xx. calm before the storm

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[attr="class","lyr1"]I won't let you, let

[attr="class","lyr2"]you give up

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[attr="class","lyr4"]on a miracle when

[attr="class","lyr5"]!

[attr="class","lyr6"] it might

[attr="class","lyr2"]save you

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tag: @scorch // wordcount: 443

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Both of her parents were gone for the next couple days, and thus her already busy schedule got even busier. After she'd broke the news of her and Jonas' break up to her mom and dad, they'd been particularly sympathetic, which was...in a word, unnecessary. As much as she loved the two of them, she didn't care to tell them it was a mutual thing between the two of them, only that they were remaining friends. In her opinion, that was all they needed to know. Besides, she didn't need them breathing down her neck about bringing someone else home to meet them. With them gone, and Emory living overseas, she was left to take care of their two adorable fur babies. [break][break]
Priscilla, their cat, was easy as pie to take care of. Not that Micah their dog wasn't, cats in general just tended to be much more low maintenance in her experience. She didn't mind the extra care required for Micah, however. He was a sweetie pie through and through. A silver Irish wolfhound, he was full of energy and loved walks. And that was how she found herself in Erikson Park, the gentle giant trotting beside her diligently. His back was level in height with her hips, and she was thankful for the obedience training her mom put him through, otherwise she was sure he'd be overpowering her easily. [break][break]
As they walked, she realized it couldn't have been a better day for it. It was sunny outside, rays of light scattering through the trees, and the park wasn't too crowded it seemed. Not that she minded a lot of people around, it just meant Micah was less likely to get too excitable. Erin slowed them to a stop, letting Micah explore a little bit on the leash as she sat down at one of the park benches to watch him. He took particular interest in some of the birds hopping about the sidewalk and she smiled, watching him attempt to get close, and look visibly frustrated when they flew away from him. Letting out a small laugh, she shook her head at him.[break][break]
With Micah distracted, she glanced at her phone, seeing a new message from her mom. Erin imagined she was probably trying to check on the pets, and smiled with a roll of her eyes. Sometimes she was convinced her mom loved Micah and Priscilla more than her and Emory. She was about to reply when she saw a flash of black fur in the corner of her eye. As she looked up, to follow it with her eyes, her expression took on one of pleasant surprise.

[attr="class","boxo-notes"]so cute ;A;

KAY

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[attr="class","box2"]Moretti and Stone finished their shift early today when they weren't needed at work, thankfully. He needed a day off today. The case was starting to get to him with their luck not being in their favor, no matter how much substantial evidence they were collecting for Scott to use at court against the three prime suspects. It won't be long until they hear one of them will go free, while the other two were going to plea guilty. Were they the ones who were actually guilty? Were they manipulated to say they did it? Were they forced? Questions he asked the two, but they never admitted to anything other than killing the man, and now the wife, since she ended up succumbing to her injuries later in the week. It was frustrating him so bad, he wanted to punch something, kick something, burn something, but a nice jog to the park with his two-year-old black, thick-coated, athletic Groenandael Belgian Sheepdog, named Pepper. When she saw him come home, she was extremely excited to see him, jumping around and crying happily as he hugged her, petted her, and before he went to his bedroom to change clothes, he gave her a good belly rub.     “Good girl,” He whispered with a warm smile. He was already starting to feel better because of her. She was such a good dog to him, and he was glad he was able to get her when she was a puppy from the local breeder around here. It nearly cost him an arm and a leg, but she was worth it. He loved her and she made him feel less alone. His ex-girlfriend didn't like dogs, which was why she only wanted him to visit her at her house instead because he told her he wouldn't get rid of Pepper, no matter what. Looking back, it was too bad she didn't leave when he wanted to keep the dog, it would have saved him a lot of time and heartache, but alas...     Once he put his badge, cuffs, and sidearm away and changed out of his work clothes and into his running clothes, he attached a matching red leash to her collar, and they were out the door on a light jog toward Eriksson Park. The jog to the park was uneventful and the dog was happy to finally be able to have a walk, and then play around the park when they finally arrive there. There were other people at the park, enjoying the nice day after dealing with cloudy weather and rain these past few days. He took Pepper off her leash since she was an extremely well-behaved dog he was able to train when he first got her with help from a professional trainer who trained the PD's K9 unit, and then let her run around for a while, playing with some sticks and chewing on them for a while before he called her back as he pulled out her favorite rubber ball she loved to play catch with her owner.     As he watched her run pass a woman with a dog on a leash, he watched as the woman turned around as she eyed his dog. He blinked in surprise and stared at Schuyler until Pepper started barking at him a couple of times to get him to throw her ball. He threw it for her to fetch, and looked at the intern once more, smiled warmly and waved before jogging over to her as he lowered his hood of his light zip-up hoodie down.     “Hey, Rin. I'm surprised to see you here. You live near by, I'm guessing?” He paused, looking at her sheepishly as he nervously rubbed the back of his neck for a moment before resting his hands on his hips. He glanced around until he spotted Pepper, rolling around on the ground while she chewed at her toy, with not a care in the world.     Grinning, he returned his attention on Schuyler and grinned like an idiot for a moment before suddenly kneeling down to pet her dog. “Nice dog. What's it's name?” He asked while petting the Irish Wolfhound when Micah approached him slowly to sniff around and sit down for some pets. [newclass=.box2]margin:0px auto; width:300px; height:425px; background: transparent; overflow:auto; padding:8px;[/newclass] [newclass=.box2::-webkit-scrollbar]width:5px;[/newclass] [newclass=.box2::-webkit-scrollbar-thumb]background: #8B0000;[/newclass]

