\ life is wonderful

[ROSE CHARIS WILDE]

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No. No. No, this could not be happening to her.

Rose’s eyes widened with horror as she desperately opened and shut the tap in the shower - as if the stream of hot water would return by magic if she wished for it hard enough. It did not return. Her breathing became slightly shallow and her body turned rigid with the impact of cold air with her warm skin as she hopped out of the shower. And honestly - she tried not to squeal. But, when she opened her painfully shut eyes again and grabbed hold of the large towel next to the shower - she truly couldn’t help it.

And so she squealed - like she'd done so many times before - probably creeping the hell out of Mrs Smithers next-door, what with the paper thin walls that separated them. She’d barely even turned on the damned water and it’d stopped!, just like that. She was definitely going to kill the landlady - and use all of her hot water for revenge. Humph. See if she liked that.

Rose struggled to get into the clothes she’d been wearing before - sweaty, food smelly clothes that were a direct result of a day’s work on that sleazy café she worked at. Instead, she pulled her towel and wrapped it around her lean torso, shrinking slightly to try and preserve whatever little warmth she had left. She hugged her arms, rubbing them so as to fight-off the mountainous goosebumps on her arms as she tried to figure out what to do. Good God, she wouldn’t be able to sleep if she smelled like that!

And fine. She would - she’d just fall into bed like a rock and not stir until the next morning, like she usually did. But while she wasn’t in bed, she could pretend that it was true and that she needed that bath as much as she wanted to have it - which she kind of did.

She sat on her bed, shaking her head and wondered what to do. This was serious business, really! She pouted lightly, her shoulders slumping with mock defeat. Where on earth was she going to have a bath, at nearly eight pm?! Miss Simms the only neighbour she actually got along with was probably already asleep by now - oh, yes. She could hear her snores from the other side of the walls of her own room - and all of the others would probably shut the door on her face as soon as they saw her.

No, she didn’t have very nice neighbours. Of course, that could be because of that time when she’d decided to steal the… nevermind.

Her gaze fell on the blank wall, hoping that some divine inspiration would come to her as her eyes tearfully scanned through those pictures of people who’d encouraged her during her life: Elton John, John Lennon, Super Mario… And suddenly, inspiration came. The girl’s face brightened up, all traces of sorrow vanishing as she jumped off her bed, grabbed hold of her hair towel, conditioner, shampoos and some other random articles she found on the way.

She'd slammed the door behind her and, two minutes later, she was standing in front of her landlady's front door, her slightly wet hair sticking in odd angles as she patiently rang the bell to her apartment. A sheepish lopsided grin appeared on her face when she saw the landlady's face on the other side, all hope and sweetness irradiating from her own countenance. “ Can I please use the..? " Pause. The look on the woman's face indicated no wave of sympathy towards her, Rose mused, indignantly. The foul creature. Why!, she was obviously ready to say no before she even knew what she wanted! However, determined to suck her way up to a bath, Rose gave the manticore her very best smile and prepared to negotiate - perhaps by suggesting to give an advancement on the three months rent she was still due. She was desperate like that, indeed.

Also, she was safe, since she hadn't exactly a dime in her pocket to pay anyways.

That was when, coming from nowhere, someone crashed against her coming from the narrow staircases that were oddly fit between her, the corridor and the door, throwing her backwards. Hadn't it been the fact that her sole attire seemed to consist of a pair of flip-flops and a precariously tied towel, it wouldn't have mattered. Unfortunately, it did, and Rose found herself panicking as she increased her grip on the towel, grasping it firmly. In order to achieve that - and not submit herself to the ignominy of nakedness-in-front-of-the-landlady - conditioner and gel and others such fled across the corridor, leaving a stunned Rose staring at whomever had managed to bang into her - who also kind of happened to be laying on top of her.

