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Post by Valencia Donahue on Aug 21, 2008 9:59:43 GMT 1
After her meeting with Seth where she identified her thief in the only way she could, Valencia recently learned that she can put one of her favorite hobbies to good use. Before, she would only draw or sketch when she's bored or wanted to give people presents. Now, she can use another identification tool when it's too dangerous or suspicious to use a camera and she can be officially called a starving artist! Riveting, I assure you. But in all seriousness, she's been trying to perfect this capability of hers by practicing wherever she could, whether it be with tourists on Pier 39 or memorable faces she's been forced to look at lately. This incentive has been enabling her to look at faces more longer than she usually would nowadays. Not long enough to overcome her habit of staring off into space, but enough to show that she's been getting her nerves strengthened in regards to making eye contact. All that said and done, Valencia continued her duty of gathering information for Seth by targeting Hircine's Captain next. Meeting Principal Davis of Paragon made it crystal clear that she should get her priorities straight, so she arranged a meeting in the library with the Captain instead of concentrating her efforts immediately on Paragon's students. Since she didn't know that the identity of the Captain is actually an acquaintance she verbally attacked months ago, she relied on the Network to make the connections she needed. Should Kyukaku receive the message, it'd detail how an artist in the library would like to draw a portrait of the new Captain to ensure his lasting presence (or something like that). Upon arrival, he'd find Valencia at a table flipping through a reference book on cultures and customs from around the world. Beside her on the table would be her simple supplies including a sketch pad, an eraser, and pencils, along with a binder with her previous works to show that she's not just a scammer. Such works include random sketches, doodles, and a section near the end where she keeps “memory” portraits, especially of people she's met like her thief (Rick), Zeniro, Stern, Principal MacMillan, and Principal Davis, to name a few. Obviously, individuals who've left lasting, usually unpleasant impressions on her. |
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Post by Kyukaku on Aug 21, 2008 21:20:39 GMT 1
It was math class, the worst part of the day. For one who hated numbers, Pre-Calc wasn't exactly the School Captain's forte. If it came to a battle to the death and solving an equation, Kyukaku just might be inclined to take the former over the latter. Kyu had been doing his best to pay attention, because of which he almost completely missed the words being thrown his way.
"Hey, Tyler, have you gone to the library yet?" The voice came from the seat diagnolly back and to the left of Kyu, a classmate he shared in most classes, but one he still didn't know the name of.
"Yeah...wait, what?" Kyukaku responded immediately, a moment later processing what had been asked as he half turned in his seat.
"Your supposed to get a portrait or something. Guess someone wants to draw you."
"Haha, well that's okay. I'm sure there are prettier faces than mine to go out there."
"Well... I hear its tradition for the School Captain..." the student lied, not exactly able to outright say he was part of the network, and really Valencia wanted to meet the new Captain.
"Oh? Well, crap. Okay." Kyukaku nodded to the student before standing up and raising his hand. "I gotta pee."
The teacher nodded a quizzical expression, allowing Kyu to leave the room. It wasn't exactly that Kyukaku wanted to get drawn, as he feels awkward just sitting there for people to look at him. However, it was an excuse to get out of Calculus, and actually have somewhere to go. Too bad Kyukaku had decided to take School Captainship back to its roots. Having nothing to do with the administration allowed much more freedom (and no pulling of his strings) though the benefits Darren and Tiao had were nice--getting to leave class whenever it was for "business."
Arriving at the library, Kyukaku would wander a minute before spotting what he guessed to be the artist's spot. He walked around her back, moving to the front of the table. He bypassed most of the sketches on the table, paying less attention to what was on it rather than to who was sitting behind it. Valencia Donahue, the graduate he had saved from a brutal Zeniro attack, unfortunately. She didn't like to play the damsel from what he learned, and their last encounter gave him little hope for a pleasant sketching.
"I did hear you were working here now. What are you doing; something in the art department?"
