Pearl's Plot House ~ Open

Yay! No worries. The last 4 weeks have been a rollercoaster for me and I fear it is only the beginning *impending doom background music* Christmas was a good time and New Years was…. meh. I think I went to bed at 12:01 just to say I passed the threshold.}}

What is this new job? And I feel like there is always something you are planning. I do not have the courage to put my ideas out on the forums.}}

    The atmosphere in the mall was completely normal. Nobody had seemed to notice anything different about Charli or Cody as they pursued towards an exit, hand in hand. Charli pursed her lips in thought, “I’m not going to make any promises. But if people start giving us weird looks, we should probably claim that it’s really good cosplay.” You would think that as an angel shrouded in light, bending it would be easy but 19 years in human form made up for a lot of missed practice. Angels didn’t openly deceive humans. They lived with the concept that what they don’t know, won’t hurt them. Not telling the whole truth for the protection of others is only a white lie. Made with pure innocent intent.

    Although the illusion made them appear normal, the object of fitting through a doorway with wings was a challenge. A squish and a twist was enough to do it. Once outside. Charli relished in the fresh air, especially the warm breeze that was eager to lift her to the sky. She knew her abilities though and straight out of a transformation in a public setting was not a time to test it. Her eyes spotted the ranger in the parking lot and she felt a spot of sadness to leave it behind. "Sorry about your car." Charli offered sympathetically. "Maybe we can come back for it later." Was her offer.

    Thankfully the walk back to their apartments wasn't far, maybe 15 minutes. The day was also warming up, rousing people from their homes to venture into the day. Charli, who had been mostly quiet due to concentrating on holding the illusion, finally piped in a question. "What do you think happened?" It concerned her that Cody had been hiding his identity as a human, she would need more of that story when they returned home. In turn Charli would share her secrets too, as she recognized more than one parallel in this situation.

Real crazy for sure. I keep trying to keep up with the whole war thing but there is so much going on everyday that it seems impossible. Flooding! That's a whole situation. Hope you are doing okay! In Kansas we typically deal with ‘nados and our pastures catching on fire, but floods would be scary.

I’ve heard of a couple people teaching English virtually like that. Do you know any Japanese? I always imagined it would be difficult to teach without developing relations between the languages. But NOT an ELL major over here… my ideas are invalid… most likely

And BOOM! I mean, 8 of them!? Good for you. I’m just going to admire all of your creativity from over here because dang. I think my issue is just getting over the fear of putting my stuff out there for people to love or hate.}}


    Walking around on earth with her true form would be quite a shock to the population of Frankfort, even with an excuse such as cosplay. Becoming such a spectacle was also low on the bucket list because, well frankly Charlize was embarrassed to be out of place. At least she didn’t have to worry about hiding this part of herself from Cody anymore. In fact, his presence was as comforting as the warmth of a fireplace or the softness of your favorite blanket. Safe and secure was always how he made her feel.

    At the thought of it, the other angels would have flipped their lids at the revelation of Cody’s nature, but he had always been good and Charli knew he was good for it. His heart was pure, no matter what form he took. Call it what you want, being blind in love or whatever, Charli knew it to be true. The considerate, compassionate response to her well being only proved it more. “I’ll be fine.” she chimed, not wanting to worry him.

    The time had slid by so quickly on earth, Charli had grown into a woman in a world that did not test her like the ethereal realm. Even so, cloaking was like riding a bike: once you learn you never forget, but without practice you lose the stamina and the strength for it. Mediation was Charli’s way of practicing, even though it was not quite on the same level, it did incorporate skills like clearing one's mind; but the mention of their fathers fighting was a damper.

    “The probability of that answer is very high.” Charli let out a fleeting huff. “I used to hope the arguing would stop but that is like mediating two bulls dressed in red.” Her brown lips twitched into a frown and her posture softened into Cody’s. With a deep breath, the angel hoped to calm the qualms within her, but it stirred at the idiotic rage that could be her father because apparently nothing had changed. Her hold on the illusion became shaky at this thought. Another deep breath was accompanied by a hand running from temple to temple. It was more important to put her energy towards what was happening now than into the things Charli could never control.