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n o t e s && er... *slaps forehead*
w o r d . c o u n t && er. O.O
t a g && day / wolfie <3

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[WOLFIE ASHER SCOTT]

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-- He didn't know why he was here. Somehow, Matthew had convinced him to come to this tawdy, disgusting street, enticing him with the words of 'musical genius' and 'aristically brilliant', promising him the reward of seeing this supposedly God-like pianist that had taken up residence in this flea infested apartment complex. But he was here now, and there was no turning back, only saundering up the streets and feeling the familiar chill of angry, threatening eyes upon him. Good god, was every single person upon these street corners some form of miscreant? Were they all drug dealers and low lifes? Was that... a hooker? Did people even need hookers anymore? Wolfie had quirked his brows and shuffled his eat awkwardly as he'd past the scantily clad woman, wincing visibly when she had broadly -- and loudly -- offered her services to him, sending a shudder up his spine as he realized that the voice was a bit too masculine. Oh, ew. Yes, he full supported gender confusion, alternate sexualities, transvestites, the whole go, but any prostitute -- male, female, confused or otherwise -- hit a low rank in his book. Averting his eyes and drawing in a sharp breath, he darted past at a swifter pace, glancing up at the numbers of the passing buildings before finding his destination. So this was it; this low-rent building of crumbling brick, smelling faintly of discord. He was convinced, briefly and momentarily sure that he would walk into the den of some master serial killer and be made into some form of lampshade or belt. That was the only thing that could come from a neighborhood so entirely, downright sketchy.

-- Grumbling quietly to himself -- if he ended up murdered, he was going to haunt the living shit out of Matt -- he jerked open the door, staring up at the desolute stairway and narrowing his eyes in suspicion. Already his skin was crawling unhappily, as if it sensed it was going to be made into some form of attire within the hour. Drawing in another sharp breath -- and regretting it, the hallway somewhat mildewed and thus, stinky -- Wolfie crossed his fingers for luck and began ascended the quaking staircase. He had little to no idea what awaitd him at the top; only that it wasn't going to be good, for his instincts told him nothing else.

-- He hadn't spent much time in the Baltimore apartments, only having heard of them notoriously on the news, and despite his avid curiosity for almost everything in this city, he had mostly avoided this place. As he wandered up the uneven and deteroiating staircase, he was given more than enough reasons to have believed his convictions that this was no place he wanted to be. But, as fate always had it, things would only grow increasingly stress, and as he rounded the last corner at his usual forceful, assertive speed, his body clashed into something much smaller... much solfter, and much barer. To the floor he tumbled, effortlessly, gracefully even, his landing subdued and incredibly softened by the flesh of another beneath him. With a grunt, Wolfie swore, a round of expletives dropping from his lips as his head thunked against the corner of the wall, causing him to slump there on this human pillow for a brief second before slowly gathering his wits. He was laying on someone. On that disgusting, awful carpet. But more importantly, he was on someone. Quickly, Wolfie jerked his head up from where it had pillowed against this someone's shoulder.. bare shoulder. Naked. Shoulder. As his eyes met the bewildered and stunned set of wideset, amber doe eyed gaze, he realized with a thunk in the pit of his stomach that it wasn't just any naked shoulder. It was girl naked shoulder.

-- Quickly and abruptly, he extracated himself, jerking up far more ungracefully than he had fallen and pushing away from her, sliding across the dingy carpet with somewhat of a yelp of realization, his expression growing even more horrified as he realized that not only was her shoulder naked, but she was; covered daintily only by a towel and absolutely nothing else, her bath items strewn about them like naughty confetti. "Hoooolllyyy shit!" Wolfie's voice was hoarse with anxiety and terror, lifting his hands to press them into his cheeks, before he scrambled to his feet. Briefly did his hands flutter towards her, as if wanting to pick her up, but then, thinking better of touching her -- naked and all -- again, he simply stuffed them into his pockets and awkwardly kicked his foot. "Oh my god, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to.. I didn't see you, but. Wow. Well. I mean. Wow."

-- And then, abruptly, he was frustrated. Both because of his studdering interlude and because she had made him look stupid, plus, he didn't want to be here and why was she in the hallway so scantily dressed and why was this day so weird. Shaking his head, his eyes narrowed into accusing slants. "Why the fuck are you naked in a hallway? Who does that! Who stands around naked in hallways waiting for people to bump into them! Didn't your mother teach you any modesty or anything because where I come from you do not stand naked in hallways."

-- Oh, typical Wolfie. When in doubt, be an asshole.

