32 Flavors of Flat Broke [OPEN]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=width,446,bTable][atrb=style, background-color: #FAFAFA; border-top: 3px solid #0E292A; border-left: 1px dotted #0E292A; border-bottom: 3px solid #0E292A; border-top-left-radius: 230px; border-top-right-radius: 10px; border-bottom-right-radius: 15px; border-bottom-left-radius: 15px;] STARRY EYED, Handle bars, and then I let go, let go for anyone. Take me in, and throw out my heart and get a new one. Next thing we're touching, you look at me it's like you hit me with lightning. Oh, everybody's starry-eyed – Notes: YEAHHHHH FIRST POST WOOHOOOOOOOO One thing Ms. Liu had always been sure of was that she had good taste (impeccable, really), but tragically not also the budget to prove it. As she stood outside of the Death Robbins storefront, gazing through the window with an expression of complete heartbreak, she was sure of it more than ever. Would anyone notice how the corners of her mouth drooped, or how much her bottom lip was protruding? Or perhaps how her eyes were opened wide as though she were hoping to sate her appetite for ice cream by staring longingly at the crisp waffle cones and numerous tubs of freshly churned goodness? There was a deep injustice in the world that she just had to have spent all of her allowance money the day before on a wild shopping spree. She couldn't simply withdraw more money from her own small account at the bank; her parents would know that she had been extravagantly irresponsible and an hour long lecture over the phone would be inevitable in that case. How could she have known, in the midst of satisfying her need for costume jewelry, that just the next day, the daily rotating Mystery Flavor at Death Robbins would be Creme Brulee? As justification for the shopping spree, Eva had resigned herself to eating instant ramen for the next two days until the academy sent in the next installment of the weekly allowance it gave to all of its students, but she wasn't as willing to extend that austerity to this instance. Still, she dreaded the "Aiyahhh" that was sure to come if she crawled away in defeat to take out more money from the bank. If only she had made the trip into town with someone else! Asking to borrow money would seem casual and not at all an unbearable request, unlike if she now tried to text someone to see if they would be willing make the trek from the academy dorms just to hand her $3. Even if they were also in the mood for ice cream, it would be embarrassingly apparent that the only reason she reached out to them was that they still had money left. The regret swirled around her mind. Why had she spent her money so thoroughly? All that remained was forty five cents. What to do? What was there that could be done? The girl remained at her position in front of the window, knowing full well that no one would take pity and hand a nearly full grown young woman cash for something as inessential as ice cream. But today's flavor was a Death Robbins classic, a legend in a shop that had already taken on mythical proportions for its rich, creamy cold treats. There truly was deep injustice in the world.

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no easy way to real bliss

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,10,true][cs=2][atrb=style, width: 300px; height: 375px; border: 20px solid #000, bTable; ] [tr][atrb=style, width: 30px; vertical-align: top;] WORDS HERE 711 TAGS HERE eva liu NOTES HERE yo, this thread looked lonely

[atrb=style, background: #000; padding: 8px; border-top: 3px solid #000; width: 20px; border-bottom: 3px solid #000; opacity: 0.9; height: 150px; ] Thin, boney fingers splayed out into the air as if dipping into the blue sky overhead and noticable cracking noises could be heard as the boy stretched his arms up high and teetered as high as he could on his toes. "Nngh..!" He sighed, as if expelling all the aches from his bones and lethargy from his being. He dropped his arms to his sides and willed his eyes to adjust to the scenery around him. Castiel looked extremely tired, though this particular day he was wide awake and feeling refreshed. In return for running some shopping errands for his mother, Cas was provided some extra allowance to spend as he pleased and he could just feel the dollars burning a hole in his wallet. The problem with only having a set amount of money was that he had to spend it wisely. He was always the type of person who ended up looking throughout every store in the vicinity before deciding on what he wanted to buy and sometimes ended up gaining blisters on his feet rather than a nice goody, and today didn't seem to be an exception. Now that he had the errands complete and a modest knapsack strapped to his side with the items, he couldn't think of anything he particularly needed. He dug into his bag and pulled out a magazine. Thumbing through pages as Castiel trekked through the area, he'd only paused to read articles with large bold font exclaiming the most hottest fashion trends. Since the season was starting to take a chilly turn, all the ad's were showcasing warm colors like browns with accessories like mufflers and caps. Castiel furrowed a brow as he turned to check his reflection in one of the shop windows. Cas wasn't decorated in warm colors. For the most part his attire was completely dark with only his bright yellow scarf adding any pop of color. He sighed, feeling like he must seem like the most uncool person alive and took a sharp turn before he'd even bothered to look where he was going first. A one second glance in front of him was hardly enough notice to try to brake from the calamity he practically just caused. He barely got a look at the kids that were only waist high as they came bounding up the sidewalk and he managed to sidestep away from them in time to avoid them, though in the process ended up roughly crashing into someone else. At first he hadn't been aware he'd stumbled into another person until he could feel movement and something wiggling out from behind him and he immediately jumped away, almost running into someone else if they hadn't stopped just beforehand. 'Argh, really uncool!' He thought to himself, surveying the damage he'd caused. The opaque logo on the window in front of him read Death Robbins and the girl in front of the window appeared to have just been standing there before he'd squashed her into it during his oh so eloquent side stepping away from the playing kids. If there had been any color to his face in the first place it was completely gone and that tired expression was replaced with a look of complete and utter panic and anxiety. 'I can't believe I just did that! I am so sorry!' "Stupid! Idiot!" He spat out and stomped his feet on the ground angrilly. In his shock he managed to confuse what he wanted to say aloud with what he had been mentally screaming inwardly at himself, so now it looked like he was blaming her for what had happened. He knew he had a tendency to daydream, but to confuse the two at the worst possible situation!? Castiel's jaw dropped and his single eye practically turned to a dot as he stared at the brunette. "No- Wait! Let me try that again!" The look of horror at his mistake was apparent on his features as he waved his arms out in front of him in order to stall the girl from making any assumptions. 'Now is the part where you're supposed to apologize!' And yet somehow he felt stumped, as if his voice had deserted him and his mind had gone blank.