Light a fire they can't put out. Tag: @erin Words: 606

credit to Laura of Adox

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As he approached the bench, Erin smiled brightly, meeting his eyes. "Oh hey Luca!" She said, perhaps a little more eagerly than intended. It didn't dawn on her at first that he'd used her nickname, but when she finally parsed it, it drew a light rosy shade to her cheeks. She scooted to the side, making room for him in case he decided to sit with her. "I wasn't expecting to see you either. I figured you'd still be at work." Beside her, Micah wagged his tail and hesitantly stepped forward to sniff at the detective. "I don't, my parents live just down the street though. I'm taking care of this sweetie while they're out of town." She answered with a small smile, reaching over to pat Micah's head  affectionately as she spoke. [break][break]
Micah seemed to decide he liked Luca, and especially so when he received pets, immediately turning on his side in hope of getting some belly rubs. Erin laughed, looking up to meet his eyes once more. "Thank you. This is Micah. I was about to say he's been my best friend for the last six years, but it looks like he's decided you're his best friend now." She replied, shaking her head in mock disapproval at the hound splayed out on the ground in front of Moretti. Erin's eyes wandered over to the black Groenandael who looked to be guarding a rubber ball, and she tilted her head to the side curiously. "She's beautiful. What's her name?" She asked, a curious glint in her eyes.[break][break]
Habitually, she crossed her legs one over the other, straightening out the skirt of her blue and white sundress as she did so. It didn't escape her how funny it was that she'd run into Luca not even a full day after her break up with Jonas. A strange hopefulness surged in her as she thought about it, before she looked back at him. "It's a nice day to be out. Though I don't think my mom would've left me alone until I got out of the house, even if I wasn't taking care of their other children." She giggled, shaking her head with a fond roll of her eyes. "How are you doing? Scott told me about the case..." Erin's expression dimmed a little at that, thinking about what he'd emailed her earlier. It filled her with a righteous fury, and she could only imagine what it was doing to Luca.