[ROSE CHARIS WILDE]

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After the first moment of shock of having someone hurled against her, and of having suddenly shifted from a vertical to a horizontal position without having anything to say about it, Rose might have found the situation diverting. The fact that she had someone on her, her semi-naked condition and the conscience that the “someone” was a boy weren’t anything close to making her feel embarrassed - it just didn’t work that way. However, there was also the fact that the whole biznai was being witnessed by her landlady - whom she happened to dislike excessively - which made it a bit hard for her to find anything funny in this. It managed to turn an odd and inherently funny situation into an uncanny and rather tasteless affair. that made her want to shove the body on top of hers. Thankfully, she remembered her state of bareness and detained herself from such a foolish action, instead finding herself staring at a pair of dark eyes - who happened to be looking back at her with a terrified expression.

Oh, yeah. And then he cursed. Rather loudly.

Good God!, was she that disheveled?! She couldn’t be that much of a mess, for Pete’s sake. Fine, she wasn’t exactly in her most perfumed and coiffed state, and her smell was downright “kitchen-y” and far from holding any glamour, but she wasn’t that bad. In fact, Rose was preparing herself to feel offended when the boy scrambled back to his feet - and she found herself staring at one of the scruffiest six feet tall she’d ever seen. Humour washed though her as she examined him from bellow, appreciating the neatness of his attire - already covered with the dust that lurked about the Baltimore apartments and had rose from the inch tall layer that inhabited the corridor’s carpet - and the fact that, despite his well-kept and elegant figure, his perfectly disheveled hair and beard and all gave him the appearance of a homeless person. It clashed, to say the least. And, he needed a shave - badly.

Heavens, she could feel the towel against her body, seemingly raising in all sorts of odd angles. The girl peeked downwards, to see if anything that shouldn’t be shared was - much to her relief, nothing of the sort. The towel still conferred her some knee-length decency - though apparently not enough to prevent the boy from being shocked. Pfft, nakeder people were seen at beaches - bikinis showed as much skin. Dresses showed more skin. She really couldn’t see why the man was so upset, damnit! She saw his attempts at trying to trying to pick her up - along with his apparent decision that such a shameless creature was not to be touched.

Poo.

At least he appologized, Rose mused silently, trying to pull herself back to her feet and glancing at her back over her shoulder - to find that yes, her back was almost grey with dirt. The girl threw a sharp look at the landlady - who looked like a child who’d been told that the traffic to school was cut and they’d have to stay at home. Aka, appallingly happy. Rose averted her gaze, feeling as if she might punch the woman if she kept staring and chose to continue her examination of the boy. Well. Man. Man-boy. Who was now acting in a way that was, to say the least, endearing. The studdering was definitely cute. Truthfully!, she was ready to forgive him the fact that he’d managed to make a fool out of her, that he’d ruined her towel and spoiled any possibility of her actually having a bath that night… when awkwardly, the man-boy decided to totally change his approach. And pass from darling to snarling.

Talk about PMS.

“I do.” the girl replied, tilting her head to the left with an amused look. “Not that that’s any of your business.” She felt like reminding him that he’d been the one lunging at her, but that would have been kind of low. Theoretically - very theoretically - he was right. But then again, he didn’t have any right to be right. It wasn't like he lived there - else he wouldn’t have found it odd that Rose was standing in the middle of a corridor stark naked. The girl stole a sideways glance at her landlady through the small grit on the door she was peeking from and sighed. Geez. Why her?! “Are you going to let...?” Her question was cut short by the banging of a door on her face - figures, asides being hateful she was also rude.

And a total bitch.

She wasn’t going to let her in. Not if the sadistic smile on her face had meant what it looked like it meant. That and the banging of her door. Rose scoffed lightly and glared accusingly at the newcomer before leaning down - carefully trying to cope with keeping her balance, holding her towel and picking up her things. “This is all your fault, you know? I was almost talking her into letting me in.” Well, so not. But Rose was optimistic that she would have - if not only to be left alone. Now all she had to do was ring on the door a good million times and wait that the woman got tired and either called the police or let her in.

It was a risk she was willing to take.

