He wasn't willing to hurt kids. What that meant for the attack was that the Sullivans would need to find other, more creative ways of getting their hands on Bruce and Spencer. It looked like the Chinese restaurant was going to be the focus of the Sullivans' retaliation and the key to fulfilling their objectives.

With Dermot and two gunmen having confirmed their position guarding the restaurant's emergency exit from the outside at the rear of the building, Adam had sent Emery off to do her part. So as not to be immediately recognised by the likes of Billy, the natural redhead was sporting a blonde wig and wearing glasses. Emery entered the restaurant, confirming her dummy reservation with the hostess. Before being shown to her table, she told the hostess she was waiting for her date to arrive, so wished to visit the ladies' room before being seated at her table. Before stepping into the ladies' room, she snuck around to the rear fire exit, pushing open the door to let Dermot into the building. After checking the bathrooms were empty and thus reducing the risk of any unaccounted for civilians getting in the way, Dermot radioed through to Adam, Reina, Edwards and Tom to confirm everything was in place.

From the back of the van, which was parked close by, Adam looked to the others upon gaining confirmation it was time to move forward with their plan. Armed with two handguns, knives, and other weapons on his person, Adam was feeling prepared for his task at hand. "Is everyone armed and ready?" he asked for confirmation. "I want everyone except for the four Kings out of the way and locked in the walk-in freezer - nobody leaves that building before we're done, else we'll have the pigs bursting in in no time." He then took a moment to consider the plan one last time before speaking up again. "Remember. First, we want the name of the bastard who killed Aidan. But we also want Bruce and Spencer, an' seeing as we can't go to them we want them bringing to us. Billy and that private investigator bloke, Christian, look most likely to talk so we separate them from the other two. Thin out the numbers and make 'em feel isolated. Reina and Tom, I want you to work on getting Billy and Christian to squeal. Edwards - me an' you will take the other two to the back office to work on them," he spoke of Jeremy and Erik. "Make sure they all know the longer it takes for us to get answers, the less likely they are to get out of this alive or in one piece." On his last word, Adam grabbed his ski mask and pulled it over his head to conceal his face, expecting the others to follow suit.

After going over the plan, the four of them got out of the vehicle and discreetly made their way into the restaurant from down the empty, narrow pathway. As soon as the four of them were inside, Adam turned to Edwards and motioned for him to bolt the restaurant doors from the inside. "Make sure the four Kings don't get up yet," he commanded Reina and Tom. "Ed, we need all these civilians tucked away safely in the freezer. Encourage them to do so without fuckin' about." Without warning, Adam grabbed the young waitress who had been unfortunate enough to be close enough to him. With his arm tightly wrapped around her waist from behind, he raised his gun in the air at the same time she screamed out for help. "Quieten down and nobody's gonna hurt you," he spoke calmly and quietly into her ear. Having caught the attention of enough diners and staff members, Adam raised his voice. "I want all of you to to get up and head that way. Do as you're told and you won't get hurt," Adam loudly commanded, using his gun to gesture to the right corner of the restaurant which led to the kitchen and large walk-in freezer. "Except you four. You stay the fuck where you are!" Adam said, his focus on Billy's table a short distance away.

"Oh my God!" Emery loudly exclaimed, placing her hand to her mouth. "Quick! Do as he says," she called out, pretending to be scared. With Emery leading the diners and restaurant staff to the freezer, a masked Dermot stood nearby, holding his gun in view to encourage the civilians to do as Adam had commanded and without any funny business. Once everyone who needed to be in the kitchen area were there, Dermot locked the freezer door from the outside and remained in the kitchen unless called upon. Emery, meanwhile, wasted no time in removing her blonde wig and stepping back out into the restaurant. Now gripping the handle of her pistol, Emery sent Billy and the others a small wave. "Well, ain't this a change from those lovely dinners we used to have?" she remarked, mostly to Billy and Jeremy seeing as at one point the Kings and Callahans had been on far better terms, back when Alex and Savannah were still together.

"No time for pleasantries, Em," Adam said,. He removed his ski mask now the civilians were out of the way, not afraid for the Kings to know his identity, perhaps even preferring them to know. "You two. Up," he ordered Jeremy and Erik, aiming his gun at them. "We're going to talk in the back office," he told them, then looked to Edwards for the man to show them some encouragement in moving to the room in question...

Meanwhile, Billy and Christian were to stay were they were at the table, with Reina and Tom, along with Emery nearby, to work on getting them to talk and reveal Aidan's killer...

