Flashback Velvet Nights

Calla experiences an intoxicating night of boy troubles.

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Center of scholarly knowledge and shipwrighting, Zeltiva is a port city unlike any other in Mizahar. [Lore]

Velvet Nights

Postby Calla Davin on June 27th, 2019, 7:37 pm


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40th of Summer, 517 AV

“Why does your dog always stare at me when she licks you?” Calla rested on the floor of her boyfriend’s bedroom, locked in a serious stare down with a bratty purebred Ovatalis Terrier.

“She’s anxious.” Velvet replied as he stared at the ceiling above his bed. Entranced, he rhythmically pet his dog. Woodruff was a weird dog, to say the least. Sometimes she humped Velvet in his sleep, shaking the bed with all of her horny eight-pound might. Still, the terrier stared.

“About what? She’s a rich dog’s dog.” Calla snorted at her own joke before swatting at Ve’s dangling leg. He was thin and pale, but still a thing to be admired. He had wavy hair that was messy in the most precise way possible, like every loop was glued in place. Ve’s flaws weren’t in his looks, but in his demeanor. The boy was lazy as shyke. He never had to do anything, so he didn’t. It made his face hang with a sense of superiority. Calla patted his leg, quickly becoming enchanted by the smoothness of his velvet pants. “Pass me a pop.”

In a fog, Ve reached into his pocket and tossed a small air sac her way. Calla did not catch it, but let it hit her in the chest instead. She rubbed his shin some more before he shifted his legs back onto the bed. “You love me, right?” Calla stood and grabbed Ve’s shoulder for stability. She was sure he thought it was an endearing gesture.

“I haven’t loved anything more than I love you.” Which was true, in a sense. Calla loved her tattoos, she loved the poppers, and she loved the feel of velvet against her rough hands. She loved the life that Ve could afford to give her, so, in a way, she loved Ve. But would she marry the boy? Never. “I’ve gotta get back though, Ve. Catch you after high tide.” With that, Calla planted a fairly convincing kiss on Ve’s cheek and opened the bedroom door. For good measure, she gave a dainty little wave on her way out.

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Last edited by Calla Davin on June 30th, 2019, 9:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Velvet Nights

Postby Calla Davin on June 27th, 2019, 8:09 pm



Calla used to think she was incapable of love. To be fair, “used to” was about a couple seasons back. She would ask herself, “If mom died, would I cry?” The answer was no. ”If dad died, would I cry?” Probably not. Velvet? Woodruff? Her bald neighbor? Down the line, all no’s. At the time, she thought that made her loveless and unlovable. But late at night, she would feel herself weighed down by...something. When her dad was at sea, she loved it. Calm waters enveloped their home and she could breathe just a little bit. There was still this emptiness, though.

And that’s what love is. Emptiness that you fill with people. It’s wholly selfish. Without that emptiness--that yearning to tell someone about her day or that need for flesh under her hand--Calla was sure she wouldn’t talk to anyone.

As she shut the front door behind her, Calla heard an unfortunately familiar voice. “Finally going back to where you belong?” A large, brutish man sneered down at Calla. She didn’t know his name, and she didn’t care to know. He was the private guard Ve’s family hired. Completely unimportant to Calla’s lifestyle.

“Isn’t your job to just . . . stand there?” Calla brought the air sac to her face, ripped it open, and inhaled. Her eyes stayed locked on Big Boy’s. He opened his mouth to respond, but Calla coldly cut him off. “Silently?”

After a pause, Big Boy spoke. “My job is to protect this family from anybody who’d cause them harm.” He gave the teen a good, condescending look up and down.

“Hm.” Calla dropped the popper at the man’s feet and smirked. “You must be taking a break, then.”

“You’ll get what’s coming to you, little girl.”

“Oooh, be careful. I might own you someday.”

“Don’t be too confident about that. He’ll throw you out soon enough.”

“Eh, win-win, then.” Calla thoughtlessly itched the part of her arm where her new tattoo rested. A short twinge of pain poked back. “Ah, oops. I gotta go. You keep doin whatcher doin.” Calla backed away before doing a wobbly 180. “Which is nothing.” She tossed over her shoulder. It wasn’t quite the snappy ending note she was looking for, but she simply couldn’t be petched to deal with Big Boy anymore. Her body felt like it was slipping into a warm pool of water, and Calla wanted to get home.

