Shopping daze (open)

The walk continued and Thadea listed thing after thing about what she liked. It was impressive. Atlacia wasn't that fond of school, but it was better than her old one for sure. Dark memories left sealed in her mind arose a moment and she could feel the eyes boring into her. Out of reflex, she turned only to see that there was nothing there. She felt a tinge of relief and a smile slipped onto her face. They weren't here to torment here anymore, and only the shadows remained.

"It's definitely an upgrade." Atlacia laugh and her arms found their ways behind her back. Walking almost carelessly, she followed the two. Konnex was really helpful in keeping Thadea from running into things. It was actually sweet. She stared at him a moment, trying to digest that thought, then smiled a bit. Maybe he wasn't so bad after all. Her mind wandered to that horrid place again, so she pushed it back to find themselves at a store. Atlacia smiled and followed them into the store, but she doubted she'd buy anything from there. Everything just screamed FANCY to her.

"Wow.. it's been a while," she murmured. She didn't even know what she was looking at or for... then she remembered Konnex was there again and she suddenly felt awkward to have to try on anything. It'd be all self-decisive because one was blind and the other made her brain turn off. Maybe this was counter-productive.

Thadea giggled as she walked down isles of clothing, her hands running along through each piece. It was always a habit in clothing stores, which she enjoyed doing. Feeling many textures at one time was always such a wonder to her. Konnex chuckled a her as she did, then glanced to Atty at her phase and tilted his head while smiling to her curiously, "Been a while since you went shopping?" he asked and grinned. "Ah, no worries. Believe it or not, not only I but Thady has a good taste in clothing. It's weird, I know, but you'll see what I mean." he assured with a hum, then paused and laughed nervously, "Too good, actually..."

The other female meanwhile, tilted her head curiously as her hand made herself catch the attention of a certain dress. Red, smooth as silk, and flowing so elegantly. She felt the small bumps of jewels that traced from the chest to around the waist, the ends short in the front and long as it went further back, she'd imagine to drag along the floor. She picked it from the hanger, "Atty Atty!" Thadea called excitedly and waved, "Come here, quick!" she chirped loudly while laughing and jumping in place.

Atlacia nodded to Konnex as he spoke. Outwardly she smiled, but inwardly- DID HE KNOW HOW TO READ FUCKING MINDS?! Her eyes were a bit wide as she thought about this. She didn't want him to tell she wa salready crushing. URG! Damn her feminine mind.

Lucky enough, Thadea was calling her. She blinked and moved towards Thadea. Good at picking clothes? She was surprised. Normally Atty didn't wear much other than casual jeans or sometimes nice blouses. Most commonly she wore the uniform she had. A hand rested on her scarf as she made her way to where the blind girl was feeling a dress. Atlacia tilted her head. Admittedly it was pretty.

"I like it- but. I never go anywhere that I can wear something like that to," she said softly. Besides it costed way too much for a single piece of clothing. Atlacia didn't like a single thing that costed over twenty dollars. She preferred thrifting. It was cheaper and besides, some neat things could be bought and it was what she grew up on.

Konnex  blinked curiously to Atty's shocked and flustered face, which made him chuckle. As he followed Atty casually when Thadea called her, his eyes widened in surprise at the beauty and elegance of the dress, causing him to make  whistle of being impressed. It was very pretty. Really pretty. Too pretty. He could only imagine how much his wallet would be starving after this if the girls fall in love with it, and he knew how prone to that females were.

"Please try it on at least!" She was practically begging, pursing her lips up at her in a sad pucker and quivering movement, "I bet you would look very pretty! Please Atty, for me?" She persisted, white eyes wide and taunting despite their incapability to see. You couldn't say no to that. You might as well kick a puppy's face too.

"Lord Death..." He shook his head,"Another victim to the face..."

Atlacia groaned and heaved a heavy breath. She didn't get the point of trying things on that she couldn't buy. Still. Those eyes, she couldn't help but submit. Despite being blind, Thadea had some adorable puppy dog eyes. She looked away and back. She didn't really like the thought of modelling. Sure, when she was younger that had been a job ideal for her, but now she was sort of over it. But...

