Welcome!

[Keane Ashford]

Why had he let her talk him into this? He didn�t have the money for a pet, any pet. Pets cost money, money he didn�t have. He barely had enough money to feed them at this point, let alone feet some animal, but try explaining this to a five year old. It was nearly impossible, Kea felt like he was talking to a wall at this point, actually a wall would be easier. Walls cant� give you puppy eyes and walls can�t whine. five year olds on the other hand were very good at doing both.

�But daddy, I want a puppy! Please! I�ll keep care of it. I�ll walk it��

Alicia gave him those wide puppy eyes she was so good at by now as if she thought if she whined enough Kea might just decide that he can actually afford the puppy and he was just holding off on her. The thing was he really wasn�t, he really couldn�t afford it, not now at least. Not after the events of the past few months. He was just lucky he was so good at his dance or he wouldn�t even be able to go school at this point. The move had drained him of a lot of his money. The move hadn�t been thought through fully but he had needed to get away, even if he meant leaving everything behind. He sighed softly looking at the young girl with a shake of his head

�and will YOU get the job to pay for it? I think they have child labor laws here; they might get in your way. The answer is still no Alicia, I can�t afford a puppy, I�m sorry�

she pouted but finally seemed to give up on the begging, she wasn�t winning and at this point she was realizing all she was going to do is get herself in trouble. Without looking up at Kea she trailed her fingers along the shelves as she approached the other set of cages. Kea just groaned inwardly following her waiting for the next set of beginning and pleading. And sure enough right on cue still without ever turning to look to Kea Alicia found the next thing she wanted.

�what about a kitten? Kittens are smaller then puppies. Oh please daddy, a kitten?�

and to think in a way he had willingly signed up for this� what had he been thinking. Oh right, that it was only supposed to be for a month, maybe two at the most. What had happened to that? if he ever found Nikhil again he would need to kill him. Nikhil was once one of his best friends�so much for that. After a moment of hesitance Kea moves up behind Alicia lifting her quietly to his hip.

�no, no kitten, no puppy, I can�t afford it Alicia. No amount of begging is going to change that fact�

Alicia made a face, her nose scrunching in a mix of frustration and annoyance at his words and being lifted. She pouted quietly draping an arm around Kea�s neck, her legs wresting at his hips, she didn�t beg again though instead looked over his shoulder, eyeing the store� with a quiet curiosity*

�what about a fish? Fish are not spensive�
�Expensive�

The girl spoke amazingly for her age, and probably one of the reasons why was the fact Kea tended to correct her mistakes. She was a smart girl though. Would make Kea look dumb one day soon. She was always proving that she was probably going to have to be moved up in school.

�And no the fish aren�t expensive. The their tanks are, and they need tanks, that their home. I�m sorry Alicia I just can�t afford a pet right now.�

Worse yet, at this point he wasn�t even sure if they would have anywhere to keep it. He still hasn�t managed to snag them a place to live, so far they were staying in a hotel, along with feeding himself and Alicia, Alicia�s baby sitter and other odds and ends pretty much draining much of what he makes at work. Lucky though now that he seemed to be gotten more known he was getting more pay. The only problem with this though is that he also has had people bug him at times. Hell how did he develop a fan-base as �Eden� anyway? well if he continued to grow in popularity like that, the mix of tips and money from private shows would gain him enough to buy Alicia whatever she wanted. He was relatively new to this job and already made over $300 easy in one night

��I�m sorry Licia, maybe once we get everything settled and we have a real place, and such I can get you a pet. But if I do you have to keep care of it. Okay?�


She perked up some, looking at Kea with wide eyes giving him a big nod with a smile. There we go, that was the Alicia that Kea knew. He didn�t like her pouting, made him feel bad. Even though she really couldn�t get everything she wanted. he sure wished he could give her everything sometimes. She might not be his biologically but he loved her as if she was

�Okay daddy! And I will I will keep very good care of it, I promise!�

Kea ruffled her hair, hopefully he hadn�t just made a stupid mistake with that comment. Knowing Alicia he did, she keep reminding him of it. but for now at least it shopping the whining.


(meh, not the best post sorry� it been a long time since I actually rped)

Alicia

[blackcatluvr]

Lykke stood in this new petsmart, looking for where cat necessities would be.
'This is definitely not the Montana Petsmart....' she thought to herself.
It was bigger, and seemed to be flipped around. She had left Minuit at home, better there than here, with all the dogs around and everything.