Melanin-Gxdess (Reina)
BloodLightning27 (Edwards)
BasDorcha (Tom)
Mentioned: Melanin-Gxdess (Erik) Pyroclast (Billy) BasDorcha (Jeremy)

 

[Misty Gray]

Sullivan Family Home
~ Sutton, Dublin ~

Conor Sullivan and Lucas Sullivan​

Whilst Finn waited in the car, George walked with Lucas to the front door of the Sullivans large mansion. "Does anyone really need a house this big? Don't get me wrong, I'd still find enough junk to fill the rooms with," Lucas vocalised his observations. "But it would take too long to clean." As they reached the front door, Lucas pushed the doorbell and waited for someone to answer. Reaching to take his overnight bag from George, he gave his father a quick hug before pointing back towards Finn's car. "I can take it from here, Dad," he said in a sarcastic tone.

"Oh, is that right? Well, I'll get going and stop cramping your style. Enjoy yourself and try not to pester Conor when he's recovering. I'll see you in the morning, kid," George told the boy before walking back to Finn's car so they could begin their date night.

"Laters," Lucas replied, sending the man a warm smile. He then turned back to the front door just in time for Rhiannon to open it. "Evening, Rhi. Did I get here in time for food?" he asked, grinning at his cousin.

**********
​

Conor had been glad to get back in his own bed, having insisted on being discharged from the hospital before the place drove him nuts. Although it was good to be home, it did come with a lot of patience. He was glad to have the kids around and see them more than he could whilst in the hospital, but at he did struggle at times to have the energy and enthusiasm to entertain them for too long. It was also somewhat frustrating not being able to do much other than rest. Although he usually didn't like being kept in the dark about what was going on with the business, he found himself surprisingly not giving a damn what he was missing out on. If he never heard of the Kings or the Morettis again, it would be too soon. At this stage in his recovery, he wasn't even giving his attackers much thought at all, not even to consider anything involving revenge. It was just good not to have to think about the business. He only wished he could actually make the most of having minimal responsibilities but instead he was confined to the house and struggling through his recovery.

Conor had the television playing as background noise as he sat up in bed resting his eyes. When the door opened, so did his eyes and he watched as Aliana entered the room. "Hey, I ain't that old," he lazily replied. When asked if he was still feeling up to dinner, he slowly nodded his head. "Yeah, I'm starved, love. This lying around and eating nothing is doing nothing for my physique, y'know. I'll end up as skinny as Tink if I'm not fed soon," he remarked. He then let out of a sigh. He was sure he could push through the physical discomfort of getting up and sitting around the dinner table. He just hoped he had the patience and energy for a full house and any drama that came with it. Usually, he thrived on noise and rowdiness, but at the moment he figured it would be headache inducing more than anything else. "I'll let you know, love," he assured her when she told him to let her know if it became overwhelming.

Conor reached for the medication Aliana set out for him and popped the tablets in his mouth before washing them down with his glass of water. After giving them a minute to settle, he got out of bed and onto his feet. He pinched the bridge of his nose and tightly closed his eyes as his low blood pressure brought on a moment of dizziness and a wave of nausea. Once steadied, he reached for his dressing gown and put it on over the t-shirt and jogging bottoms he was already wearing, clearly having no intention of exhausting himself trying to get dressed up for dinner.

"Are Michelle and the kids here?" he asked as they made their way downstairs. When they reached the bottom of the stairs, Rhiannon and Lucas were nearby. "What are you two up to?" Conor drily asked.

"Oh geez, look at you, Uncle Conor!" Lucas exclaimed, looking at the man's bruised face. "That must've been some fight," he commented. His expression of awe soon dropped to one more serious. "Of course, violence doesn't solve anything. Am I right?" he playfully asked.

"The mouth on this kid!" Conor remarked to Aliana as he pointed to Lucas.

"Oh, well... Thank you for having me over tonight and for what I don't doubt will be a great dinner, Aunt Ali," Lucas politely thanked them.

BasDorcha (Michelle, Kids)
Melanin-Gxdess (Aliana, Rhiannon, Sydney)

 

[BasDorcha]

Sullivan Family Home
~ Sutton, Dublin ~

Michelle Romano​

Michelle looked around the mostly empty house, thinking about the ways she would one day fill it. Her children were upstairs in their sparsely filled rooms unpacking clothes and organizing their stuff. A moving company would be helping get the rest of their items from Portugal and shipping them to Dublin over the next few weeks, bringing with it all their things, her things, and what was left of the marriage – a set of furniture, some dishes, and a few small boxes of memories. Michelle had left anything that the kids could live without or herself back in Portugal for the charity house.

After a few moments, Michael and Laura came down the stairs, dressed and ready to go. “Mom, are we still going to grandpa’s for dinner?” Michael was the one asking, Laura running up to latch onto her leg and hug her. They had missed each other dearly, her and the kids, and she was happy for her daughters clinginess – for now. Carefully peeling her child away from her, she nodded and pulled her son close for a hug. He smiled and hugged her back, before remembering he wasn’t suppose to like his mothers hugs.