made by prism

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=width,446,bTable][atrb=style, background-color: #FAFAFA; border-top: 3px solid #0E292A; border-left: 1px dotted #0E292A; border-bottom: 3px solid #0E292A; border-top-left-radius: 230px; border-top-right-radius: 10px; border-bottom-right-radius: 15px; border-bottom-left-radius: 15px;] STARRY EYED, Handle bars, and then I let go, let go for anyone. Take me in, and throw out my heart and get a new one. Next thing we're touching, you look at me it's like you hit me with lightning. Oh, everybody's starry-eyed – ;] tags, Castiel words, 647. notes, "Hey what!" the young woman exclaimed, as she suddenly found one side of her face plastered against the storefront window. This was exactly not the solution she had been anticipating while she was moping about her "so close, yet so far away" dilemma. She jerked her head away, her cheek leaving an unsightly imprint on the glass, as she shoved back against the body that had her trapped against the glass. This took cramping her style to an unacceptable level, though she hadn't planned on making any more of it until the boy spoke, seemingly to accost her for the unexpected run in. She had been in the middle of adjusting her brocade shirt and smoothing down her white skirt when her attention was drawn away. Eva's head snapped to the direction of the micro tantrum he looked to be throwing, and the girl worked her jaws in great ernest, as though warming herself up to start throwing her own angry invectives. However, she quickly put a throttle on her foul mood as she eyed him up and down and saw his body expression turn to one of abject fear. This was the first time she had witnessed anybody displaying the human equivalent of lying down to expose one's belly, and had he not been terrified into silence she might have expected him to start emitting a keening whine. Her rage was not quite rescinded, but Eva quickly concluded that it was too easy to waste her impressive lung power on verbally beating him into submission. What kind of smack down would it be if he was already waving a white flag at the mere thought of retribution? The girl set her jaw straight and strong, jutting out slightly as she seemed to be sucking her teeth at her assessment of the timid individual before her. Needless to say it wasn't a very flattering one: an unworthy and unengaging target to start a trashy shouting match with, not the stuff that made for the bet kind of gossip. But it wouldn't be like her to simply allow this opportunity to slip away. She knew just what to make of this. "What are you standing there all speechless for? Don't you have any sense of courtesy? Maybe you wanna get your hair out of that other eye because it's clearly causing you problems beyond just seeing where you're going." Eva's voice came out clear and succinct, though with a tone that was snide and accusatory. He was scared out of his own skin and she was keen to make the most of his heightened tension. When he remained tongue tied, the demon dadao tilted her head back and to one side. It was time to really ham it up. "Don't make me spell it out for you. This is an expensive outfit and you just caused a seam to tear because of your two left feet. Where's my compensation? I wasn't the one to do this, I'm not paying for it. Wanna talk big, you better have a big wallet to match."

[/b] With one hand held out to show that she had meant it, Eva continued to throw him a withering stare. She had a petite figure and could barely look down her nose at anyone, but was in possession of a fierce Chihuahua like attitude that disregarded her short stature as possibly being an obstacle to making herself a force not to be reckoned with. 

