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Clarke winced at Natalie's recollection. "I don't even want to imagine how that went." She shook her head as she set the plates on the counter along with everything else. She felt one of the cats nudge it's head against her elbow and she looked down with a smile. "He's warming up to me, I see." She loosened her hand so the cat could place his head under her palm, nuzzling it slightly.
"Shitty," she admitted dryly. "I've been working there for seven years and they still hound me about publicity. I'm on from ten at night to three in the morning, people sleep, why should I bother them, you know?" Clarke shrugged and waved a dismissive hand. "Enough about work. It's bumming me out and I don't want these guys to pick up on that." She picked Adam up off the counter and as expected, the cat hissed before jumping down to the floor and stalking away.
Natalie's exclamation made Clarke laugh. "I couldn't tell." She called back with a teasing tone. "Okay, gimme three. Oz thinks my face is a plate full of food right now."
Clarke ended up sitting on the floor as she saw the cats sauntering in curiously, watching the dogs enthusiastically greet the newcomer.
She barely heard Natalie talking about the meal but she got the gist of it and called back. "You know I'll eat anything you put in front of me."
Laughing as Jodie placed her paws on Clarke's shoulder, threatening to push her down, Clark grabbed the bigger dog and used her as leverage to get up. "Okay, okay, I'll pay more attention to you later." She gave them both kisses before going into the kitchen to wash her hands and drying them before gingerly placing one hand on Natalie's back to announce her presence. It was still quite an odd feeling being so physical with someone else. Granted, a hand on someone else's back hardly counted as being physical but it was a lot for Clarke.
"How were the kids at school? Anyone freeze the door handles yet?" She asked as she took out some plates and glasses, along with cutlery, carefully maneuvering around the many animals meandering around.
Though she had spent her adolescence in solitude most of the time, a few people managed to penetrate through the bubble she had created around herself. Natalie Arazi was one of those people. Or rather, her pets were. And then she slowly wormed her way into Clarke's bubble. They maintained a relationship after they graduated and occasionally met up for dinner and a movie.
It was one of those constants that she liked to have in her life. And the idea of being surrounded by warm and fuzzy animals was always a treat.
After waiting for an answer, Clarke opened the door and stepped inside, immediately hit by a mixture of smells. She heard fast clicking against the floor as two dogs bounded over to her, licking her hand and nudging at her knees.
A big smile immediately curled on her face as she crouched down to play with the dogs. "Hiyuh buddy! Hi!" She let them attack her face and hands as she gave them hugs and scratches.
"Do you need help in there, Nat?" She called out distractedly as she continued to play with the dogs.
Hazel eyes followed the gesture through the bar and Clarke chuckled lightly. She took a sip from her bottle and nodded. "Probably. Bartenders are pretty much free shrinks."
Clarke nodded at Lux's response. She had a while to go before she had to settle on a career anyway. Who was Clarke to judge if she continued with this line of work anyway?
"I'm pushing thirty in a couple of years. Not really looking forward to that to be perfectly honest." She shrugged. "But...I have a good job, I guess? Pays the bills, lets me pretty much slack off most of the time."
She seemed more at ease now that she had a bit of alcohol in her. "But the longer I work there, the harder it is to ignore the politics. It's not a dead end job, you know? Politics shouldn't get in the way of good music." She emptied the bottle and smiled at Lux imploringly, quietly asking for another bottle.
Clarke smiled when the woman took her hand and gave her name. It was an uncommon name, Clarke noted. Then again, she had an uncommon name for a girl. She wondered what Lux was short for.
Self-consciously, Clarke ran her fingers through her hair and chuckled lightly. "Yeah...this is toned down, can you believe it?" She responded before taking a swig from her bottle. "I'm sorry if I'm bothering you from doing work. I've just...bad day, bartender...it seems cliche but cliche usually works, right?"
She wasn't sure whether Lux would actually pick up on her stress but it wasn't like Clarke was hiding it. "Although...I have to ask, is this a part-time job? You look a little young to be settled in."
Outside of the radio station, Clarke frowned upon spontaneity. She frequented places she liked, which outside of her own apartment were a bar, a restaurant, and a grocery store. Everything was within a mile radius of either her workplace, or her apartment.
In short, she was boring. But on the upside, for her at least, she didn't have to exert too much effort to get exactly what she wanted. Which was why she released a relieved sigh when her favourite bartender handed her her favourite drink after a particularly tiring day at work. Workplace politics rarely bugged her but today had been an exception.
"Thank you," she looked up at the woman who gave her the drink with a smile. Clarke popped open the bottle and took a long swig before peeling off the label from the bottle. Habit.