She bite her lip and hook her head. "Fine." Wait- why was he posing this for a girl who couldn't see? She wasn't exactly sure what she was doing, but she guessed she could just go along with it.

After searching a moment, she searched sizes then led herself to the changing rooms. Her eyes were focused on the fabric. It really WAS gorgeous and there was no avoiding that, but it was kind of depressing. Shaking out of it, she gave them a warning of she'd be right back and hurried into the room.

Once the outfit was on, she wondered who she was looking at. The mirror was like someone completely different. She couldn't help but laugh lightly at the star staring back at her. She twirled a couple times then stepped to the door. '"Do I have to come out?" Return! The shy Atlacia. She was okay with being silly when nobody was looking at her, but when eyes were on her, she choked.

She grinned proudly to herself as the other female agreed. No one has said no to the face. No one had the heart to. She didn't know where exactly she learned it from, but whenever she used it, she'd always get what she wanted. This trick was especially a kryptonite to Thadea's father, whom she considered the best there was ever. He was also where Thadea had gotten her stubbornness from, so it's quite something for her to always win things like this against him. The face was also a big key into even coming to DWMA.

Thadea giggled and waited excitedly out the fitting rooms next to Konnex, whom was killing time scrolling through his phone and dazing off. This happened quite often. Thadea usually comes to the stores with at least one person, picks out clothes and makes them try it on. No, she can't see it, but they can. She just wants to make them feel gorgeous, and she can only wish she could see them and appreciate their gorgeousness too. But if they felt good about themselves, that was fine enough. "Well, duh!" she laughed, "You gotta walk around and everything! And also Konnex needs to see it too, silly!" she answered her as if it was rather obvious.

"I what?" Konnex blinked and glanced up lazily, not paying fully attention to the girly habit of shopping. After repeating and putting together the words she spoke, he processed and made and "Oh," putting away his phone, "Yeah, I need to see too silly!" he chirped, mimicking Thadea's eager and childish voice,  earning a light and playful smack which made him snicker.

Atlacia sighed as she knew there was no escape. Looking both ways, she gave a sort of nervous glance to the ceiling before she hesitantly moved the stall door. She was pretty sure neither of them were that interested in seeing her, but she'd humor them. Play along and play nice. Pulling on that confident mask she wore constantly, she stepped out and gave a small twirl. It wasn't one of the super fast ones to flay the dress, but the one fast enough to make it over with, but not show her underwear. She waited a second before darting back into the stall. She couldn't take it. It was hard to keep the mask up when she really didn't know the surroundings. What if they saw the real her.. the one average and slightly shabby girl who didn't do anything interesting.

What if they saw the lie. The outstanding and egotistic girl who thought she was the shit. Balance. She had to remain calm and indifferent. As she once again stripped and returned to her normal clothes, she saw that same empty gaze back. Lies reflected in her eyes, but one day maybe she could believe she did amount to something. After taking a breath, she wrapped her scarf around her and everything was okay. So what if she didn't believe this was something she deserved; friendship. Once in a while it was okay to be selfish right? Her mind argued and so she drowned it out. "It was really nice. You have a great touch." Her voice was faultless and showed nothing of her wavering faith. Either she was stronger or weaker, she couldn't really measure.

"What about you, Thadea? Why don't you try some things on?" Shift the attention away from me. I can't handle it.

Konnex pursed his lips as he pulled out his phone again, Atty having taken a bit to come out. Though hearing her stall's door creak open, he glanced up curiously from the screen. As she walts across so gracefully, the dress wonderfully complimenting everything about her, his phone simply fell out from his hands, not breaking though. He looked a bit taken back by her little twirl, feeling his cheeks heat up when she walked back again. "Whoa." was all he managed, gaze cast side to side in surprise with himself before shaking his head. He bent down and picked up his phone, then leaned over to the aisle of stalls the Atty was inside one of them. "Stay here really quick." Konnex said to Thadea whom nodded and grinned before he walked away.

Thadea leaned against the wall, waiting for Atty to step out until she heard the door creak open again. She blinked twice curiously to her suggestion before emitting a small giggle, leaning over and clawing the air practically until she got a hold of Atty's hand, squeezing it with hers lightly. "Silly, why would I do that? I'm blind!" she laughed matter-of-factly and pulled the female along. If that was her thought then why be at the store at all?