Sure, it might not have been the solution she had asked for, but she was the type of person to find a way to twist fate's arm and get what she wanted out of the situation anyways. With all the shopping bags the boy was carrying around, he had to have had some amount of money on him. She only hoped that he hadn't already spent it all like she had yesterday. "Let's go, I don't have all day."[/b]

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The day started out normal for James. He dressed himself for a day in the park, practicing his shot and working on jumping a little higher. It was all he could do. There was hardly anyone in Death City that would play him in a game of basketball, so he had to make due with practicing on his own.

Today, he didn't wear one of his own jerseys. Instead, he wore the jersey of one of his favorite professional players. The navy blue jersey with orange trim and lettering had "New York" with the number seven under the writing on the front and "Anthony" with the number seven below it on the back. He wore dark blue basketball shorts to complement the jersey and black basketball shoes to finish his outfit. He slugged on his duffle bag, filled with two basketballs, a small stereo, and a few water bottles, and walked through the city.

It hadn't been long since he acquired a demon weapon partner, but he couldn't remember being around her too much. He was sort of ashamed that he hadn't tried to hang out with the woman much. As he walked through the city with his hands in his pockets, he tried to remember what she looked like in detail. Hm.. short... brown hair... likes to dress up a lot of the time.. As his mind processed his partner's characteristics, James found himself nearing Death Robbins.

It seemed like he approached at just the right time for a show! Some guy had ran into a girl that was standing in front of the window of the store and she was yelling. James couldn't help but stand there and watch. A small grin grew on his face as he heard the girl tell the young boy that he would have to pay for a tear in her clothes. James didn't get to see the girl's face, but from what he could tell from behind... she was pretty feisty. The boy, on the other hand, seemed to be stricken with fear. Too bad. The show wasn't gonna last long either way, it seemed.

Shaking his head, the meister wrapped his hair tie around his right wrist and walked closer to the two. As he got closer, he started to think of his partner even more. ..Is this Eva... he thought to himself. He wasn't sure, but she seemed like the girl he met his first day at Shibusen. The height, the hair color, the hair style.... even the attitude. Can't be anyone else... here goes nothing. The thoughts crossed his mind and he started to rethink his next action, but he quickly put those thoughts out of his head.

As he neared the two, James grabbed the girl's hand that was outstretched. By this time, he was able to look at the face belonging to the woman and affirm that it was indeed his partner. In his mind, James gave a sigh of relief. It would have been really awkward if it wasn't Eva and he grabbed her hand from the side. It was still a little awkward now, at least maybe for Eva, but it wouldn't be as bad. The usual smile that graced James' face was there as he tried to grab the dadao's attention. "Whoa there, Eva. What are you doing scaring the life out of this guy?"

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=width,446,bTable][atrb=style, background-color: #FAFAFA; border-top: 3px solid #0E292A; border-left: 1px dotted #0E292A; border-bottom: 3px solid #0E292A; border-top-left-radius: 230px; border-top-right-radius: 10px; border-bottom-right-radius: 15px; border-bottom-left-radius: 15px;] STARRY EYED, Handle bars, and then I let go, let go for anyone. Take me in, and throw out my heart and get a new one. Next thing we're touching, you look at me it's like you hit me with lightning. Oh, everybody's starry-eyed – ;] She clenched her hand into a fist as someone grabbed her wrist away. Sucking in her breath through her teeth, Eva turned her head in an exaggeratedly slow way, her brown eyes narrowing to a side-long glare to put whatever peasant dared to interfere back into its place. A certain hard-set wildness crept into her eyes that suggested that the next words out of her mouth were going to be along the lines of 'let go or eat steel.' She took this imperious act very seriously, as undeniably some part of her was glad for the chance to shamelessly revel in her own boundless self-love. At least, that was the intention, until the dreadlocks and dark brown skin and finally him addressing her directly all added up together. Well it simply wouldn't do to just let open the floodgates on her confrontational manner in the presence of someone she was suppose to be familiar with but was not yet. Impressions and such, after all. Perceptions that she needed to be aware that she was giving off. It was quite embarrassing that she even needed to take time to think about what act to put on next given the addition of this unexpected individual. They were supposed to be partners and she hadn't already jumped onto the most appropriately advantageous manner of conducting herself in her ever-evolving public persona. A personal failing of monumental levels, considering that she prided herself of knowing everyone's business but had somehow managed to completely overlook her own meister. Never mind how that happened, the demon weapon had magic to perform. He seemed easy-going enough, given that he just stepped into her impromptu extortion scheme. It would maybe work, or at least put him more at ease. Eva stared at him for a few seconds longer than she should have, with that murderous expression that suddenly morphed into one of open-mouthed, wide-eyed shock and dismay. "James!" she exclaimed, careful to lay the 'distressed damsel' on thick. That aggressive determination now gave way to extreme helplessness as she all but melted away. "I was just standing here minding my own business and then suddenly he-"