“Common, let’s get going, everyone is probably wondering where we are.” The two children bolted for the door, jumping in the borrow car her father had lent her. Getting everyone loaded and strapped in, Michelle pulled away from her new home, there the paperwork for running for mayor sat filled and ready to drop off on the counter. It was common k knowledge that the Sullivan’s were not known for their good deeds, but Michelle was going to take part in turning that narrative around. As they pulled up to the house, she waved at Finn and George as they headed out the gate, before parking the car. The kids were out and running before she could stop them. “Hey, don’t just-“ but the words never made it to them as they rushed in, looking for their cousins.

Not to be disappointed, Rhiannon and Lucas were easily located, along with Conor and Aliana. Michelle followed up the stairs into the home belatedly, tutting at the children and mumbling motherly curses under her breath. She called out as she crossed the doorway, “I’m here, if the kids didn’t give it away already. Hi, Daddy, hello Ali.” Michelle came around the corner and saw everyone and smiled, hugging her father. She did not hug Aliana, but she didn’t think the woman was done being angry at her yet. She’d have to grab her some time tonight and try again to apologize, better then before. Grabbing Laura and Michael before they got to far away, she stopped them, bending down to their level and looking them straight in the eyes. “Calm down, got it? Next time, we don’t burst through the door like savages but knock and wait to be let in.” The kids nodded, properly chastised and calmer now that they had been embarrassed.

“Hi!” Laura was cheery and chirpy, sticking close to her cousin Rhi’s side while Michael just nodded a greeting to both of them, standing around awkwardly – he was shy, even with family, and always felt a bit out of place with somewhere he hadn’t been in a while or had never been at all.

“Sorry, they are just excited to see everyone. Give it a week or two and they will be a lot less tightly wound.” Michelle blushed slightly, shifting foot to foot as she wondered if Ali had told her father they had fought – again. It wasn’t for lack of trying, but Michelle had a bad case of open mouth, insert foot. Giving her dad her arm as if it was for her benefit, she guided him to his seat before turning to Ali to ask if she needed any help. “What can I do to help?”

Mentions Melanin-Gxdess - Ali, Rhi, Syd
Misty Gray - Conor, Lucas

 

[Pyroclast]

Chinatown
~ West End, London ~

Billy King​

One of the things Billy loved most about Erik was his blasé approach to life; with his smooth voice and light-hearted jokes, he perfectly complemented Billy’s tendency to fret and was always able to bring him to a calmer state. So it wasn’t unexpected when he jokingly bet that May would tell him first - but when he claimed it was because they were best friends, Billy fired a mock-offended look his way. “I’m sitting right here, you knob,” he said, packing as much jealousy as he could into his tone.

Jeremy, on the other hand, reckoned that Harper might be the first to gossip, which Billy might have believed if his sister was on better terms with them all. Even though he still wanted to maintain the closeness they had always shared, he had come to accept that Jeremy was most likely the first person she spoke to about what was on her mind these days - just as Erik had become the first person Billy went to most of the time.

Jeremy and Erik went on to discuss May’s fiery personality and how, similarly to Harper, she was unlikely to sit quietly and do as she was told. Having also witnessed her explosive behaviour when Alex became aggressive towards her after finding out she was a Sullivan, Billy had to agree - the women in their family did seem to share a fiery personality. But then, he supposed, so did the men.

At Billy’s suggestion that May seemed to need family around her, Jeremy pointed out that it was natural for anyone to want to create a strong support network. Billy was lucky that he had always had one and he realised that part of him had only made that comment because of how he had been jealous of May’s eagerness to be close to Erik. At the time, he had seen her behaviour as desperate, but now he supposed that was only because he had unconsciously been competing with her for the man’s attention. “Yeah, I guess you’re right,” he agreed with Jeremy. “I do think it’ll hurt her though if we as a family shut her out. Not that she was exactly close with me and my brothers, but I know you lot and Darcey are good friends with her - good friends, not best friends -” he made sure to remind Erik. “And I don’t wanna make anythin’ awkward for you if this don’t turn out well.”

With the current focus being on May’s relation to Trevor, it caught Billy slightly off guard when Jeremy brought up May’s actions in response to the Mercury Nightclub bombing. At the time, Billy had only been annoyed with her for removing the splinter of wood from Erik’s thigh without knowing whether it had hit an artery. It wasn’t until later that he had found out what May had done to save Spencer’s life. Over the course of the whole family debate around what to do with May, Billy had failed to remember that important detail. Aside from the mistake she had made with Erik’s leg, the fact that she had tried to help him at all said something about how much she cared for them - not to mention how she had taken care of Christian and also stopped Spencer from going back into the collapsing building. With that reminder, Billy realised that he and his family owed her so much more than the way they were currently treating her. He almost wished he was at the meeting now, so that he could relay the point Jeremy had just made to the rest of his family.