Konnex blinked as he was walking back to the girls and chuckled as he smiled, "Oh, alright, we're ready for the next stop then?" he hummed, holding a bag beside him. 

Thadea blinked, hearing the items inside the paper bag shuffle, making her tilt her head. "What did you buy, Konnex?"

"Oh, this?" he laughed a bit and swung it around his finger, "You'll see, come on now."

Of course Thadea would deny the suggestion. Atlacia went to open her mouth and oppose the suggestion, but at the same time, her mouth snapped shut and she looked away/ Thadea had such a way with words. Her hand clasped Atlacia's own and she was being pulled. This was like an exposition to a new world. She was being led away into that new place where she was actually wanted along. She wasn't sure how to react, so she just silently bent to the will of this little girl who was such a strong voice. Atlacia couldn't help but give a gentle smile at her.

It was only when he had returned that she had just noticed he was gone. She blinked and looked at him with a furrowed and confused brow, but she was silent, since Thadea asked the question that both of them wondered. What DID he have? Konnex only laughed it off and said they'd see. That.. irked Atlacia a bit. She liked surprised on occasions like her birthday and such, but not randomly through the year. What on earth was going on? Atlacia blinked and didn't let go of Thadea's hand. It was as if she was the lost one and she could see. This was all unfamiliar to her even though it shouldn't have been. She gave Konnex another confused look, but once a moment had passed, she looked ahead. "Is there any sort of store you really want to go to, Thadea?"

Thadea blinked and faced up to Thadea voice, grinning and shaking her head. "Nah, I can't really do much." she pointed out, then faced towards Konnex, "What kind of stores do you like Konnex?"

"Oh no no no," he smirked and wagged his finger at her, "I see what you're doing, missy. We're getting you something, be it a dress or a new ribbon. Now come on," he chuckled and pulled Thadea along, in turn, taking Atty with him. 

Thadea whined for 2 reasons: 1- She didn't want anything for herself and 2- She wanted to lead, but Konnex apparently already knew where they were going. "How about a new hat or something?" she atempted, but here a mere chuckle, she already knew his answer, which made her pout.

"Nah, this hat used to belong to one of my brothers anyways. It's real special." he explained with a wink.

This caught Thadea's curiosity and she tilted up at him, "I didn't know you had siblings. What happened?"

Konnex pursed his lips, silent for a moment as he was choosing his words carefully. "Last I saw any of them we were fighting."

Thadea had plenty more questions, but she made a straight thing line with her lips clasped shut, deciding not to.

It was an observation, but it seemed like Thadea wasn't much for getting things for herself. She seemed very dodgy about the subject and turned it to Konnex. Atlacia knew he'd turn it down. Men didn't try things on in front of girls. It just didn't happen- well not unless they were married. She watched quietly and fixed her skirt. Her eyes rose back to the two where she watched silently. Apparently Konnex had quarreling siblings.

This made her think of her brother. With an annoyed face, she sighed. "My brother is an idiot." Really she loved him dearly though. Sure they were alike in a lot of ways, but often he made the worst jokes. Still, he always made her feel better. At least she had somebody. If it weren't for him, she'd have been dead probably and though at times she wondered if that's what she truly wished. There were times lately when she was actually glad to be alive. Today was one. Her heart thudded a bit and she followed the two of them silently.

Hearing a Atlacia's remark, Konnex managed a small laugh before tilting his cap down to frown, eyes having a cloud of sadness haze over.

It was raining, it was nightfall. The sound of sirens and an ambulance filled the air. The streets were running with the blood of the fallen, and there were angry screams from people Konnex quite frankly could have cared less about. He stood, shocked, tears mixed with the drops of rain fell from his face. The laying and unmoving bodies scattered the street; bodies of the people that mattered to Konnex most, paying the ultimate price for his foolishness.