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n o t e s && honest to goodness crap - but i figured it'd be best to get it over with
w o r d . c o u n t && er. O.O
t a g && day / wolfie <3

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[WOLFIE ASHER SCOTT]

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-- Honestly, he wasn't sure what was going on. Things had gone a bit messy, hazy, the last few seconds marching past in a blur of discomfort and shock. Not only was he in a building that he daresay should be condemned, but he had only just risen from the ground, where he had been sprawled across some naked girl, who now stood before him; indignant and blaming him for only God knew what. He was only just gathering his whereabouts and mental state when she had turned those great big puppy eyes to him, now filled with accusation, and said words that made little to no sense to a mind that was still reeling. The knowledge that she was completely and utterly stripped naked beneath that towel did very little to assist his mindset, averting his eyes once more as they had daringly glanced down at her, and wishing to be anywhere but here in this situation. Of course he had shot off his big mouth, had turned an already awkward moment into an entirely hostile sitaution, and the frustration that he felt was still a daunting thing. Why couldn't he have just apologized and made on his way? Why did he have to get so snarly? It was much better to be embarassed than to be rude, but for him, there was no separating the matter; if one came, the other tagged along for the ride too. He glanced to the door, which had been shut a few seconds prior, linking this to the annoyance she was now exuding. Oh, so he had somehow interrupted something. Immediately did his brow furrow once more, and all the brief resolve he had made to be polite sank away in another rush of irritation.

-- "You were standing naked in the hallway for NO reason, and yet it's my fault?" The words came smooth, rich with sarcasm that hid the familiar studder that would have arisen on any other occasion. If she had just happened to talk to him in a coffee shop, say, he would be all studdery and nervous and apprehensive. But here, with the atmosphere cackling with their mutual distaste, he felt rather at home and secure in himself. Odd, dysfunctional even. "Maybe she would've let you in if you weren't a total weirdo that taps on other people's doors naked." This was all observed with an aggitated crook of his brow, his stance changing as arms crossed and he tilted his head, looking down at her. This was not a difficult task, given that he was six foot and she was almost child-like in her size, so incredibly tiny that he could have easily wrapped his fingers to overlap her wrist. Far too small to have this kind of attitude. Irritably, he kicked her bath sponge towards her, one of the items she had forgotten to pick up when she had precariously started tidying the floor. The nudge of his foot was a tad forceful, sending the loofah rolling angrily down the hall and thumping against the wall, causing him to flush ever so slightly and grow annoyed all over again. God, he should just leave and stop standing here and looking like an asshole and feeling like one as well, yet he was rooted to the floor as if someone had hammered him into this spot, still staring down into those big brown eyes and wondering why the hell he hadn't moved on yet.

-- God knew.

-- "Why are you doing that anyway?" he suddenly demanded, as if with the right to do so, which he felt he posessed. Afterall, she had interrupted his entire day with this odd fiasco, he certainly deserved an explanation. "Are you homeless? Do you just, like, wander into apartment buildings and demand people let you in?.. Are you crazy?" These questions came almost with a thoughtful tone to them, but beneath it was laced with both mockery and total patronization, his natural state of speaking, all of it entirely defensive. Lifting a hand, he rubbed the scruff that was growing along his jawline, the gesture an anxious one though you wouldn't know unless you knew him, and at this moment it simply made him look superior and snobbish. He gazed at her appraisingly, refusing to let his eyes dance below her neckline -- that would cause him to blush furiously and thus make this situation even worse than it already was, if that were possible -- taking in the dainty nose, pretty lips, silky if not somewhat slightly greasy appeal of her auburn hair. Pretty little thing, he noted, but still dumb. Also, smelling of a diner. "You smell like onion rings." He stated after a brief pause, the words escaping him without notice, without his consent, even.

-- Good god. For a boy with so many talents, speaking to women most certainly was not one of them.

[ROSE CHARIS WILDE]

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Rose’s shoulders slumped forward, a highly incredulous look washing through her face as he scolded her as if she were a kid. “Of course it is! If I remember correctly, you were the one who… who… assaulted me, not the other way around!” She gesticulated with her left hand to emphasize - hand that happened to be juggling a shampoo and two other small flasks that obviously fell back to the floor. “The girl groaned and crouched, nearly losing balance at one point and giving a slight little squeal, ending up falling flat on her knees. She should have known better than to try such a prowess, what with her natural tendency to fall on the ground even when gavotting across flat surfaces. A small cloud of dust rose where her knees hit, making the girl sniff and sneeze - a dainty little sneeze, fortunately with no mucus extracts involved. Since that would have been excessively gross and she didn’t have any free hands to cover it up.