When prompted, Erik spoke up to state his doubt that May would be sneaking around behind their backs, reasoning that she wasn’t the quiet, cunning type and also had nothing to gain from it. Billy couldn’t exactly be sure of that, but he felt inclined to believe that Erik was right about her. The suspicion stemmed from the possibility that she could have been employed by the Sullivans to spy on the Kings, especially given that she not only had a brother in the mob’s employment but also that she was biologically related to the Irish family - and she knew about it, too. But considering the kind of person May was, and that she hadn’t spent her time with them trying to gain their trust and manipulating them into sharing confidential or personal information, the chances of her actually being a Sullivan spy were probably quite low.

Erik’s comment about her doing no more harm than being annoying made Billy smirk. “Well, thanks to you, I’m pretty good at puttin’ up with annoying people,” he teased, lightly kicking him under the table. “And yeah, that’s true - Darcey’s got a pretty good bullshit metre. Somethin’ like that wouldn’t get past her.”

Offering a sympathetic point of view, Christian reminded him that the issues affecting Billy and his family were also affecting May, too. Sitting her down to tell her who her father was only to then make it clear that he was a much hated figure in the family was sure to sour her dream of finding her father. In that way, Billy did feel sorry for her and even though he was sure he didn’t want Trevor to be in their lives, part of him regretted that he and his brothers and uncle had arranged to break the news to her in such a negative way. “I fuckin’ hate his guts,” he said, trying to keep his tone casual so as not to ruin the atmosphere. “I wish May could be gettin’ a better father. Anyone but that tosser. I’d love to be happy for her, but…you know…”


Just then, a sudden gunshot exploded through the air, causing Billy to drop his chopsticks. His head swivelled towards the source and saw a masked man with his gun in the air and a terrified waitress trapped under his arm, while two men and a woman backed him up. “Oh, fuck me,” Billy uttered under his breath. Given that the restaurant they were in wasn’t owned by the Kings, he knew that this couldn’t be just an attack on their business - they had to be there for him. As instructed, Billy stayed where he was and watched as the rest of the civilians were sent into the kitchen, noticing another masked man. “It’ll be alright,” he whispered to the others at the table. The vivid memory of killing Aidan returned to him in full force - he knew it had been only a matter of time until the Sullivans orchestrated some sort of revenge. “It’s me they want, I’m sure,” he assured them. “I’ll handle it. I won’t let ’em hurt ya’.”

Billy noticed that one of the masked men had stayed in the kitchen, presumably to guard the hostages, but the appearance of Emery surprised him somewhat, not having seen her enter at any point. She sent their table a cheery wave and harked back to the dinners that the Kings and Sullivans used to share together back at a time when the two families had been on good terms. “It was lovely before you showed up,” he replied, shooting her a fake smile.

The first man to make their presence known then took off his mask, showing himself to be Adam Harper, one of the mob’s top soldiers. Billy had managed to stay composed until Adam pointed his gun at Erik and Jeremy and told them to go with him to the back office - but his confidence fell somewhat when he realised they were being separated, and jumped to his feet. ”Don’t do anythin’ to ‘em,” he urged Adam, though he doubted the man would listen to his plea. “Erik, Jeremy, don’t let ‘em hurt ya’, alright? I’ll get us out of this!”

With the attack undoubtedly being a retaliation to the assassination attempt on Conor and also to avenge Aidan, Billy suddenly feared that they had come with the intent of murdering one of them in exchange, and his heart suddenly pounded at the idea that he might not see Erik or Jeremy alive again. “It’ll be okay, I promise!” he called out after them, but fear had already gripped him and had stripped the confidence from his words. His eyes met Erik’s as the man was led away and tried to tell him he loved him with nothing but a look.

Once they were out of sight, Billy turned around to face Emery and the two masked figures left to deal with them and placed his hands down on the table. “Alright, what is it you want?” he spat.

Interactions
Misty Gray Christian, Adam, Emery, Dermot
Melanin-Gxdess Erik, Reina
BasDorcha Jeremy, Tom
BloodLightning27 Edwards

 

[BloodLightning27]

~Chapter 14: Into The Fray~~James Edwards: Chapter's Beginning~

---

Chinatown | West End, London

Three days later, Edwards found himself in London along with Adam, Dermot, Emery and several others. The Sullivans were now looking for payback following the attacks in Dublin, one of which he was swept up in. Although he was not hurt in the attack, Edwards was ready to give the enemy a taste of their own medicine...and then some, as whenever he'd fight back, he would fight back hard. Armed to the teeth, Edwards was about ready for a firefight like the previous week, unlike last time, where the enemy was better armed and had them outnumbered. He was just the better shot. Nonetheless, it was nice to be on a strike team once more.