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Post by Valencia Donahue on Aug 22, 2008 3:08:59 GMT 1
When Valencia heard the doors open, she knew it could only be one person... Hircine's Captain. She just felt it and began imagining what kind of person he could be... Tall, sandy blond hair, well-built, a neutral look to his eyes, tannish skin, dressed so-so, doesn't know a thing about Hircine's history, but probably has some fighting experience. Not to mention gullible to boot. Yeah... Sadly enough, that's the kind of Captain she expected after Darren left the school. The presence wandered around for a bit and as it drew nearer to her, for some peculiar reason, the aura was... Familiar. Huh. Was it someone she met once on the Pier? Beach bum? Surfer dude that transferred in from Australia or SoCal? Long lost relative? The moment she heard Kyukaku's voice, she could hear her expectations shatter into a bajillion pieces. There must've been a mistake... No way could this impulsive hero type be Hircine's Captain! She didn't exactly hate Kyukaku, but her surprised expression revealed her mild disgust at this recent discovery.
Seth, I don't know about you, but I already have enough info on this guy... Not enough to be ten moves ahead of him, but enough to know that he's a hero-type personality. That's all you really need to know without me spilling info that could get us all killed.
...That info being about Zeniro, of course. Rather than continuing her gaping, Valencia composed herself and cleared her throat before cutting to the chase.
“I'm doing a portrait of the School Captain. Since more students are getting this school into the history books and newspapers lately, I figured it be best to immortalize these faces instead of leaving a blank over their names.”
For the sake of being polite, she shot her arm across the table to indicate a seat for him.
“If you're the Captain, have a seat. It takes me around half an hour or less to make a decent portrait with what I have. Do browse through my past works to get a feel for what you'll probably look like, though I assure you that your immediate presence will lead to a more accurate piece compared to my 'memory portraits'. And while you're at it, please write out your name on this piece of paper so I can properly title this the way you want it. I'm not finicky about how movement so long as you're not obnoxious about it, so get comfortable, don't feel pressured to sit like a rock the whole time.”
Curt and business-like. She was trying to give off that professional air after that uncontrolled explosion some long time ago. After all, it's the only way to get information out of him after that first impression.
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Post by Kyukaku on Aug 22, 2008 22:22:21 GMT 1
"And of all the faces, you want to immortalize mine?"
Kyukaku asked with a smirk, trying to break the former tension between the two with some humor. His smirk faded as he got the feeling it didn't work all that well. Valencia waved to the chair, not being impolite by any means, but certainly not altogether friendly. In any case, professionalism was much more preferred to her verbal and physical onslaught.
He couldn't help but a feel a stinge of cynicism at the mention of "if" he was the Captain, whether that was Valencia's intention or not. Disregarding any insult, intended or not, Kyu would nod his head in acknowledgement of Valencia's requests. Or commands. With her, it was hard to tell which it was. He took the paper and pen, hesitating before writing his name down. To Val, Kyukaku assumed it would like he was so dumb he couldn't remember his own name. No, instead he couldn't decide what to immediately put down.
Tyler "Kyukaku" Scott? Oh, that doesn't sound retarded at all. We'll just go with Tyler D. Scott. Nicknames aren't exactly a necessity.
Kyu slid the paper across the table to Val, sitting back a moment before leaning back in to grab the stack of previous drawings. He certainly was relieved he didn't need to sit completely still. While he wasn't exactly fidgety, Kyu did find trouble in remaining motionless. Even though he didn't have to be a statue, he hoped Valencia was a quick drawer.
Doing his best to lower his eyes without much of a decline of his head, Kyu began to look over the previous drawings. He flipped through the first one, a man that was unfamiliar to him, or at least he thought so. The second one was Zeniro, bringing an arch to his eyebrow. He briefly made eye contact with Val, wondering if she kept their little secret so far. For her sake, she better have knowing Zeniro's past history, even if his new roomate was on much better terms with him now. He pushed the page to the back, coming up with a picture of Stern Mason. So far, two out of the three pictures had been someone who's tried to beat him to death. Whether it was in person, like Zeniro, or through the use of new friends and former enemies like Aryck and Pain Killer.