She had just gotten off a job someone asked her to do. She was a part-time photographer, always putting up ads everywhere. She almost always had her camera with her. In fact, she did now. She had just gotten off from shooting photos for some seniors' graduating portraits. Lykke always thought it was funny that kids that were a year or two older than her were having professional pictures taken by her.

She was wearing her usual garb--skinny jeans, a band tee, and flats. She wandered around the store, basically aimlessly. Well, not really. She was searching for cat litter, toys, et cetera. But she couldn't seem to find it.

She sighed, frustrated. She didn't want to ask anyone for help, she hated doing that.
She had yet to make friends at Julliard...someone named Blake on her myspace went there supposedly, but she hadn't heard back from her yet.

She kept wandering, muttering to herself, "Stupid New York and their stupid huge stores."
Not that she minded being in New York, after all, she was going to Julliard, where she had dreamt of going. Her parents finding her photographs and finding out that she had taken dance lessons had only sped up the process.

She finally found what she was looking for. She got a few cat toys, some cat litter, cat food. Alot of cat food. Minuit was a pig, to put it bluntly. She didn't know how her cat could weigh exactly the same and eat so much. She always wondered where it went.
She walked past the animal clothing.
"Why do people put those on their animals? Pointless, ridiculous....I don't get it. Maybe it amuses the owners."

Lykke was walking past an aisle when she heard a little girl whining about something. A fish, it seemed. She saw something that caught her eye. A scratching post. Just what she needed. Now she could hopefully teach Minuit to stop scratching on her furniture, of all things.

She went down the aisle, smiling lightly at the other kid and little girl. The guy didn't seem to be much older than her, in fact. She got the scratching post, and eavesdropped on their conversation.

She turned around and tapped the guy on the shoulder.
"Excuse me for...er...eavesdropping and inturrupting, but can I ask you something? Or rather, the little girl?"

Lykke waited to see if he'd answer her or just ignore her. Alot of people in New York seemed to ignore others. Extremely rude. Obnoxious. God, how she hated New York, but loved it all the same. It was a bittersweet relationship, that between her and New York.


(OOC: Well....yours is better than I can ever do. xD)

[Keane Ashford]

Kea was used to life in the city, he had grown up in one. Not this city but a city none the less. It was all the same to him though, a city was a city and no matter where you were they were always the same. Things were always bigger, louder, and much more expensive. He preferred city life though, even if he could barely afford it, maybe this was due to the fact that this is what he is used to, or maybe it simply was due to the fact that something was always going on. Life was rarely boring when living in a city; one just had to know where to look.

The city aspect of New York City didn�t bother him; he could live with that for the most part. He had other issues with New York, for one the damn accents. He couldn�t seem to understand a word anyone was saying. The speeding through sentences and the jumbling of words confused him. He just couldn�t follow anything they were saying and when he needed something repeated to him they always seemed to be agitated with his lack of understanding. The food too wasn�t much better, why did it seem that he was more likely to find fast food then anything else? New York was going to be the death of him, he was sure of that already. What had he been thinking when he came here?

He missed home and a part of him wished he never made this stupid trek across the damn ocean to live in a city where he knew no one and understood nothing. He has yet to really make friends yet, not that he has really tried. Life has been busy for him the past month; to make things harder it had taken him nearly a week to get used to the time change. he still though wasn�t fully adjusted or settled in. Things were still a mess; he hadn�t really planned this through much. It was really a last minute decision one he still doubted himself on.

He still wasn�t completely happy with this move; he wasn�t so sure he wanted to be here but he had to get away. Things back there were getting ugly and when he had received the full scholarship to Julliard he couldn�t turn it down. Julliard was supposed to be a good school, it just wasn�t where he had seen himself ending up.

Kea sighed softly, listening to Licia ramble on about the fish that would get and how she would care for it and Kea didn�t have to worry because she would keep care of it all by herself. He didn�t seem to be buying into it, in truth he barely seemed to listen to her. One couldn�t really take what she said to heart anyway, she meant well but she was five. There was only so much she could really do on her own at this point. Kea did decide though mid-ramble that it was time to leave, before she got herself too excited with the whole fish plot.

Before he had the chance though to make his exit he felt someone or something tap his shoulder. Startling, he turned sharply to face whoever touched him with a hint of wide. He was on edge enough in this new environment and he hadn�t heard anyone behind him. Eyeing the girl quietly, he didn�t seem to know how to respond. Alicia shut up suddenly though as the other approached, her whining fading off instantly. A hint of confusion seemed to flicker through her eyes as she looked around the aisle as if looking to see who the girl could be talking too before she finally looked back to her.