On this night, Edwards' latest outing would bring him to Chinatown in London. The team was surveilling a restaurant nearby. Although he wasn't actively participating in this phase, the familiarity left him in a relatively content mood as it brought back a lot of memories of his Military Career. To keep himself occupied though, he was just cleaning the four guns he had brought with him, which included a handgun, an SMG, a compact pistol and a revolver for a last resort. Nothing big or bulky since it would more then likely attract police attention. Not to mention guns were more of a rarity in the United Kingdom...and Handguns were illegal and not even the police officers had any. Edwards found that to be a dangerous game to play, but he didn't live around here...and he wasn't planning to stick around long, so...not really his problem. Checking all his spare magazines and thumbing back the hammer on the revolver, he quickly had them holstered before putting his jacket on. Letting the MP7 hang from its sling, he proceeded to adjust his earpiece to listen for updates from Dermot. Once he was fully ready, Edwards closed his eyes, wanting to get focused and be ready for when it was time.

It was not long until Dermot gave the confirmation, so Edwards' eyes shot open. Chambering a round into the MP7, he looked over to Adam, only nodding as to not disrupt his now-focused mind. Soon, Adam gave a run-down of the plan, which started with securing the civilians, followed by interrogating the four Kings. They were mainly after whoever killed Aiden, but considering that Conor was hurt, there was likely going to be hell to pay for that too. Either way, it was time to get started...

Quietly, the Sullivan Strike Team made their way into the restaurant. Being the last one in, Adam had motioned for him to lock the door. Edwards swiftly turned the lock to bolt it shut. No one would be getting in this way anytime soon. At least hopefully not. Up next, while Reina and Tom secured the Kings, Edwards was to secure the civilians and have them all go to the freezer. The Freezer? Well, hopefully it won't take too long. Hypothermia is no joke. Nonetheless, Edwards yanked out his MP7 and pointed it at the other patrons after Adam grabbed a nearby Waitress. "You heard the man. Now get the fuck up and start moving! And we will not ask a second time!" He added, immediately after Adam had shouted for all of them to head towards the kitchen.

As a Blond woman led the diners and staff into the freezer, Edwards proceeded to put his finger on the trigger of the gun, ready to fire at the drop of a hat. While it was unlikely to encounter a civilian armed with a gun, they could still be armed with knives. Unless someone was able to fit a rifle in their pocket, Edwards wasn't worried, but still, couldn't rule out all the possibilities. He was in unknown territory, away from home...or well, new home. Soon, all the civilians were in the freezer and Dermot locked the door after the last one had entered. Now hopefully it would not take long for them to get the information they needed, or to eliminate their targets. Edwards may have done a lot of bad things, but killing innocent people wasn't going to be one of them. Soon, he followed Emery back out to the dining area and regrouped with Adam.

As Adam removed his mask, Edwards did the same and put it in his jacket pocket. While the Kings may have recognized the other members of the Sullivans, they at least wouldn't recognize him. When Adam ordered two of the men to stand up, Edwards stood idly by before telling the two men at their mercy that they were going to talk in the back office. Soon, the veteran mobster looked to him. Before he had a chance to say anything, a third man, jumped up to his feet and pleaded for him and Adam not to do anything Erik or Jeremy. Now that he had the names to the faces, Edwards proceeded to grab the man he perceived as Erik, leaving Adam to deal with Jeremy. "The sooner we talk, the sooner you get to go home and tell one hell of a story to your family at the dinner table." He then grabbed Erik's shoulder and switched from the MP7 to the Colt Python, the big, mean revolver he had hidden away in his jacket. "And let's get one thing straight." He proceeded to press the revolver against Erik's back. "If you wanna try anything stupid, I will put you down at the drop of a fucking hat. I've smoked dozens of motherfuckers before...and I'm not afraid to add to the count. And I'm ready to die for my Family. Are you?" He asked coldly, an ice cold stare accompanying the harsh tone within his voice. "Now let's move, we don't have all night."

With the Revolver still pressed against Erik's back, Edwards put his finger on the trigger. One bad move and it would be a nasty gunshot wound. And revolvers packed more of a punch compared to their semi-auto brethren. He proceeded to nudge Erik to the back office, peaking back briefly to ensure that Adam and Jeremy were behind them. Once they were inside, Edwards proceeded to lock the door behind them and motioned with his gun for the other two to sit down. "Alright, now let's chat." He said, continuing to point the gun at Erik, finger on the trigger and not taking his eyes off of either Erik or Jeremy.