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Last edited by Calla Davin on June 29th, 2019, 8:02 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Velvet Nights

Postby Calla Davin on June 29th, 2019, 8:01 pm



“Wanted” maybe wasn’t the word she was looking for either. She wanted to wander the city all night, maybe sit on a roof and snooze for a bit. But that couldn’t happen, so she needed to go back home. If she was lucky, her parents would be too tired or too busy bickering to notice her slip in.

If you asked some people, their home was in the University Quarter. If you asked others, it was in the Sailor’s Quarter. That probably was the only reason why her parents bought their two bedroom house. It certainly wasn’t big enough for the three of them, especially considering that her parents hadn’t slept in the same bed since before Calla could remember. The important part here, however, is that Calla’s house was only ten or fifteen chimes away from Ve’s.

Calla tripped over--a rock? Whatever. It was something. Or nothing? There weren’t many people out given the time, but those that were out looked Calla’s way. Most of her tattoos were hidden under her dirty shirt, but that didn’t make a difference. Calla screamed riff-raff to the high society no matter how much or how little of her they actually saw. She was used to the glances. All things considered, Ve was very gracious about making appearances with her. Despite being groomed for star-level socialite status, Velvet would sometimes hold her hand when walking out and about with her. It was ridiculous, but Calla appreciated the gesture.

“Pardon, but do you need help?” A woman to Calla’s right tentatively stepped out of her group of brocaded friends. Something about her emphasis made it seem like she was trying to find the fastest way to get Calla gone rather than get Calla help. The teen’s mother always told her to work smarter, not harder, which was exactly what she intended to do.

“I--there was a man--I think he--” Calla placed one limp hand on the wall beside her and the other on her head. Her body was already unsteady, so it wasn’t like she had to act too much. The woman turned to her friends and shared a concerned glance with them. Now, whether it was concern for Calla or concern for themselves…

“Oh, well…” The woman shuffled uncomfortably. “Can we...help…somehow?” A murmur of disapproval rippled through the group behind her, forcing the woman to turn around and shrug in a what-was-I-supposed-to-say kind of way.

“No. I’ll be fine.” Calla’s voice was a pitch or two higher than usual. She was going for a lost kitten kind of vibe: innocent, cute, helpless. What would these people say when she left?They’d probably say that she deserved this life, that if she worked hard and wandered less then she’d have money like them. Perhaps they’d argue about what they should have done--maybe a copper miza or two would have saved this poor girl’s life. Whatever it was, it would be related to money. That’s how these people were. Obsessed.

Calla wobbled away, listening to their soft chatter. It brought a smile to her face. She might die poor, but she was seen. Could they say the same? Years from now--petch it, chimes from now, even--she wouldn’t be able to recall any of their faces. The timid woman’s voice would fade into the void. But that lot would go home and tell their families and friends about the strange tattooed girl they found on the street. They’d discuss her.

The gaggle of gossipers rounded a corner behind Calla. She let go of the wall and moved to the middle of the street. It had widened now that she entered the Sailor’s Quarter, and Calla would rather meander in the open space than crowd next to the wall. She picked up the pace now that her audience was gone, fixing her gait as she went along. That being said, she still walked in a soft zig-zag pattern.

When Calla arrived home, she stood at the front door for what felt like bells but was probably only a chime. Time was inconsequential to her. Whatever she said once she walked through this door, however, was not. Her room was on the second floor, so her only chance at a stealthy entrance was if her mother was in her second-floor room as well. She assumed her father wasn’t home, because why would he be? Calla inhaled deeply, gathered her wits as best she could, and opened the door.

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Velvet Nights

Postby Calla Davin on June 30th, 2019, 8:36 pm



Calla brought her body to the ground at half-speed. When her butt was just above the threshold floor, she slowed even more. The door creaked behind her as she leaned against it for support. Her boots were heavy, and she wanted to make sure they didn’t give her away--which she probably should have thought of before she was partially in the house. Calla tugged off her left boot and hovered it above the ground. The girl lowered her face to the ground, keeping her eyes on the boot as she brought it down to the ground.

“Careful, Calla. Wouldn’t want to hurt the stone floor.” Kol, her father, stepped out from the kitchen and into the hallway. Calla rolled her eyes and dropped the boot onto the floor with a loud thud. After releasing her other foot from the grasp of her shoe, she lifted it above her head and let it slam to the floor. Calla’s mouth turned down in a sarcastic frown, her eyebrows raised, and her half open eyes glimmered with a foggy sense of rebellion.