[attr="class","boxo-notes"]<3

KAY

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[attr="class","box2"]"Ah...” He trailed off, petting Micah as she talked about taking care of the dog for her parents while they were out of town. He gave the dog some belly rubs before standing his full height and looked back at her. “Well, you know what they say, dogs are good judge of character.” Something he wished he considered when he was with his ex, as Pepper didn't like her at all. He glanced over to where his dog was playing, and hoped she liked Schuyler as much as Micah liked him. “Her name's Pepper,” he said, and then whistled loudly and called out to her. “Pepper. Come.” At once, the Groenandael quickly stood on all fours, grabbed her ball, and rushed toward him.     He then quietly watched as she sniffed around Schuyler for a bit, wagged her tail some, with her ball still in her mouth, and then went over to start sniffing Micah, and the two dogs wagged their tails before Pepper looked like she wanted to play. He smiled at that, shifting his attention to Schuyler again before hesitantly sitting down beside her on the bench, resting his elbows on his knees and clasping his hands together with his dog's leash wrapped halfway around one of his hands and left dangling underneath. He gazed out, watching some of the people who were doing a variety of outdoor activities. He nodded when she commented about the day being nice.     “Yeah, it is,” Moretti replied in agreement. “Hopefully it'll last for a while before the weather's back to our regular schedule Oregon weather.”     He chuckled, realizing he liked hearing her laugh. “They can definitely be like children...” He rolled his eyes to, grinning for a moment before it faded when she asked him how he was doing and mentioned about the case. He sighed inwardly through his nostrils before slowly exhaling through parted lips. He laughed angrily, forcing a smile, but it was more of a grimace as he continued to look out for a few moments. As he did so, his expression was a mixture of negative emotions like it was during lunch with her. He leaned back, rubbing at his eyelids with one hand before resting his arms on the back of the bench.     Moretti turned his head toward her somewhat, looking down at nothing in particular. “How am I feeling? Well, I could really use a strong bottle of hard liquor, but...” A sigh. “I work my ass off trying to solve these crimes, to help victims and their families seek justice, and...” He scoffed angrily and in disbelief. “...then everything backfires, basically, and I'm left to wonder if - “ He stopped, shook his head lightly and closed his eyelids in defeat. This was the reason why he decided to go the vigilante route when something like this happened, but he couldn't help feeling this way. He truly wanted to let the law take care of horrible crimes, and when they didn't, it forced his hand because he wanted to make things right. Not for himself, but for the victims and their loved ones. [newclass=.box2]margin:0px auto; width:300px; height:425px; background: transparent; overflow:auto; padding:8px;[/newclass] [newclass=.box2::-webkit-scrollbar]width:5px;[/newclass] [newclass=.box2::-webkit-scrollbar-thumb]background: #8B0000;[/newclass]

Light a fire they can't put out. Tag: @erin Words: 520

credit to Laura of Adox

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At the whistle, she watched Pepper bound over to them, and she smiled at that. Erin extended a hand out, allowing the Groenandael to sniff her, before petting the smooth black fur between her ears. As their dogs introduced each other, Rin leaned over and unhooked Micah's leash from the clip on his collar, allowing them to be free to run and play for a bit while her and Luca talked. When he sat down next to her she returned his warm smile, looking away shyly for a moment.[break][break]
When he commented on the Oregon weather is drew another laugh out of her, and she nodded in agreement at that. For a moment their conversation was lighthearted, arguably casual, with them laughing about the dogs and the weather. However Luca's expression turned sour in response to the mention of the case, and she could clearly see his heart on his sleeve about it without having to use her powers. She knew firsthand, she herself was upset about the direction the whole thing was going, but she forced herself to be optimistic. Karma had a way of coming back to people, and she hoped this would be one of those situations.[break][break]
As delicately as she could, she reached out and draped her hand over Luca's arm, a gesture meant to comfort rather than an attempt to read his emotions. "That's...understandable." Erin's voice took on a uniquely pensive tone, a rarity it seemed coming from her, but she genuinely felt the fury and frustration at the case. Part of her wished her powers were something more substantial, so that maybe she'd have a chance to do something about the unique situations like this, but she was still grateful for the gift regardless. "I have to believe that it's gonna work out in the end. That they'll get justice." Erin answered, with an almost desperate feeling to it. Her hand resting on Luca's arm squeezed lightly, and then retreated, the meekness rushing back in.[break][break]
With an almost absurdist sort of laughter, she glanced at Luca. "I mean...my boyfri- sorry, ex-boyfriend's friend apparently came back from the dead, so...anything can happen, right?" It was meant to be a joke, an attempt to shoo the dark cloud away from them. In it's absence she, she missed his warm smile, and hoped somehow she could bring it back. Erin was still having a struggle switching over to the change, having been with Jonas for the last few years, it was understandable that it wouldn't happen over night. She tried not to chastise herself too harshly about it.