"I'm not being thrown into a book of Hircine High maniacs, am I?"
Kyukaku asked with another arch of his brow jokingly. Well, mostly.
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Post by Valencia Donahue on Aug 23, 2008 19:54:47 GMT 1
Valencia received the paper with Tyler's name and so, that's the name she'll be remember him by from now on. So instead of calling him “Kyu-Kyu-Kachoo” in her head, she'll instead call him “Scott-Tie-Yer-Shoes” or something like that. Mreh. No nickname. Nothing seemed to fit. She kept pondering how to start on the drawing, as her skills aren't the kind you'd find in an art class. She began with his eyes and the contour of his eyebrows amd nose. It took her a few tries to get the mouth just right. She outlined the general shape of his head and double-triple checked to see if her progress is accurate so far. Not bad. For a start. Now for the hair... Her favorite part aside from going into detail. In response to his comment on maniacs, a corner of her lips curved just slightly to show her amusement. This should be the first time Tyler would ever see anything remotely resembling a smile on Valencia's face.
Cute.
“Let's just say... Those are people I've met who've left lasting impressions on me. I'll admit, most of them are bad or negative-ish impressions though... Kinda like how you want to get bad thoughts out of your system, so you fill blog with random crap that happened to you that day.”
It was a really broad statement since she just drew whomever she felt like drawing, whether or not she hates their guts. She didn't hate Zeniro, but he really did terrify her. She didn't hate Stern either, she even admired his leadership, but his presence was pervasive. People were just too multifaceted to group by impressions alone. Maybe just “Portraits of People She Met” should be enough of a classification...
“Urm... But—Yeah. Hard to say. Just portraits of people I've met but never dared to take pictures of. I wish I could though. A picture says a thousand words.”
In short, Valencia trailing off about her drawings showed that this hobby of hers was something she enjoyed doing in her free time instead of for business. It was like her love for photography, but with a lower risk of getting slaughtered on the spot by serial killers and madmen.
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Post by Kyukaku on Aug 25, 2008 22:33:07 GMT 1
Valencia almost smiled, which in turn would bring a smile to Kyukaku's own face. Kyukaku listened to Val's reply, inwardly noting how she didn't exactly give a straight opinion on if she thought he was a maniac or not. Oh well, she probably thought he was. Hell, he probably was in general. No sane person would do things like deal with a beast like Zeniro by making him your roomate.
"I guess that's true. In this case I'm thinking most of those words would be 'oh god, oh god, help me...' You know, along those lines..."
Kyu would trail off himself, his eyes going back down to the papers on his lap. He would let Valencia continue to draw for a few more minutes, going over pictures of people he either didn't know, or didn't know the names of. Some of them might have looked familiar, but then again, most people you meet always remind you of someone else anyways. It wasn't until he flipped to about halfway through the pile that he came across another picture, one that froze his face for several moments.
The long, black hair that snaked accross the face. The cold yet firey eyes that mirrored the hell he brought across. It was all finished off by the tiniest of smirks, curving upwards at the corner that masked and hinted the sadism all at the same time. Kyukaku would stare at it for what would seem like an eternity before lifting it up from the pile. He'd put the picture down on the desk, slamming it on top of the ongoing drawing of himself much harder than Valencia would likely expect of Kyu. Whether she would say anything first or not, Kyukaku would look directly at her and speak.
"Who is this?"
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Post by Valencia Donahue on Aug 28, 2008 9:27:17 GMT 1
What Valencia loved about drawing hair is how she's perfectly allowed to use as many organic lines as she wanted without being too “wrong”. No matter the length, she enjoyed sweeping strokes and how they'd all become a singular whole once completion is reached. With much of her concentration on the sketch and less on Tyler, you bet she reacted when he interrupted her drawing by slamming a particular image right in front of her. Aside from one of her sweeping strokes becoming a jagged crevice of destruction, she flinched back and gripped her pencil instinctively. If she wasn't startled and confused by her model's sudden, unpredicted outburst, she would've stabbed him by now. The Captain stared her down and she quickly looked at the drawing before answering... A bit defensively and aggressively, as now she may have to start Tyler's sketch from scratch.