�Me ma'am?�

Yes the girl had manners, she respected her elders especially ones she didn�t know very well or at all, Kea had made sure of that. Listening to them talk though it was obvious they weren�t from around here, both of their words having the heavy English accent of their homeland. If they remained here though in America, Alicia was most likely going to end up growing out of her accent while Kea was likely to keep his accent, at least for the most part. Kea just had to hope that Alicia wouldn�t gain the accent that was so common around this area� he might have to kill himself if he had to live with that. for now though the girl still held the English clip to her words, which probably to most Americans made her sound all the more proper.

(still crappy, sorry)

[blackcatluvr]

Lykke grew up in a small town in Montana, and she and her family moved to the city when she was 10, and that's where she had met her friends, at the huge middle school and high school.

Lykke had always loved photography. She remembered even as a little kid that she loved taking pictures with cameras. Just pictures of her family, nothing special. When her dad became a CEO, though, and they had even more money, that's when she started buying cameras and camera equipment with her. She had about four cameras, but each was a different type. The one she had with her now was her favorite, her Nikon.

Lykke had always wanted to go to New York, to take pictures and whatnot, but now she sort of missed her home. New York was a big place, and where she was was full of smog, fumes from cars. It just made her feel dirty, like she had to go take a shower after she went out anywhere. She loved the hustle and bustle of large cities, but New York was a little too crowded for her.

'And mom and dad said I couldn't come back until I graduate from here, because they spent their money already for this year and next year, even college.' She sighed.

The guy turned around, seemingly startled. The little brown-haired girl looked confused for a moment before replying. Now it was Lykke's turn to be a little surprised. The little girl had an English accent, and spoke very well for the age she looked. Although she shouldn't have been very surprised, New York had tons of different backgrounds. People from all over the world came here. Mainly to see the Statue of Liberty, but oh well.

She spoke to the girl, asking, "You want a pet? If you'd like, you can come to my dorm if you'd like and play with mine. His name is Minuit. He's a kitty."

She didn't know whether or not the guy would approve, as Lykke was a stranger and all, but he might, to keep the little girl happy.

[Keane Ashford]

Kea had grown up in London, England so he was used to city feel by now. He actually enjoyed it, call him crazy, but it at least kept one on their toes. He didn�t like being idle, made him feel useless. He likes the hustle and bustle of something always going on.

Kea�s passion has always been dance, dance and music to be more exact. He always been a little different when compared to his peers and it often showed in him. His grandparents though were the first to figure out a way to put that difference to use, and enrolled him in dance, against his parent�s wishes. His parents till this day still were dead set against their son pursuing his talent.

He never had any interest in New York City, in many ways he still had no interest. America wasn�t on top of his list of countries he wanted to see. The country just never really held his interest, in truth he didn�t seem to think to highly of America at this point. Maybe it wasn�t fair to be judging the country based on news stories and a small group of people, but neither presented their country in such a great light.

As much as Kea loved cities he had to agree that most were too crowded. He didn�t like crowds; he couldn�t handle them at least soberly. Get a drink or two in his system and he opened right up but until then he was socially awkward, he didn�t know how to face people and instead he tended to shrink back from any social interaction. People made him nervous at least until he knows them well. The only time he ever seemed to truly let his shields down is when dancing, with someone he knows well, or drinking. Drinking was usually the easiest route, so he tended to get himself tipsy before ever going to face new people he knew he had to get along with� Maybe not the best habit in the world but he didn�t think he had a problem. He was a social drinker as in he needed to drink to be social ,he wasn�t an alcoholic. Others might disagree though but he didn�t care for their opinion.

Kea at this point though had no where to return too. he had no home anymore he had sold his apartment and he wasn�t welcomed home. His parents weren�t paying for this, they had cut him off long ago. Since he was about eighteen his parents only interaction with him had been simply formal usually for holidays as they kept up appearances the best they could. That was until recently, things had gotten ugly when he was accidentally outed during a holiday get together. That had been all the excuse they needed, they no longer would answer the phone when Kea called. He was no longer their son, he didn�t� exist. It was probably for the better anyway, his relationship with that family had been toxic.

Alicia eyed the older girl quietly noting the surprise. She got that a lot, Alicia was away advanced for her age. She was way to smart in Kea�s opinion. It made things easy though on him as she knew when to stop pushing and when to behave. She was keen enough to notice when Kea was uncomfortable, like right now for instances. Trailing a hand down Kea�s arm the girl seemed to offer the male that hint of comfort as something familiar. Shaking her head at the girl�s words she didn�t take her eyes off her

�No, but thank you ma�am, I�m not supposed to go anywhere with strangers.�

She spoke clearly, her words gaining a grin from Kea. Ah so she was listening to his ramblings at her about safety, good. That also saved him from further awkwardness� no nothing could save him at this point. Still not being able to find his voice he probably already came out as way to awkward and nothing could save him. Not even an overly social but polite five year old.