[attr="class","boxo-notes"]UwU

KAY

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[attr="class","box2"]Watching their dogs play together, he tensed his arm for a moment when she rested her hand over his arm. “Yeah, thanks...” he whispered with a small voice.     It was nice to talk to someone right now who understood what he was feeling about the case, who wasn't his therapist or another police officer, like Stone, who was also furious about where their case was heading. “I've been at this long enough to know when a case takes a turn like this, hoping for justice to happen won't do you any good.”     He breathed in a sharp sigh, winced, and shook his head lightly. “Sorry...I don't mean to be such a depressing asshole and a party pooper to your hope party...” He laughed, smiling sadly.     He suddenly fell silent and back into his thoughts, and reacted slowly when she mentioned about her ex boyfriend. He blinked, looking at her. “Wait, what?” He sat up, leaning forward attentively as he stared at her with creased eyebrows and a slight tilted head. He then stammered, “You're uh...you had...and now you're...wait...h-how did your ex's friend come back from the dead?” [newclass=.box2]margin:0px auto; width:300px; height:425px; background: transparent; overflow:auto; padding:8px;[/newclass] [newclass=.box2::-webkit-scrollbar]width:5px;[/newclass] [newclass=.box2::-webkit-scrollbar-thumb]background: #8B0000;[/newclass]

Light a fire they can't put out. Tag: @erin Words: 187

credit to Laura of Adox

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His words drew a sad smile from her, feeling the anger in his words as if she was feeling it herself. Well, she was. But more so feeling both in tandem. Erin looked over at him in concern at the sharp sigh, softening when he apologized for being dour. She shook her head, offering him an encouraging smile. "Oh hush. You have no reason to apologize to me. Your feelings are valid and...talking about them is way better than just bottling it up all the time." The firmness in her voice was tempered with a nurturing quality, ever the empath, Erin was dedicated to helping in any way she could. "I respect that you're able to be so open about your feelings. It's hard to do that. Plus, I'm an optimist at heart, you'll see the longer you know me. Can't rain on this one-gal hope party." She laughed at the end, gesturing to herself with a cheeky grin. [break][break]

The belated reaction to her mention of Jonas mad her smile sheepishly, and she brought her hand up against her forehead for a second in a gesture of forgetfulness. "Oh god I'm sorry. I can't just drop things like that without an explanation." She giggled, shaking her head at herself. Leveling an apologetic gaze at Luca, she tilted her head to the side trying to find an eloquent way to explain the situation. "I...admittedly don't have all the details but...my friend Jonas, his best friend died in a car accident when they were seventeen or so. That day we went for lunch, when I got back to my apartment, he didn't come home. Apparently they'd run into each other on campus. It gets a little fuzzy there, he didn't really tell me what happened but I have my suspicions. His dad is a huge A-hole, and I think he lied to Jonas about his friend being dead..." Taking a breath, she rubbed her neck nervously. "Sorry this is a sort of long and complicated story."[break][break]

"Anyways. Jonas and I had been dating for the last few years. It...wasn't really serious. Our parents were friends, and we became friends and he was going through a really hard time and I think we needed it then but...it was honestly a platonic thing. More for convenience than anything. And he finally realized he was in love with his best friend when we talked yesterday, so we broke up." She paused for a moment, looking contemplative as she tried to recall anything she might have forgotten. "I'm just so happy he's finally happy. I'm so proud of what he's grown into." There was a bright, genuine tone to her voice. Erin turned to look at Luca with a smile. "So I like to think anything is possible."

[attr="class","boxo-notes"]oof that was a lot to dump on him erin damn lmao

KAY

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[attr="class","box2"]Moretti looked at her thoughtfully after she told him he didn't need to apologize to her, and while she continued talking to him, she sounded a lot like his therapist, which wasn't a bad thing. She truly cared. It was a nice, appreciative feeling, and the feeling was starting to become mutual the longer he listened and conversed with her. He mirrored her cheeky grin and chuckled lightly, happy to hear he won't be able to rain on her hope party any time soon. He continued sitting there and listened curiously when she finally explained to him about her ex and what happened to his best friend. He leaned back against the bench, crossing his arms, and furrowed his eyebrows while he was picturing what happened to the friend and how her suspicions of the father faking his son's death – even he was feeling suspicious too the more he thought about it.     He offered a smile and a light, comforting pat on her knee. “I've heard many, long and complicated stories, Rin. You're doing okay. So far, so good.” He winked before looking down at the toe of his shoe as he crossed his legs at his ankles, and continued to focus on the story. He learned how her relationship with Jonas wasn't really serious, and how they became friends, and how it was platonic, and so forth. 'That's...a good sign,' he thought to himself as he lightly chewed on his bottom lip and his fingernail of his thumb, while all of these thoughts of anxiety, doubt, and hope were running all over the place when she paused to see if she forgotten anything else.     When he finally felt her eyes on him again, he stopped nervously biting at his fingernail, returned his hand to form his crossed arms across his chest again, and bright green eyes were quickly fixed on her hazel eyes and was mesmerized as he studied them more. They were warm, lively, and sparkled with mirth, and they were beginning to capture his heart the more he gazed at her. He smiled softly.     “I'm happy for him, too...and...I'm glad you still think anything is possible...” He laughed lightly as he made himself to look away from her and fell in a comfortable silent, while enjoying her company as he watched their two dogs run around and play with the ball, and eventually played with other dogs who were at the park as well. [newclass=.box2]margin:0px auto; width:300px; height:425px; background: transparent; overflow:auto; padding:8px;[/newclass] [newclass=.box2::-webkit-scrollbar]width:5px;[/newclass] [newclass=.box2::-webkit-scrollbar-thumb]background: #8B0000;[/newclass]