“Why you so bent on bein this big nobody?” Kol crossed his arms across his body. Why he was here, Calla didn’t know. She never knew what his schedule was like. He’d be here for a season, day after day, but then disappear for another. He used to try to say goodbye and hello as he came and went. Calla made herself busy during those times now.

“You’re one to talk, aintcha?” Calla criss-crossed her legs beneath her. A small grin had snuck onto her face without her knowledge or consent. She was reaching the point where self-awareness would slip away from her.

“Watch yourself, cause I don’t want to for the rest of our lives.”

“Shoooocker.” Calla quickly threw back at him.

“You have to grow up, Calla, is what I’m tellin you.” Kol hadn’t moved. He stood in the dark hallway, illuminated only by the light Calla was letting in by sitting in the threshold. “Get up, girl. Can’t sleep there all night.”

“Can’t I?” Calla flailed her arms out for no particular reason. Her small body slid further into a hunched over position. Kol sighed, and approached. Calla allowed it.

“You sound like your mother.” Her father murmured as he put a sturdy hand under each of her armpits and lifted. She weighed next to nothing compared to the cargo he was used to throwing around. The door shut behind them as he pulled her into the house.

“You must hate that.” Calla retorted as her father hoisted her into his arms. Her gangly legs draped over his arms, and Calla felt like a child once again. Honestly, she probably looked like one too. Her father dwarfed her tiny teenage body.

On the outside, she was standoffish, but secretly she missed the closeness. Kol used to joke that Calla’s mother never got a tick with her after she was born, Kol always had her in his arms. He would sleep with her on his chest, carry her around the house like a little ball. They were inseparable. And then somewhere along the line, Calla grew up and they grew apart.

Kol nudged open the door to Calla’s bedroom with his foot. “One day, you’ll get it.” He sighed as he placed her on her bed. He stood over her, crossing his arms once again. “I’m just hopin I’ll be there when you do.” Calla nodded slowly like she understood, but she didn’t. She was sure it was just one of those stupid sentimental things parents say all the time, something like “they grow up so fast” or “I remember when you were small enough to hold.”

The girl rolled over, swatting indifferently in the direction of her father. “Yeah, yeah.” She couldn’t see Kol, but she heard him sigh. His heavy footsteps moved to the door before pausing there. Calla could feel that he wanted to say something. The words hung heavy in the air, suppressed by the darkness and the silence. After another moment of nothing, Calla nudged him. “What?”

“Nothing. Sleep good.” Kol slowly shut the door. There was silence, again. He stood outside the door for a while, long enough to convince Calla that he had moved and she simply hadn’t heard him. But then there were steps. She heard them retreat down the hall and back down the stairs. Instead of turning to sleep in the living room downstairs, however, the steps kept moving. Quiet from the distance, yet distinct, her father’s footsteps moved to meet the sound of an opening door. The front door. A beat later, the door shut and the house was enveloped in silence once more.

Calla rolled onto her back and began mindlessly pleating the front of her shirt. Where could he be going? A boat, obviously. But she felt a pit in her stomach. Calla couldn't shake the feeling that something was different. Sure, her father worked on ships that left at all times of the day. Yes, he tried to say goodbye every time. But the sore spot in her grew and grew. Perhaps it was just the emptiness devouring her faster than ever before. As Calla slipped into unconsciousness, she hoped that was the case.

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Velvet Nights

Postby Neologism on July 16th, 2019, 10:39 pm


Grades

Skills
Observation +3
Philosophy +1
Subterfuge +2
Socialization +3
Rhetoric +2
Acting +1
Stealth +1


Lores
Woodruff: Velvet’s Dog
Philosophy: Love is emptiness you fill with people
Rhetoric: Snarky conversations
Acting: Feigning fatigue
Observation: The wealthy don’t want to associate with you
Self: Likes attention
Kol: Rarely home
Stealth: How to walk silently in a house
Rhetoric: Using sarcasm to distance yourself
Memory: You used to be very close with your father


Note
This is an awesome first thread for me to read about Calla, and it feels like an introduction to a plotline I want to follow up on. She is such an interesting character and you write her well, I look forward to reading more. :)

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