---

Interactions: Adam Harper Misty Gray | Erik Snowden Melanin-Gxdess
Allies: Tom Thatcher BasDorcha | Reina Richards Melanin-Gxdess | Emery Callahan, Dermot Murphy Misty Gray
Enemies: Christian Brooks Misty Gray | Billy King Pyroclast | Jeremy Gray BasDorcha

 

[BasDorcha]

Shitstorm Chinese Restaurant
~West End, London~
Jeremy Gray & Tom Thatcher​

Jeremy listened as the other men gave their opinions of May. A small chuckle broke through his passive appearance when Erik toted “best friend” status of the girl. It seemed likely that he was, as Erik was possibly the only person that May had attached to – besides Darcey – that she spent time with. He had seen her with Kerry as well, but lately he hadn’t seen them together, presumably because things had been such a mad house in the last few months. He felt bad for the girl, if it hadn’t been for his friends, his life would be very lonely, so he understood the need to latch onto those that you formed a friendly bond with in an attempt to make deeper connections that lasted and fulfilled that primal humanistic need everyone felt, even if they didn’t acknowledge it.

He tapped the table, accepting the bet, “I’ll match your ten pounds and raise you another ten on Harper.” Seeing as he was picking up Harper from her uncle’s, it seemed likely he’d hear it first and was willing to take that bet. Erik was also right that May was very reactive, so if everyone else kept their cool, it seemed likely that May would too. Most of what Erik said, he agreed with, but he was interested in Christian’s response – May seemed to be growing attached to him.

“Darcey defo would know if May was doing something shady. You can’t keep anything from her, its like a sixth sense.” Jeremy threw his two cents into the conversation as the woman’s name was brought up. When the gunshots started, and the screaming followed, Jeremy immediately flipped into professional mode. Under the table, Jeremy wedged a gun from his lap – he always placed his gun in his lap when he sat down in public – in the braces for the table top, nudging Christian who sat to his right with the stock as he did so, making sure he could feel it with his knee when he put both hands on the table and sat back looking more relaxed than any person should in their current situation.

****

Tom had been happy to help with Leo came to him saying the family had an unofficial job for him to complete. After their training session with James – was it Uncle James to him too? He wasn’t sure – Leo and him had been getting on better in a new way. Once the newness of their connection wore off, it kind of felt like what he imagined having cousins would feel like – all be it very new. His experience with family was limited to his twin brother and` his sister, and their very questionable mother.

Thankfully, his experience in the military, and his demonstration at the range had earned his trust with the man who put in a good word for being able to handle this kind of work. Sitting in the back of the van silently watching the event unfold, he carefully loaded his pistol, strapping it to his leg holster before loading up his assault riffle onto his back strapped around his chest, and two knives – one in each boot - were slid into place. He watched Edwards choice of guns and had to approve, they were some nice machines. The minutes slid by as they waited for a word to move, and for once the normally chatty, cheerful man was deadly silent. Adam got the notice and started talking, and Tom watched with quiet intensity. With a nod, he moved, following the group through the back of the Chinese restaurant, Edwards directly behind him.

Once everyone was in place, he watched the scene unfold before him, with Adam barking orders for the King crew to stay where they were. A small grin cracked his exterior at the dramatics Emery used but faded back to nothing a second later. Jeremy stood, shoving his chair backwards with a look of steely murder on his face, walking with Adam to the back, Erik and the other man went before them. As he passed Emery, Tom saw Jeremy’s hand twitch at his side, as if tempted to snatch the woman up around her neck and wring the life out of her. Jeremy was livid but holding it in.

Tom was smart, deciding he didn’t want his face easily recognized – call it an old habit – so he kept his mask on. He trained his gun on the two men sitting at the table, moving around behind Billy and casually pressing the barrel against the base of his skull. “’Ey, shut it, we don’t need yer yappin’.” Tom’s tone was devoid of any anger or threat, instead it was said almost like it was meant happily. Pushing a little bit with the metal device, he leaned down and whispered in his ear, “Don’t go admitting anything too soon, you’ll make all this fun disappear.” His cheeky voice was just loud enough Billy could hear. Edwards and Adam were almost to the office when he looked back up.

Jeremy followed Erik into the back, his hands swinging casually at his side as Jeremy tried to think of his next move. He had a knife on him – tucked into his back waist band, but he had left his gun at the table. This would have to come down to his fist, and whatever Erik had, to save them. “Erik, I’m not worried in the slightest, are you?” His voice was flat, the fighter inside already calming his heart rate, keeping his head level under the building pressure. Behind him, he looked back once and could see Billy with a gun to his head before disappearing into the room with the man holding them at gun point.