“Principal Davis. I had a job interview recently at Paragon. What's he to you?”
Little did she know that she already said too much within two to three sentences. Luckily for her, she had no obligation to hide Davis's identity and this may soon divulge ample information about him and Hircine's Captain. On the other hand, she may be screwed for life if Tyler associates her to Davis or if Davis finds out that she revealed him to his archnemesis. Or both.
Don't make me redraw you and put you in the “maniac” section...
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Post by Kyukaku on Sept 1, 2008 8:21:45 GMT 1
Though not misinterpreted, Valencia's defensive and aggressive tone would go unnoticed and ignored. After the first two words, Kyukaku's mind already began to unravel. The following sentences were heard, but at that moment, all seemed irrelevant. Principal Davis. That could easily have been a coincidence with another name. But for a man to look like this picture, sharing that same last name Kyukaku understood to be an alias was nothing more than frightening.
It was ironic, that Valencia who never really got to know Kyukaku would likely associate him now with a side that was rarely shown to even those who new him most: hatred. While it was a word Kyukaku never liked to use, there was no avoiding it here. How else could one feel towards one who has constantly torn away at his mind, his life, his loved ones? Kyukaku felt bad when dealing any physical harm, yet this man drove him all the way to take his life. Or at least, that was what he had thought. The guilt of all these several months of believing he had taken a life, even the life of Trent, had now dissipated, leaving now only regret.
Regret, fear, and anger.
It would be several moments before Kyukaku would finish registering Valencia's words, and therefore several more moments before his eyes would un-glaze and focus back on Val. As he would utter his last few words, Kyukaku would immediately leave the library, all thoughts of drawings and school fading away.
"...my boogeyman."
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Post by Valencia Donahue on Sept 3, 2008 8:56:37 GMT 1
When Valencia scheduled the sketching session in the library, she obviously planned to have a chat-fest, complete with Tyler spilling his heart out about whatever it is good guys have in their hearts. She let him talk, she even willed herself to respond, and even let him look through her stuff to ward off awkward silences. It goes without saying, but things clearly didn't go according to plan, especially once he found Davis's picture. Annoyed and confused, she kept staring the Captain down while the cogs of fate did their thing. The happy-annoying-fluffball aura just vanished and even she had to pay attention to the change in atmosphere. She took in the sight as Tyler's altered demeanor said much more than words did. He was in his own world and focused so much hate into Valencia's art that it might've caught fire if looks could kill. A doubted it was because her art wasn't good. Oh no; It was the principal who messed with her nerves during the job interview. Yep, him. Since she didn't like him, it wouldn't astonish her if others shared her sentiments. He must've done something to this guy too, but something much much worse... But what? Davis was just recently made a principal at Paragon and Tyler was a Varron transfer according to rumors (and 2 + 2 from their meeting with Zeniro)... What kind of connection could they possibly have?
Now that I think about it, he looked pretty young... Not much older than me too, a bit like Alexander maybe?
It wasn't long until Tyler came to his senses though and noticed Valencia watching him (which in turn caused her to flinch in surprise). He uttered a few cryptic words and made his solemn exit. She sat there watching him go and tried to piece together what just happened.
“...That bad, huh?”
Bad enough to strike fear into the heart of our own Captain... I'll be needing a lot of info on this guy. It'll trace back to Tyler for sure. For now, this is enough to present to Seth, but I'll be needing some folks to fill the gaps while I'm under constant surveillance. Maybe enlist more Network members, get in touch with Allen again, and... Ehh... Perhaps this this that. More winging...
The more she did her job, the more she got pulled into stuff that used to be none of her business and now will be. She didn't like it and all, yet she knew things will turn out much worse if she ditched without tying some loose ends first. For a graduate doing well in her studies, she still had a lot to do in high school.
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