"Ryan," a young male choked weakly. Dirty blonde hair covered by a hat, light blue eyes, and eyes with fading life. He had a familiar tattoo that matched Konnex's on his right arm. Blood dripped from his mouth and poured out from his stomach where he was shot by a police officer. Speechless and grieving, Konnex fell on his knees, taking up the limp boy up slightly in his arms. "Go before they get you, big brother." he coughed and removed the black and white cap, placing it on Konnex's head. "Remember when you found me, Ryan? You gave me that when you told me things would get better..." he coughed again, spitting up some blood, Konnex immediately wiping his mouth,


"Y-Yeah, but... H-Hold on, we can get through this, keep breathing! We can still run let's go, get up!"


"You're too cool to be in jail, Ryan. Hurry up,"


"B-Blaine, please-"


"Thank you." And with that, his hand fell from the cap, empty blue eyes stared at the raining sky.


Konnex was frozenn, shaking the dead body. "Blaine? Blaine!" he cried out in agony, holding his mouth and trembling as he stood, "Amara? Nichole? Bela?" he called out in sobs two officers grabbing a hold of Konnex by the shoulders. "Please, Please!"


"Sir, you have the right to remain si-"


With a fierce blow to both officers in the stomachs and faces, he fled in panic.


"Yeah, well, my brother isn't!" Thadea chirped up happily and lightly squeezed Konnex's hand, making hims jolt his head up. He tiled up his hat, looking over to her before smiling and patting her head.

"You're too cute, Thade." he commented with a beam.

Atlacia noted the shift and regretted her words immediately.  She hadn't meant to say it, but it slipped.  Honestly she wouldn't trade Varick for anyone.  Why did she have to be so stupid.  "Aaa.." Her voice went as she let out a heavy sigh.  Obviously disappointed in herself, she looked away.  

Internally her wheels turned and scolded her.  Stupid.  STUPID!  Aaah!  Yet, she tried to keep her composure.  Way to make the moment awkward, Atlacia.  Her mind only prodded a reminding of the fact that she didn't know how to have a normal conversation, did she.  Her eyes caught something and she paused.  A bookstore..?  There was one there?  She'd wait to go in.  She flitted her eyes back to Thadea and Konnex and was briefly reminded of more pleasant memories.  The two of them sure were something else.  She felt inspired enough, that later she could draw as long as that spark of happiness remained in her chest.  Why couldn't she find words though..?

As Konnex was grinning and touseling with Thadea's hair, he grinned over to Atlacia a bright and reassuring smile, only to see her attention captured by something else. He traced her eyes to the bookstore and wrinkled his nose in distaste, not much for books exactly. Though an idea sprung in his head, and he stopped in his path, Thadea bumping into him. She blinked cluelessly, "I just remembered I need to get a little something custom made!" he sighed andshook his head at himself. "Alright, so here's the deal. I'll go pick that up, and I'll meet up with you in the bookstore in like ten minutes." Konnex chuckled and winked towards Atty.

Hearing the word 'Book' alone made Thadea's blind eyes brighten considerably. "Where where?" she asked eagerly and started walking in the opposite direction, making the male snicker, picking her up with her feet still moving as if a wind up toy, set her down again in the correct direction, and she was off. Konnex winked to Atlacia and tilted his hat, motioning her to follow the girl before walking off with the bag.

Once she had looked away it was almost as if she had made eye contact with Konnex. Her body froze like a deer, because she wasn't exactly sure what would happen. He ushered them to the bookstore, where Thadea seemed just as excited as Atlacia felt. Her brown eyes blinked in surprise to his commands. Was she really that see-through? How could he tell so easy- unless he really did notice. Her cheeks burned up a bit at the thought. There was no way that was possible, but there he was winking and assuring that he'd be back to meet them there.

Her heart wiggled a bit in her chest which was a strange feeling. Looking at Thadea as she ran to the store, Atlacia couldn't help but give Konnex a rare and sincere smile. "Don't get lost." She spoke, finally finding words once again. "Wouldn't want to get a rescue party." Her hand waved to him as she followed the blond girl into the store.

The smell of books was amazing. Fresh print on unopen pages and her brain made some sound that only her stomach normally did. She tried her best to stay by Thadea's side, but her eyes cast at the manga section a moment. Did they have references there? She wondered and turned, only to run directly into a bookshelf and fall over. "A-aaa Owe.." She muttered while holding her nose. It wasn't bleeding but that had hurt. Everyone was staring now. She laughed nervously and just smiled.