[blackcatluvr]

Lykke had always been fascinated by bright lights and out of the ordinary things. Things that people normally didn't do. Crazy things. That is why she had agreed with her friends to do the dangerous things they had done, such as play russian roulette. Luckily noone got hurt doing that, one of the guys took the bullet out when noone was looking.


Lykke wasn't allowed to drink yet, but did she ever listen? No. She'd drank alcohol before, even at some of her parents parties. They didn't care if she drank or not. They knew she would anyways, it was a given. They always held huge parties, mostly for her father's benefit to make him look good within the community. She always had a glass of champagne or whatever the waiters had on their trays that night. Lykke thought it hilarious that they actually had waiters carrying around trays with hors d'oeuvres and wine glasses on them. But, that was the snooty Montana people for you. She did consider most of her family snooty. She thought the money went to their heads. Thankfully, it didn't go to hers. She was glad it didn't. She didn't want to be like them. Them as in her parents and older brother and sister.
Lykke had gotten drunk before, numerous times, with friends, but not to the point where she was totally wasted or blacked out.

Lykke smiled lightly at the girl as she told her she wasn't allowed to go anywhere with strangers. She looked up at the guy.

"She's a smart kid, isn't she? I'm Lykke."

Lykke smiled at both of them, sticking her hand out at the him. The boy was handsome, and the little girl was way too cute for her own good.

Lykke's accent had a slightly western twang to it, but it really came out if she was angry or had been drinking alot. She had tried hard to make her accent as unnoticable as possible, but there was still a small trace of it, almost like an undertone to her voice.

[Keane Ashford]

Kea didn�t like crowds or commotion; he didn�t deal well with it. he was easily overestimated and overwhelmed by things around him. He was always a quiet individual more likely to be found by himself then with a group. He liked solitary pastimes not running around with the other kids. To this day he is the same way, at least most of the time. when he got older he discovered drinking �and drinking became his escape.

Technically Kea wasn�t legal to drink in America yet, something he probably has yet to fully realize. He was used to being legal and people just not caring back home. Twenty-one was a silly legal drinking age if you asked him. What did it prove anyway? It�s not like it stopped anyone from drinking anyway. He was actually convinced that America�s high drinking age caused many of their teen drinking problems. It also didn�t make sense to him that someone in America could die for their country but apparently they couldn�t drink, this seemed backwards to him.

Kea didn�t hang around his parents� parties; he really wasn�t welcomed at them anyway. They did know he drank though and didn�t really care. They didn�t care what Kea did with his time, well that not exactly true. They hated the fact he was a dancer, his father especially. His father wanted an athlete for a son, Kea sucked at sports and had no interest in them. This seemed to somehow offend his father�Kea was never a real son to him. His father had gone through so many extremes in an attempt to �toughen him up�. These lessons had resulted in so many bruises and broken bones, but in truth had taught Kea nothing. As previously stated that relationship was a toxic one it was never healthy for him. He tried so hard to please his parents it always failed. He did miss his sisters though, especially Ailish, he really had to find a way to contact her again.

Kea has gotten drunk plenty of times, he did some stupid things when he was completely wasted. One to many times he has woken up in bed with someone who he doesn�t remember the name of. Lucky for him he never did that when in a relationship, he would never forgive himself for that. he was to much of a romantic to much of a dreamer�

Kea smiled at the girl�s words, though it seemed somewhat awkward again he didn�t have his drink fix at this point. to early and it was never a good idea to get himself even tipsy when he was watching Alicia

�She to smart for her own good sometimes�

that got a hint of a pout from the girl though she made no protest. Instead she settled closer to him, again trialing her hand down his arm in that quiet support as she felt him tense even more. she was better at this whole social thing, more proof that she wasn�t really biologically related to him. She didn�t know that though and he wanted to keep it that way

�I�m Keane...or Kea, and this is Alicia (ah-LEE-see-ah)��

he shifted Alicia in his arms as the girl reached out a hand to him. she was getting to big for this. Was starting to make things awkward even though he had no problem holding her weight wise, finally managing to half balance her he reached out a hand to shake hers

�it�s a pleasure to meet you��

[blackcatluvr]

Lykke laughed at the boy's comment about the little girl he was holding. She had never had a little kid around her that acted like this one. This one seemed actually...smart.