Light a fire they can't put out. Tag: @erin Words: 404

credit to Laura of Adox

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[attr="class","lyr1"]I won't let you, let

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tag: @scorch // wordcount: 327

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If the friendly, comforting pat on her knee made her nearly sparkle, the look he gave her as she told the end of the story made her glow with happiness. Not only for successfully changing the tide of their conversation to a much more positive tone, but also because he seemed genuinely interested in the story, and that admittedly made her heart flutter a bit. As the tale came to a close, she returned the smile offered to her, "Me too. Honestly I'm glad everything worked out the way it did. Though if you meet them, don't tell my parents, they'll start pestering me about settling down again and I just...I prefer to let it just happen, honestly." Erin answered, the truth pouring out of her as natural as it always did.[break][break]
As they settled into the comfortable silence between them, she toyed with the hem of her skirt and straightened it out once more. Internally, she kicked herself just a little, and wondered if perhaps she'd killed any possibility of Luca being interested in her. It was a foreign feeling, being so nervous around another person, but admittedly she didn't mind it. The optimist in her had to wonder, if maybe the sentiment was mutual. Ahead of them, Micah and Pepper seemed to be making friends and having fun together, and just the sight was so cute it drew another grin out of her. [break][break]
For the moment she settled on just relaxing. It was increasingly few and far between that she had the time to stop and soak in the sun. At that thought, she chanced a look up at the sky and much to her surprise, as if summoned by just the mention of the weather, a few dark clouds had begun to gather. As if challenged just by her thought about it, the sky all but opened up and began pouring down a heavy rain, drawing a small, shocked shriek out of her.

[attr="class","boxo-notes"]>:3c

KAY

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[attr="class","box2"]He snorted, smirking. “I know the feeling all too well. My mom keeps asking me when I will meet the love of my life. Not only her, but all of my aunts, uncles, and cousins back in New York City and Italy keep hounding me about it. More so when we visit them on holidays.” He groaned. “Also, wanting me to have a lot of kids.” He let out an aspirated sigh. It was annoying to say the least, but his relatives only wanted the best for them. Unfortunately, he has yet to find someone good for him.  When he heard her tell him she preferred to let it happen, he looked relieved by those words, and nodded in agreement. “Oh, believe me, Erin. Me too.”     He continued watching Pepper and Micah play with the other dogs, and randomly thought out loud, “I wonder who's winning this borkball? Our dogs or the other dogs?” He smirked in amusement. When the bright blue sky started to cloud up, he sighed again as he gazed toward the clouding sky. “Well, looks like I spoke too soon...”     He laughed, and then sat up quickly when the sprinkling became a sudden downpour. “Oh!” He abruptly stood, reaching down to gently grab her hand in his and started dragging her to the nearest shelter where others had ran into; drenched from the heavy rains above. He laughed quietly, looking at her with a big grin on his lips and there was a glint in his eye. He soon glanced down at his hand and realized he was still holding her own. When he noticed, he murmured a 'sorry' and released her hand, and dropping his to his side like the other while he stood around, waiting and watching the rain. He scanned his eyes around, looking for their dogs, and grinned as the dogs kept playing out in the rain.     “Look at them,” He pointed them out as he spoke to her. “They don't care, as long as they're having fun. ” [newclass=.box2]margin:0px auto; width:300px; height:425px; background: transparent; overflow:auto; padding:8px;[/newclass] [newclass=.box2::-webkit-scrollbar]width:5px;[/newclass] [newclass=.box2::-webkit-scrollbar-thumb]background: #8B0000;[/newclass]

Light a fire they can't put out. Tag: @erin Words: 335

credit to Laura of Adox