InteractionsEveryone but Bella.....
Melanin-Gxdess - Erik and Reina
Misty Gray - Christian, Dermot, Adam, Emery
BloodLightning27 - Edwards
Pyroclast - Billy

 

[Bellz]

Harper King
Spencer and Shona King's Home
~ Bethnal Green, London ~​

After Billy had told her about May, Harper had caved in on herself. The admittance of her needing to get help had fallen to the wayside and she felt stuck. No longer was she her normal self and when she looked in the mirror all she saw was a shell of what she had been before. She didn't even try to doll herself up as she used to. Nothing seemed to have a point anymore. Harper wasn't even worried about being confronted by her family anymore. The meeting she had with Trevor proved to be a mistake. She believed that he knew he had another daughter and decided not to tell her. She was over people lying to her.

The house was quieter than usual without Jeremy's presence as she forced herself to get ready to go to Spencer's house. She knew what the meeting was about. As she curled her hair, Harper's eyes caught the familiar orange bottles peeking through the medicine cabinet. It tempted her so as she stared at it intently. She had refused to pick up any more prescriptions since her confession to Jeremy, really wanting to do right by the mistakes she had made. But as the orange bottle taunted her Harper's hands began to shake. The curling iron slipped slightly, causing the hot surface to hit her skin causing her to curse out in pain and slam the iron to the counter. Turning the water on, she quickly moved her burnt hand under it letting out a whine as it stung greatly. Her eyes once again met the orange pill bottle and clumsily, she reached for it.

Moving her hurt hand out from the water, she opened the bottle and knocked a few into her mouth desperately, swallowing them without any water. Realizing what she had done, Harper panicked and held the bottle in her hands looking from the sink to the toilet wondering what she should do. She couldn't keep living this way and she knew that if she didn't stop it, she would lose her life just as her mother did.

There was a knock on the bathroom door, one of her family's men asking if she was okay. "I'm fine!" She said, her voice not the least bit convincing. Quickly Harper looked to the toilet, ready to just dump the last of her pain medication but she couldn't bring herself to do it. The pain was too much, it was all becoming too much -- what was she going to do without them? Suffer? The man knocked on the door once again and Harper quickly grabbed the cap of the bottle and placed it back on before shoving it into her purse. Harper quickly opened the door, "I said I was fine." She insisted, forcing herself to smile but the guard before her didn't seem convinced. "You're going to be late, Miss King." He insisted gently and Harper nodded her head, "Let me just fix my hair." She told him before shutting the door in his face. Harper quickly curled what she could as she felt the effects of the pain meds making her sleepy.

Once she was satisfied with her hair, Harper followed the guard towards the car that was waiting outside for her. Normally, Harper would drive herself, but it seemed as though her family didn't want to risk her running off. She crawled into the backseat of the car and leaned back against the seat as the driver pulled out into the street.

"Miss King? Miss King? We're here" Someone shook her gently and Harper's eyes snapped awake as she looked around. She was still in the car and apparently she had fallen asleep. The drive from her apartment to Spencer's place wasn't a long one. "You alright?" The driver asked, looking at Harper with heavy concern as the blonde nodded her head. "Never better." She mumbled before dragging herself out of the car. The boot still weighed heavily down on her broken leg, causing her to collapse over its weight and the driver caught her before she could fall too far. "Let me walk you to the door." He insisted and Harper shook her head, waving her hand to dismiss him, "I'm fine." She mumbled weakly, "Thank you." With that, she managed to walk down the pathway that lead to the door. One of the family's men let her in and Harper looked around for a long moment tiredly. It felt like forever since she had stepped foot into this house and paired with her impairment...it all felt like a dream. Hearing voices from the other room, Harper caught her Uncle's voice, I'll talk to Harper another time and get this sorted out... Biting her lip, Harper wondered if she was going to be able to sneak past them. Not feel like facing her Uncle or Spencer at that moment. Her legs felt like liquid and as she took a step, her purse slipped from her hand, causing its contents of it to spill all over the floor, including the pill bottle she had stashed in a hurry.
with: Bruce Pyroclast
Spencer Misty Gray
Mentions: Jeremy + May BasDorcha ; Billy Pyroclast
In the scene: Darcey Melanin-Gxdess

 

[Bellz]

Natasha McCarthy
En Route to The Clover Casino
~Dublin City Centre, Dublin~​

It had felt like forever since Nat had been on a date with Leo and whenever they spoke over the phone it felt like he was constantly distracted. She was starting to feel insecure about their relationship but had to remind herself to give Leo time to explain himself. She was pretty patient on that front and when he'd finally suggested going on a date she jumped on the idea. Though her hopes of him being honest were quickly squashed when he suggested that Thomas and Elena go to the Casino with them. While she was completely happy for Thomas, she didn't feel comfortable confronting Leo in front of him and his new girlfriend. Elena also happened to be Adam's daughter as well so Nat's mother was making it clear that she needed to be on her best behavior despite being upset with Leo. This all left Nat in a rather sour mood as she got ready to go and her mother could sense it.