[/color] with her free hand, she threw a trembling finger in Castiel's direction, "just came barging in, shoved me around, and cussed me out for the whole thing. And he ripped the seam on this dress I just got and I spent all my money yesterday on this and I don't have any left to get it repaired!"[/color] Her lower lip protruded wonderfully as she pouted with as sorry a tone she could muster. "I have never met anyone who was so rude and inconsiderate and just an outright jerk!"[/color] Her other hand waved about in the air to provide dramatic emphases, and now she covered her mouth with her sleeve as though to stifle the sniffles that were taking over.

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made by kiwii at btn and gs!

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Vespera Velázquez

"Always ready to rock!"
Color Code: 0088d5

Dear old mum certainly did her best to keep everything running here, but the Demon Bo-Staff Vespera Velázquez knew that if she wanted more freedom in Death City, she needed to find additional income. First and foremost on her mind right now was her idea of getting a band together. It was starting to bum her out that she had no takers yet, then again her recruiting efforts haven't exactly been aggressive. Sure, it wouldn't bring a huge amount of money, but enough to afford some simple pleasures like... like...

Ice cream! That was it! She had a little money to spare at the moment, why not some delicious instant cheer-up? She knew she was close to Death Robbins, so she immediately altered her course of random walking. Thankfully these walks keep things like ice cream from building up on her, but that train of thought would leave her mind immediately as soon as she saw a scene unfolding in front of the shop.

Word of a ripped seam came to the blue-haired girl's ear as she looked at the girl who said it, a familiar face from her trip to the girl's Dorms, but not one she remembered talking to.. Expensive outfit, huh? That's the kind of thing that caught her attention. Vespera's wardrobe wasn't exactly high-class, but she liked to think she did a good job of making up for that with style. Today she had worn one her favorite outfits, her light blue floral top and dark blue floral skirt with black leggings and a black tank top underneath, The leather boots didn't match the color scheme very well, but she felt like they were a better fit for the overall look. As someone who cares a great deal about their clothing, Vespera certainly knew how to do repairs. She saw a challenge before her with this "expensive outfit" and decided to make an offer.

"Um..." she spoke up, sliding quietly up to the group gathered. "If you'd like, I might be able to fix that seam for free." she said with a smile.

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=width,446,bTable][atrb=style, background-color: #FAFAFA; border-top: 3px solid #0E292A; border-left: 1px dotted #0E292A; border-bottom: 3px solid #0E292A; border-top-left-radius: 230px; border-top-right-radius: 10px; border-bottom-right-radius: 15px; border-bottom-left-radius: 15px;] STARRY EYED, Handle bars, and then I let go, let go for anyone. Take me in, and throw out my heart and get a new one. Next thing we're touching, you look at me it's like you hit me with lightning. Oh, everybody's starry-eyed – ;] The sniffles were coming in loud, and any moment now the crocodile tears would be hitting her trembling lower lip. The girl managed to work up a few dainty little hiccups that nonetheless caused her shoulders to jerk up sharply. Crying elegantly was such a difficult art to get a handle on, and she would never answer if asked whether or not she actually practiced in a mirror to make sure her facial features were pinching together in a manner that could still be thought of as pitiable. She was so wrapped up in her own performance that for a moment she only continued to weep into the sleeved back of hand while a second unexpected element was introduced. The world itself was testing her dedication to harmless deceit today, and it was going to be her who was victorious at the end of all this. "What?"

[/color] she snapped, annoyed that before she could elicit a full response from her intended audience of one, another person had inserted herself into this growing drama. Realizing the minor slip up, the demon dadao forced up a particularly painful sounding hiccup immediately after to mask her irritation at the well meaning interruption. With great deliberation, she dabbed at first one eye and then the other with the same sleeve she had been crying her crocodile tears into. "You? My seam? I can't, I really can't,"[/color] she said, her voice affectedly high and soft. The offer threatened to completely derail her very first goal in all of this melodrama, though the even bigger issue was that there was no ripped seam in the first place. Had the tear been an actual issue and having it mended the actual impetus for her demands, this would actually be a very fortunate turn of events. However, as it stood, she was bound to her fib. "It can't be done. This is very expensive, I can't trust just any random person to not ruin it, I hope you understand. It has to be professionally done."[/color]

Eva turned back to her partner with her large brown eyes still half filled with tears. "James. This is between me and him, no other people should be dragged into this. It's not an offer I can accept, I really just can't. He just needs to pay me, about $30 should be enough. That's all, same concept as damaging any other kind of property."