Geez, she truly couldn’t understand what was wrong with that boy. Damnit, it wasn’t like she’d committed a crime. She lived there - she had every single right to do whatever she pleased. And that included stripping on the hallway if she wanted to, without anyone having anything to bloody say about it. If not even the landlady had found it odd, she couldn’t figure out why he would. After all, stranger things had happened. Like that one time that psycho on the third floor had decided to break into every single apartment on the building just to steal everyone’s toothpaste - apparently he’d found dental hygiene crucial and was scared of running out of paste. Or when the lady from the next door building had decided to knock on everyone’s door in the middle of the night only wearing a pair of pink pantyhose announcing the arrival of the “end of times” - out loud. Really loud.

But, really!, he was pushing it. Seriously pushing it. Why on earth was he so keen on insulting her? She wasn’t even sure if he was being unpleasant, rude, or if he’d just managed to mingle both of them and invent some new kind of bitching of his own. “Are you even serious?!” The large brown eyes raised to his and she scoffed with outrage, her chin raising upwards. “You, mister, don’t know what a weirdo is! In fact, you wouldn’t know “weird” if it did a somersault in front of your eyes and hit you on the face!” Eloquent indeed. Poetic, even. Why was she wasting her genius on such an unpleasant bloke it was a mystery. Well, she did know why - she was picking up her stuff. Else she’d have kicked her heels - er, flip-flops - and sashayed away long ago. “What on earth was that for…?” she inquired, nearly spitting incredulity and staring at her sponge - merrily swimming in dust on the opposite side of the corridor - her features contracting slightly with disgust. Not that it hadn’t already been swimming in dirt before - but his kick had managed to make it fairly dive into the filth that lay on her flat’s floor.

Eww. She was so going to throw that thing away as soon as she got to her apartment.

She still hadn’t told him that she had no flipping water, had she? But every single time he opened his mouth, he managed to crush whatever wave of sympathy she might be inclined to have. Usually she liked people, she mused as she cautiously got back on her feet. Hell, she was friends with the seedy guy who sold drugs on the corner - he’d been to tea at her place once or twice. Her boss, Mike, adored the ground she stepped on - though that might have been explained by the fact that he adored anything that walked around in a skirt. Policemen liked her. She was able to strike conversation with people in shops, and end up the conversation as if they were long-time friends. Why couldn’t this guy be the same and just like her instantaneously…? Oh, and right!, not be unpleasant whilst he did so?!

She had to keep her chin in check - since it was threatening to descent with every word he uttered. Homeless?! Ha, almost so. Crazy…? As much as you wanted her, baby. Rose might have laughed if she hadn’t been so angry. “Like I said: it’s none of your…” she started to reply, as she finally managed to balance all of her belongings in just one hand. Then came the onion comment and, much to Rose’s despair, all her things fell on the ground. Again. She would have laughed and shrugged it off - since she guessed she did smell like onions. Thus why she needed a freaking bath and thus why she was currently standing where she was. However, this time, it wasn’t just incredulousness that shot - it was downright frustration that compelled her to do what she did next. Which was basically blurt out everything that came to her mind, furiously reaching over and poking him harshly on the chest. “When you’re fucking done with being an asshole would you mind… I don’t know, not being one?!” Rose pulled backwards, conscious that her towel was slipping but not really worrying about it, randomely securing it with her hand still with her best livid look.

“Because I can fucking go upstairs, change and come back down and socialize if you want me to, but it’s kind of hard to do so when I’m fucking standing on the middle of the staircases with a fucking towel around me! Not to mention that you don’t even have the decency to offer to help after jumping me.” She meant picking up the shampoos and stuff, but she was guessing he’d be at least as smart as to pick up that. The volume of her voice rose to a dangerous volume, and she was vaguely aware of hearing raising shooshing noises from the wall next to her. She ignored the now obvious silence demands and continued her monologue, her eyes narrowing at him and setting her chin. “So I may smell like onions - but at least I’m not downright rude.” Brilliant tirade. She decided it was the time to remove herself from the set, with a look of offended dignity - that she was guessing would look ridiculous, what with the fact that she was wearing a towel and flip-flops. Still, she was wearing her most distinguished look as she paraded across the corridor - furiously kicking her shampoo flask - towards the staircases.

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n o t e s && ... i'd slap myself if i could
w o r d . c o u n t && one thousand something
t a g && day / wolfie <3

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