{{No apology needed, I haven't been free much either.
And that is neat that you know some Japanese and Cantonese. Those are two languages I have never considered learning before. I’m sure that has aided in your teaching experience though.
I can relate to that. I started a writing journal and sometimes it is all I can do to NOT think of a writing prompt or plot. I have so many *smh*. I enjoy that part of writing though, the whole brainstorming. It really sparks the creative side of me.}}


Charli

“Oh yes.” Charli agreed, shaking her head in disbelief at the whole scenario of earth and its beings in the eyes of a god. “The people of earth believe that their lives are affected by worship and sacrifice. They are, unfortunately, unknowing of the real circumstances at times.” In the bigger picture, it felt that people were like game pieces. Not that her dad had ever taken lives in vain or sought to punish those who were undeserving, but his reactive actions could sometimes create unintended consequences for the whole world. Charli fiddled with the edges of her dress at this harsh reality that only they understood.

Cody’s murmur in her ear cause her skin to pimple with goosebumps but she didn’t let it catch her off guard. At Cody’s offer, Charli looked up at the devilishly handsome demon who was accompanying her. She batted her brown eyes at him while a smile teased at her dark nude lips. “I thought you would never ask.” Her voice was deadpan serious, only her expression showing a humorous glint. Charli was really trying to lighten the mood, ready to move on to a topic that wasn’t so serious. Plus, the angel liked to be hopeful that things would be resolved. That maybe her father was changing or trying to. That was her strongest virtue, being the shining light of hope.

Oh, Mandarin sounds a lot like Taiwanese. From my understanding they also use a simplified version of Chinese. I have a friend from Taiwan and we often talk about culture, language and life. Cantonese sounds like a very intricate language though.

Do you think they might not support you in your decision to adopt? My mom is anxious for me to have kids someday, especially since my older brother has turned out to be kind of a scary person. We are mutually grateful that he doesn’t want to have children. I do want to have kids but the world also feels like a dangerous place and taking on a child in a difficult situation feels like a better thing to do.

Also, cat and dogs are great. I would totally give you some because I have so many. I run a sanctuary, mostly for pigs, but there is no shorage of cats or dogs either..}}


Charli
    Throughout the rest of the way home, Charli stilled her heart and her mind, allowing herself to focus. Albeit it took focus to focus, but things went much smoother with Cody's assistance. Upon arrival and settling into supporting herself, Charli couldn’t help but allow doubts to weave into the depths of her consciousness. She chewed at her lip, silently waiting for Cody to get his keys. For a moment, she stopped to admire their similarities between them, with feathered wings and a crown like a cherry on top, but previous thoughts swarmed in, taking her back to the mall.

    Cody had proclaimed that their relationship was real but many angels had warned Charli of the dangers of a demon. About their darkness and ability to tempt those into doing the wrong thing. A golden ray of light shone above all of these fears. How could love be so bad? It is not like Cody was forcing her to love him. Nor had she ever felt that his actions were malicious. She shook her head slightly even at this notion. She did love him, but at what point does that become lust? When are your actions considered greedy, or selfish, or doing too much. Charli could think of many extremes that were clear and easy to discern, but for others, she couldn't put them on a line. Instead they fell somewhere in between.

    Her mind was tangled between both ends but her heart lay somewhere in the middle. Which brought her to the present. While Charli trusted Cody, everything she ever knew told her to flee. Even her dearest friend had made her promise to run at the mere mention of a demon, but here she stood - charmed to the max by one. The jingling of keys and the click of a lock snapped her out of her daze. She followed Cody inside, not showing the trepidation that warned her to be careful, no matter how well she knew and trusted Cody.