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It was truly one of the more amazing things that James had seen all week. His partner truly was a great actress. She went from yelling at the guy to trying to make James think that she was the "damsel in distress." The only thing that kept him from laughing aloud was the way that she truly put herself into the act. He could have sworn that she was really crying. If he had not been there to see the majority of the even from afar, he would have definitely believed that Eva was never on the offensive. A few slow blinks were all that he could manage before he looked at the boy being prosecuted.

Heh.. there's no way this kid could have done something like that... at least not on purpose. He thought to himself as he looked back down to the weeping dadao clinging to him. The boy was completely stricken with fear. At least that's how he seemed. Who wouldn't? A woman yelling at the top of her lungs would make almost any man cringe, and cause even more more men to fear her. Might have something to do with his mother... the meister's thoughts raged on to complement the track of thinking.

He was quickly snapped back to the situation with the change of Eva's voice again. It was the tone of annoyance. He looked down to see where she was looking and then followed her gaze. Another woman approached them. This one decked out in blue. James couldn't help but smile, blue was his favorite color. The moment was soon recaptured by the demon weapon and she started her act again. This elicited a short chuckle from the meister and he put his free hand on her shoulder and squeezed it a little. "Calm down, Eva. I'll pay for the seam, that poor guy is way too nervous to do anything about it now."

Trying to be the voice of reason, the meister let go of his partner's hand and looked at the newcomer. Trying to be as welcoming as possible, "Hey there. Thanks for the offer, but I'll take care of it. The name's James, by the way."

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=width,446,bTable][atrb=style, background-color: #FAFAFA; border-top: 3px solid #0E292A; border-left: 1px dotted #0E292A; border-bottom: 3px solid #0E292A; border-top-left-radius: 230px; border-top-right-radius: 10px; border-bottom-right-radius: 15px; border-bottom-left-radius: 15px;] STARRY EYED, Handle bars, and then I let go, let go for anyone. Take me in, and throw out my heart and get a new one. Next thing we're touching, you look at me it's like you hit me with lightning. Oh, everybody's starry-eyed – ;] Those were the words she had been looking for, but not from the person who caved in first to speak them. Well, if he really felt like doing so to resolve the situation as much as possible, it was still the outcome she had desired. Of course, now was when she felt like she was seriously transgressing acceptable social conduct. She hadn't meant to swindle her partner, just the timely, terrified-to-muteness fool who had stumbled into her. She had standards, you know, specific boundaries in place that prevented her avarice from driving away her friends, or anyone who could be of help in satisfying her needs, but more importantly her friends. Though at this point it was certain that this was the only way she was going to get any amount of money from this situation, and she'd caused enough of a row that she couldn't very well just say no. She'd just tell him later that the repairs had cost must less than she initially anticipated and it'd be better than taking all $30 for herself. "You really don't have to," she said, placing her hand on her chest. "This is really noble of you, thank you so much for your generosity. I'm so glad that you're my partner. I'm really sorry that you and her got dragged into this nonsense, it was completely unnecessary, but you're both so amazing- thank you so much for helping me." Eva blinked rapidly, as though struggling to see through the beads on her eyelashes. "I apologize that it had to come to this, why don't we just go in and get some ice cream and put this all behind us?"

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Vespera Velázquez

"Always ready to rock!"
Color Code: 0088d5

Vespera was somewhat insulted by the notion that she couldn't do any repairs on such clothing, but she immediately remembered she's not a professional and decided let it slide. Still... that refusal compounded with her behavior... this girl certainly seemed like a drama queen. The blue-haired Weapon was so caught up in trying to figure out this girl that it took a second for the introduction of girl's partner to register, causing a delayed reaction that made her jump a little.

"Oh! Sorry. All right then, I'll leave it at that. Pleased to meet you, James. I'm Vespera Velázquez. ViVi for short." she said, nodding her head once in the process.

Then the subject came back to why she was here in the first place: ice cream. Now the girl seemed a bit more sincere as she thanked the two of them for their assistance. Maybe she wasn't a drama queen, but she did seem way too sensitive over such a simple matter. Still, Vespera's face lit up with anticipation regardless of her current train of thought.

"That sounds wonderful! Tell you what, I'll pay, just don't go overboard, I've got some money but not enough for a binge."