"Hey Kea." She looked at Alicia, saying, "And hi Alicia. You're pretty."

She smiled at the two of them after shaking Kea's hand.

"So, Kea, do you go to school around here? I go to Juilliard....my major is in photography."


Lykke wondered if this little girl was his little sister, or his daughter....but he looked too young to have a daughter.
'Its none of my business' Lykke thought.

[Keane Ashford]

Alicia blinked quietly eyeing the girl again with a curious and steady gaze. Kea often worried about the girl, she was way to smart for her own good. She was beyond kids her age and this often resulted with her having trouble getting along with them. Thankfully she had her childlike moments. She was more of a boy then him in ways; she liked digging through the dirt. The other day she, covered in dirt, came up to Kea to show him the worm she found. She had wanted to keep it� he probably should have let her. it might have solved the whole pet thing.

Alicia tilted her head again she looked slightly uneasy at the girl�s words, burrowing her face in kea�s neck a moment as if trying to hide, momentarily shy she didn�t respond right away, her fingers moving to tangle into Kea�s hair before she lifted her head to look at Lykke again

�thank you Miss. Lyke�

she sounded a bit shy still, some reason not fully comfortable with the girl�s compliment. Maybe it was just the idea of a stranger coming out and saying that out of nowhere. Kea lifted his eyes to look at Lykke at the question, giving a slow nod to the question

�Yes, I go to Julliard too, I�m a dance major, ballet to be exact�

He seemed almost uncomfortable about admitting that, he has been met negatively about it before. Alicia looked up again a hint of a frown on her lips, her fingers tangling into his hair�

�Daddy, I�m hungry�

Kea blinked in surprise at that, seemingly caught off guard� what time was it anyway? They hadn�t eaten yet today, they had missed breakfast maybe it was time for food�

[blackcatluvr]

Lykke smiled as the girl suddenly became shy when Lykke complimented her.


"Ballet? That's wonderful! I took a little ballet when I was younger, but stopped. And then I got into photography in the beginning of high school. I still like it, although its only been two years. I have a small side job as a professional, because I learned how to...using my parents money. Thats how I got here in the first place...they saw some photo shoots I'd been in, and saw some pictures I'd taken. My punishment was to come here, graduate the high school part, and graduate the college part," with sarcasm dripping, she added, "such a punishment, isn't it?"


She heard the little girl say she was hungry.


"Well, I guess I'd better let you two on your way then. It's almost one in the afternoon, by the way."

She walked over to her cart, pushing it forward.

"It was nice meeting both of you. Maybe we'll see each other around school or something?" It was more of a question than an answer. "And if Alicia likes, she can come to my dorm and play with my cat. She's more than welcome."
She smiled politely.

[Keane Ashford]

Kea remained quiet listening to the girl as she spoke. At least she was easier to understand then some of the other people he has met so far. He liked the fact he was able to follow what she was saying without getting lost, made him feel less stupid. Now if he could only figure out how to respond. He wished his parents took an interest in him to the point where they would help back up his passion. He had his grandparents but they died when he was still young. They had left him some money to ensure he continued getting his education in dance though but that cash has since ran out. his parents had taken most of it. His breath held for a moment as suddenly the conversation turned to him and he was expected to respond he shrugged lightly, the answer seemed uncomfortable as if he wasn�t completely sure what to say. After all his history wasn�t something he was willing to talk about, his parents were the same thing, and his job was especially not something he willingly talks about. So that left him clueless. He chose to say nothing, it was easier after all.

He was happy that this �meeting� was coming to an end, nothing against the girl but he was about at the end of what he could handle socially. again giving a light nod to what was said. When had it become one? He guesses it was time to get some lunch after all. finally placing the girl back down on the ground, hand on her shoulder lightly he pressed lightly to lead her towards the door

�Thank you, it was nice meeting you too�. yeah maybe I�ll see you around sometime.�

He again though didn�t mean to the words sounded almost forced. He was naturally uncomfortable in social situations and as stated he was reaching his comfort zone it didn�t take much though to get him out of that zone.

�thank you again, I�ll keep that in mind�

[blackcatluvr]

Lykke noticed Kea was getting sort of uncomfortable. He didn't really answer her, instead he shrugged and nodded to what she had had to say.

She smiled, nodding to his last sentence. She looked at the little girl, who was now on the ground, and said, "Bye Alicia."

She walked with her cart down the aisle and went to a check-out, and drove off in her car.


ooc:Crappyola post...my muse is still gone...blah. Hate this post...its so short...haha.