    And then there was the matter of where to start the conversation. Charli leaned back on the door to shut it with a thud, dropped the veil and breathed a heavy sigh. "We made it." She said with a brightly forced smile, a gigantic opposite to the way she was actually feeling. The effort to stay positive for everyone's sake had not disappeared with her human form. She managed to get herself into Cody’s living room and gently sit herself on the ground, careful not to bump anything on the way over. The weight of her wings caused her to lean back and use her arms for support. “So…” She started. “I don’t know where to begin…” Charli observed Cody from her spot on the floor before focusing her gaze on her toes. “Maybe I should apologize for not being totally honest with you about who I am.”

No worries. School has started here and being a 1st year teacher is not smooth sailing.... as much as I like to tell myself that I'm going great, I am also willing to admit that I am exhausted.}}

Mmmm, yeah that’s tough. I’m sorry.}}

For pigs, its all mini pigs and they are breeds from what you could call a ‘Juliana’ to Kune Kune’s. For dogs, I have 2 great Pyrenees, an Akash, a Boxer, and a Dachshund}}

Charli
His moving words caused tears to spring from her chocolate eyes “Why am I such a cry baby.” Charli pressed the balls of her hands into her face to prevent any from touching the floor. Emotions were hard to mask; unless she was trying to be happy. Cody just so happened to instill the kind of happiness that produced tears. “I wanted to tell you too,” Charli said between breaths “I just couldn’t figure out a way to talk about it without sounding crazy or ruining our friendship. In my head, every scenario ended worse than Rome.” She had always hoped to fall in love with someone the way she had with Cody. Like falling through a cloud, it was fast but pillowy. It was unlike anything she had felt for anyone in Heaven.

“Not to be negative but I don’t think it is best to feel relieved quite yet. I mean we are mortal enemies. What… um….” Charli trailed off pressing her lips together as she thought of the best way to put it. “What do we do? If my father finds out….” a grimace took over her face replacing any words that could fill the space. “Even if I tried to run away again, it would be impossible…” a distant look glazed over her eyes as she began to chew on her thumbnail.

That's all good! I'm back at work tomorrow so won't be lurking as much as I have been. I'll post a bit of a starter.))

Badger hastily slipped through a gap in the fence surrounding his home, sprinting as quickly as he could away from it. A few rats chased after him though they didn't follow him far. Once he realised they weren't following he slowed and crawled under a scraggly bush, panting.

"That's the second time this week." he grumbled to himself, twisting to lick a few rat bites he had received to his right thigh. It seemed like as soon as he made himself a nest somewhere, the disgusting pests targeted him in a horde and chased him out to steal it. He knew he had no chance against so many by himself.

It had been six moons since his mother had passed, and two since his friends Clover and Whisper had also passed. Straightening his leg to tuck his paws under him in an attempt to keep warm against the cold wind blowing he sighed. He missed them so much. He also missed the extra eyes and claws to watch and defend against surprise rat attacks. The last two moons had been tough, and his belly was almost constantly hollow. The rats seemed to become cockier since it had just been him alone and his wounds not only from today but previous spats throbbed with hot pain, some even oozed despite how hard he tried to keep them clean.

Slowly he looked around, assessing the new place he had run into. Not seeing anything immediately threatening him, he allowed his eyes to slip close, dozing.

Sorry its a short reply! I'm so tired I can't think right.))

Badger started awake, jumping up when he spotted another cat looming over him, ears flattened in surprise.

"Who are you?" He demanded dazedly. He still felt a little bleary as he hadn't even meant to fall fully asleep he belatedly fluffed up his fur in an attempt to look even just a little bit bigger. This other cat looked huge!

"Hey!" Badger yowled indignantly as he was carried. For a moment he flailed but soon gave up-the other tom was so much bigger and healthier than he was. Pride wounded, he took no note of where they were going until he was released. Still huffy about being carried like a kit, he snatched the offered prey. He wouldn't lie or try to save face after literally being carried like a kit.

"Yeah sure whatever." He grumbled around a mouthful of prey and looking around warily. There were a lot of other cats around, more than he had ever seen in his life, and he no idea what the strange tom meant by leader. Despite Lostshade's comment about puffing himself up, Badger's fur unconsciously remained fluffed in his nervousness being surrounded by so many strangers in a new environment.