She chewed on her lower lip before looking up at the bartender. "I've been coming here for almost three years now and I still don't know your name yet you know my order." She chuckled, rubbing the bottle with her thumb. "I'm...I'm Clarke." She extended a hand, an unsure smile on her face.
Clarke glanced at Caleb and let out a soft snort before looking away, pursing her lips still so her laughter wouldn't be too obvious. Nobody was actually paying them much attention so she didn't know why she was holding back. It might have something to do with the fact that she was getting shy around her ex schoolmate. All the years of boosting her confidence was flushing down the drain just because someone remembered her. She sucked. Big time.
"Okay, okay. I take it back. He'll outlive us all." She responded, gesturing to the people in the hall for emphasis.
When Caleb sort of stared into space, Clarke took a moment to look at him and a little smile tugged at the corner of her lips and when he finally came down, she looked away.
"The hubris on this one," Clarke chuckled and took a sip of her punch. "I mean dashing might not be the word I'd describe you but I guess you're right, you haven't changed that much." She gave him a cursory glance before hiding her smile behind her glass. "Oh god...that's Claire." The redhead froze for a brief moment when she saw her old roommate who had pretty much made her life a misery back when they were children.
Well, misery was an overstatement but there wasn't a time when Claire was around that Clarke ended up in a good mood. "Um...could we go some place else? I'm a little scared of her." Clarke laughed nervously as she gripped Caleb's arm to get him to follow her away from the hall.
Laughing behind pursed lips, the corners of Clarke's eyes crinkled at his response. She forgot how much of a dork Caleb actually was. It was one of the reasons she didn't mind his company back when they were younger. He didn't make her feel like she was the awkward one. She was glad he didn't lose that part of him even with the presence of his muscles and defined bone structure.
"Life's been uh...interesting to say the least." She shrugged, laughing at the mention of having kids and a "main squeeze" as he put it. "If you count my bolster then yes, I do have a main squeeze." She responded with a soft snort. "And how about you? You had a cat, didn't you? Or a hamster the size of a cat? I remember something with a tail."
She was finding it a miracle she hadn't lost her marbles right then and there but she was still not looking at him, opting to look everywhere else but at his face. She honestly didn't mean to be rude but looking at people's faces, especially their eyes, was daunting and unnerving for her. She hoped Caleb remembered that about her or this conversation was going to end prematurely.
"I can't believe it's been ten years since high school ended. Everyone looks so different." She inched closer to Caleb and nudged him so he looked to their right in the direction of a tall blonde in a red skirt and a light green blouse. "I remember I had her as a roommate and she used to wear black all the time. Even in the summer."
So I make decent looking graphics...ish. If you want pretties, fill in the thingie below and I'll get back to you in the next three working days.
Kidding!
^-^
Character Play-By: Name of the actor/actress so I can easily google or tumblr my way through ^-^ Pictures You Want Me To Use: If you don't want me to use my own pictures, do link me to the ones you want me to use here ^-^ Image Size: Avatar no bigger than 200 px and siggy no bigger than 500x300 ^-^ Set?: Do you just want an avatar? Or do you just want a sig? Or do you want both? ^-^ Characteristics: This is most important. What three words would you describe your character? IMPORTANT!!! ^-^ Border?: Do you want me to do something with the border of your siggy/avvy? Squiggly lines? Paint drip? Rounded edges? ^-^ Words?: Would you like me to write anything on your graphic? Leave this blank if you don't. Or if you want me to put their name? Or a quote? Lemme know! ^-^ Anything else?: Would you like me to add anything specific? Lemme know! ^-^
Clarke saw Caleb Parker approach the punch table in the corner of her eye and she tried not to stare. The guy had always been cute but the years have definitely been better to him. He filled out in all the right places and he still had the ridiculous boyish charm.
She wasn't sure whether he still remembered her so she kept up with her people staring until he spoke up, making her snort into her cup. Pursing her lips, she pushed her cup away and turned to him, biting her lower lip to stop from grinning too much.
"Caleb Parker." She smiled a little in response. "I'm so glad to see that my name still brings all the dorks to the yard." She pursed her lips once more to stop from laughing at her own tease. "Did you uh...just arrive?"
How had ten years pass her by? It felt like just yesterday she graduated from Bellefonte and now they were having a reunion. It was weird being called back to see the people she didn't really care about. She would have skipped if her sense of obligation wasn't so overwhelming.
She didn't go fancy when it came to her outfit. It was a simple flower printed dress and she kept her hair neat with it pushed back in the middle secured with a small black hair clip. Her make up was minimal as per usual. There was really nobody to impress there, she figured.