At her remrk, Konnex emitted a loud round of laughs of "Kikiki", merely waving over at her, "No worries I won't~" Nah, he probably will. Nah, he totally will.

Thadea giggled excitedly and had to be shushed repeatedly by other strangers, in which made her huff and purse her lips in a pout with puffed cheeks. She wondered to herself  if any books in braille were available. Usually most were not, so maybe she can just trace her fingers over the words if her fingers were sensitive and the print was that thick from the page enough. She bit her lip and gnawed on it lightly, then stopped in her tracks as soon her grip on Atlacia's hand was lost. "Atty?" she called out in confusion, before hearing the soft voice mutter and ow from the floor "Atty, are you oka- Ah!" she yelped and tripped over the other's body, landing face-down on the floor with a thud. She groaned, sitting up and was silent before emitting a small "Pfft-" with a snort, grinning over to Atty and laughing, "Nice to see I'm not the only clumsy one~!" she laughed outloud cheerily, only to get shushed. "Okay okay," she waved at them, still giggling here and there.

Atlacia wasn't sure what hit her. After she'd fallen, suddenly a force moved and hit her leg. She looked up to see Thadea had tripped over herself and now the both of them were on the floor. Thadea was laughing heartily at the fact they were both clumsy people. At first Atlacia had been humiliated, but slowly she smiled and let out a giggle of her own.

"I'm fine. I'm more worried about you." Finally able to use her legs again, she outstretched her hand and offered it to the blind girl. Feeling like that wasn't working, Atlacia bent down and gripped her hand and helped her up. "So. What kind of books do you like Thadea?" Her curiosity was genuine. A lot could be told by a person with simple things as what books they preferred. Her red-brown eyes were upon this woman with interest. Head tilted to the side, she awaited a response eagerly.

Thadea's smile was cheerful and optimistic even as she was just sitting up from the floor and tightening her ponytail, unaware of the hand being offered to her of course as she was blind if you didn't know. When her hand was grabbed, she gave a grateful smile and accepted the help to be pulled up. "Don't worry, it takes a lot more than a trip to hurt me!" Thadea assured with a wink rather loudly, getting shushed for the third time. "Okay, sheesh." She huffed.

When asked the question Thadea smiled and tapped her chin as she thought to herself for a brief moment before giving her response, "Underdogs," she responded confidently with a nod, "Underdog stories. People don't expect much from someone who's not able to do as much as someone else. But in the end, the mere fact that they can get so far is the best part to me, even if they don't win it fully in the end sometimes, they prove to be a force to be reckoned with and should not be so underestimated." she explained, beaming and clapping her hands once with a small bounce, "What about you, Atty?"

"Underdog stories, huh?" Atlacia could agree that was pretty fitting for her. In a way Thadea was an underdog too, so she'd look for someone she could relate to. It made her want to hug the girl- but that might be a little weird since they HAD just met about an hour ago. It also gave her an eye of what to look for when holiday seasons came around. But of course, there came the dreaded question.

What stories did SHE like?

"I uhmm. I like romance stories... and mysteries..." Her voice was sort of mumbled which helped show she wasn't lying, but it was such an embarrassing thing. She rubbed the back of her head and looked away. Oh the people that would tease her for being a romantic at heart- but that was just in stories. In her world, she could hardly handle any situation the girls in the stories faced. She would probably melt. The thought made her laugh a little. It was more a like a nervous giggle than anything. "Though I care to read Fantasy mainly." She shifted and glanced at the aisles and caught sight of a few series she recognized by the names.

Thadea emitted a light giggle as Atty couldn't decide her favorite genre of books. That was good really, meaning she must have really liked books. It gave her ideas for what to get herwhenever the holidays would come during the year. One down, plenty to go for that last.

"I like fantasies too~" Thadea hummed  and rocked back and fourth on her feet. "Or especially the ones with the princesses, as silly as that sounds." she laughed quietly, remembering there were a bunch of killjoys here. The girl then smiled and reached her hand on the shelf, fingers dragging along the spines of books as she walked along the aisle. "I remember father would read to me all the time~" she hummed. "I haven't read many on my own though. Braille is hard to come by," she explained.