"Someone's grumpy." Blake murmured as she leaned against the doorway of her daughter's bedroom, watching her fuss over her already perfect hair. Natasha scoffed, "I am not." She said, her voice not convincing as it sounded all too irritated. "Luv, would you stop fusing over your hair, it looks great." Blake said gently and just before she was going to add a few words of advice, there was a knock on the front door. "Wow, he's early." Blake commented, a smile on her face as Natasha rolled her eyes. "I am not surprised." The young blonde said knowingly. "He's trying to butter me up." She huffed as she slipped her shoes on before heading towards the staircase to go answer the door.

"It's the only thing these men know how to do, dear. Especially the Sullivan men! Just don't give him too hard of a time okay? I love you!" Blake hollered to her daughter and Natasha grumbled something under her breath before saying, "I love you too." At the door, she straightened out her outfit before pulling it open. Leo greeted her with a big goofy smile on his face and shoved his hands into his pockets. He called her blondie and Natasha rolled her eyes, though she was unable to keep the smallest of smiles from appearing on her face. When he asked if she was ready for the best night of her life, Natasha raised her eyebrows. "Best night of my life, huh? You sure you want to label it that before we go out?" Before he could answer her, Natasha looked to Blake who was watching in amusement from the stairs, "Bye mom! I'll be back later tonight, don't wait up!" Blake nodded her head and waved, "Have fun you two, and Good Luck, Leo!" The woman said as Natasha turned to glare at her mom. Nat grabbed Leo's hand and pulled him towards his car, not waiting around to give him an explanation for her mother's teasing.

Once in the car, Natasha looked at Leo, "So the casino...never knew you liked gambling so much." She commented, pulling the sunshade down and opening the mirror to apply some lipstick. If he wanted to play dirty and try to butter her up, then she was going to try to get the information out of him the one way she knew how. Applying the lipstick, she quickly placed it back in her purse before adjusting her dress slightly to show just a tad more cleavage before snapping the sunshade back up and looking at him with a smile. "I've missed you." She murmured sweetly.
with: Leo Melanin-Gxdess
mentions: Elena Pyroclast

 

[Misty Gray]

Aqua Shard
~ Southwark, London ~

Kerry Patrick​

The last few days, Kerry had been finding it difficult to get in touch with the likes of Harper and May. Perhaps it was partly herself to blame, as she'd sensed something was off with the Kings that perhaps she needed to keep her distance from for the time-being. Still, she had wanted to try be there for Harper more, given her concerns about her well-being and her interest in giving Trevor the time of day, but she was difficult to get hold of on her own. Kerry hoped Jeremy was at least perceptive enough to know how to support Harper.

Alex inviting her out on a date had been a breath of fresh air and Kerry was looking forward to an evening out. Whilst she knew she never really had to be on her own when Maddox and Ani were always nearby, it wasn't the same as going on a night out with her friends or on a date with an attractive man. Was it a date? Had Alex advertised it as such? Regardless of any ambiguity, Kerry was going to dress up whether it was a date or just two friends just hanging out. By now, she'd come to acknowledge that where Alex was concerned she would prefer it was a date. There was no point in denying to herself that she was attracted to him.

Spencer had only returned to checking in on the pub over the last couple of days. Given the tensions surrounding him and his family, she had expected her boss would have been in a foul mood on his return, but instead, he'd been relatively relaxed. Perhaps more chilled out than normal. Maybe it was because Sundays weren't too busy, but he'd even let switch her shift with one of the other barmaids. Though she hadn't filled Spencer in on the reasons why, being able to swap her shift meant she was able to agree to dinner with Alex.

The taxi pulled up outside the restaurant and after paying the driver, Kerry stepped out from the back of the black cab, careful of her footing given the high heeled shoes she was wearing. She'd spotted Alex as he paced outside the building, so made a beeline directly towards him. "Good evening, Mr. King," she alluringly greeted him, but followed it with a playful smile. She met his gaze for a moment, not wanting to come across as too forward or to misread any signals, so in the moment she decided against initiating moving in to hug him. "Shall we... go inside?" she asked him. She wasn't sure what it was about him, but the last thing she wanted to do was mess things up tonight.

Melanin-Gxdess (Alex)