Atty couldn't help but stare in awe at the girl. "Maybe one day I could read you one." She of course didn't mean any insult, since Thadea seemed to have no problem with being blind, it was just a gesture she'd offered. If it was accepted or not really was just up to her. Whatever the case, she meant it. It seemed like Thadea liked books just about the same as she had, herself. The smile on her face couldn't fade. "Books were the only thing that got me through my old school," she admitted.

Oh God. Why did she say that? Her heart sank a bit in memory, but she pushed them away. She was going o be happy dammit! At least for one day, anyways.

She peered around a moment and sighed. "I'd buy you a book but I blew all my money last week on drawing supplies." The guilt on her face. Why did she always spend all her money at once? Why couldn't she save it like a normal person. She supposed she could ask Lucius for a raise or beg for some.. but that thought was far less than appealing. Gloom loomed over her figure a moment.

At the offer, Thadea smiled sweetly and nodded slightly and almost shyly to her, "Sure... That'd be really nice." she giggled. "Sometimes Konnex does for me too, did you know that?" she grinned and made a little skip in her step. Though when Atty mentionedof her old school and a silence filled the air,Thadea  made a sigh through her smile and shrugged. "Oh, I didn't have books. I just used optimism~ It's really effective, you know." Thadea chuckled. "Sometimes when they draw moustaches from my face I'd think I'd make a really handsome man~" she laughed a bit, swinging her arm a bit.

Thadea giggled to Atlacia and merely shook her head before facing towards her, "Nah, I'm sure they  don't have any braille anyways." she pointed out. "Lucky DWMA's Library has some though, or I'd be dead!"

"Konnex seems like areal softie." Atlacia laughed a bit. It was good to know that not all men were just jerks, but at the same time she felt guilty for having ever thought he was. Her eyes fell. She'd have to make it up to him- but how.

She almost regretted what she said as soon as it slipped out. "What does Konnex like, Thadea?" It was something she was trying to be subtle about or even indiscreet. She didn't want it to seem like she liked him because she totally did and she'd not admit it. Her eyes looked warily at the door, making sure he didn't waltz in on the conversation, because then things would get awkward. She just wished she could do more, but the only thing she was ever good at was drawing pictures.

"He is," she agreed with a small laugh, finger tracing over a spine of a book, recognizing the imprint of an "SH" and "HO", taking a moment before she figured it was actually  her favorite of the Mystery genere, Sherlock Holmes. 

At her question however, Thadea made almost a mischievous and teasing grin toward Atty before humming and tapping the top of her nose. "Um, well, he doesn't really like to talk about his life before the Academy," she said, rather curious of the man's past herself. "But he's very nice, and is like a big brother really. I feel like he'd be a good dad." she laughed, "He seemed totally arrogant and cocky when we first met though as well as a womanizer, but he's really not at all." she said, "Konnex doesn't take advantage of girls as far as I've heard. He's just really good at flirting." she snickered, "But you're a really special case, Atty~" Thadea said in a teasing tone.

You're a special case. What was that supposed to mean? She looked kind of like a deer and yet disappointed at the same time. Was he actually making fun of her? Was he not? Her mind twisted and filled with confusing thoughts. Was SHE joking? Why did she even care. It wasn't like she was anything special. She was just Atlacia. Her eyes however betrayed her shock, confusion and frustration. Not to mention she was blushing. Special. In all her years to use that to describe her was just- she had never heard it. Being the plain Jane she was,s he was rarely complimented at all.

Not to mention the fact she was saying he'd be a good dad. Wh-why?! She wasn't thinking of dating him or children- or was she? Her face turned darker and oh the misery. She couldn't handle this. World give her an escape! Her eyes stared and she could remember the very second this had begun. Why did she sit on the fountain?! If she hadn't been there- then. Frantic thoughts running wild, she slowly recovered the ability to think once more. "Err- uhmm.. but uh.. w-what does he LIKE? I mean.. if I- just nevermind." She gave up and sighed heavily. By the time she'd figured out how to speak again he'd probably be there and MAN would that be humiliating.