And as she entered the hall that had been transformed into a 90s theme with cheesy music in the background and balloons secured on the ceiling in a net, Clarke couldn't help but smile at the nostalgia.
After signing up with idle chit chat with Stacy Krushnik and Victoria Lopez, Clarke made a beeline to the punch table to get a cup if only to occupy her hands while she sat in the corner, looking at the hall filling up with people she vaguely remembered but never bothered to talk to.
AGE: 27 GENDER: Female ORIENTATION: Demisexual POSITION: Radio DJ
♦ THE ABILITY ♦
POWER: Telekinesis The ability to move objects with one’s mind
LIMITATIONS: Even though she has mastered her ability enough to control it without any nosebleeds, the heaviest she can move without straining herself is her mahogany bed and even then, she doesn’t do it often. Her range is as far as she can see but the farther the object is, the less weight it must be in order for her to effectively move it
SIDE-EFFECTS: She gets massive migraines and nosebleeds if she lifts too heavy objects for too long The heavier the object, the more strain she puts on her muscles as well
♦ THE CHARACTER ♦
HEIGHT:5’3” HAIR COLOR: Auburn EYE COLOR: Hazel
MISC: She has a pretty nasty scar just behind her left ear from an accident with a hacksaw when she was eleven. A watercolour tattoo of a horse just over her shoulder blades.
PERSONALITY: Circumstances changed Clarke over the years, which forced her to be adaptable at a very young age. She had to learn how to deal with disappointment and rejection before she hit puberty. She tried to grow a tough exterior, which led to her detachment from reality. Being the last of four brothers who got the care and attention from her parents, she usually had to force herself on to them to get their attention. And because she gets pushed away most of the time, she came to crave physical contact without actually knowing how to get it.
And then she learned about her abilities and had to adapt to the sudden hatred her family seemed to have for her. She once again had to detach herself enough to not bawl her eyes out every five minutes in the new school she suddenly found herself staying at almost every day for seven years. She had to grow callous so she wouldn’t get hurt when her parents are conveniently out of town on business around the holidays.
Her insecurities only grew from there and then came self-deprecation, using humour as a defense mechanism as she went on to take communications and broadcasting as a major. She learned to hide all her insecurities behind a wall, which only led her to find solace in the booths of a radio station where she spends most of her time with the music and lame jokes only radio could offer her.
Outside of the booths, she is mostly reserved, easily embarrassed and so very much conflicted about wanting physical contact but needing a lot of space.
SECRET(S): She doesn’t know who her biological father is.
♦ THE HISTORY ♦
At an impressionable age, Clarke had to adapt to life being the youngest of four brothers and being the least liked. She was given hand me downs and rarely did she get the things she wanted. “Kid needs to learn rejection.” She heard her father say when she cried on her seventh birthday because she didn’t get the dollhouse she saw on TV. She used to have to force her parents to hug her or cuddle with her and had to learn pretty fast that her parents didn’t actually like being hugged. Or rather, they didn’t like being hugged by her.
Her brother were no better in that respect. Whenever she tried to play with them, they dispersed, or told her that girls weren’t allowed. So most of the time, she spent her days listening to the radio while she played with whatever reject toy she got from her brothers. She then discovered reading and spent every waking moment absorbing book after book. Matilda resonated with her the most and she dreamt one day of being able to do impossible things with her mind and finding someone who loved her enough to bring her away from her neglectful parents.
She got her wish of someone bringing her away when she turned eleven. She even got her wish of being able to do impossible things with her mind too. It barely registered that her parents were relieved when she was driven off by a couple of strangers.
Bellefonte Academy turned out to be a saving grace for Clarke, she didn’t even mind staying there most of the time of the year. It didn’t even matter to her that she never made proper friends. Her rotating dorm mates didn’t bother her, so she didn’t bother them. Her teachers were mediocre at best, none of them being as loving as Miss Honey but she thrived in working alone. All the while, her portable radio, which turned into a cassette player and then into an MP3 player got her through the years. She fell in love with the radio hosts with their quirky nicknames and lame jokes and sound effects.
Over time, Clarke realised she went home less and less. She had started to call Stagfort home. The things she accumulated over the years there actually belonged to her and little by little, family didn’t mean anything to her.
After graduating high school and from training, Clarke eased into the college, taking communications as a major before applying for an internship at the local radio station. Learning the ins and outs of the industry made her passion grow. She went through the ranks as ad announcer, and then went to news casting and finally, after graduating with a Bachelor’s degree in mass com and broadcasting, she finally got a chance to become a host. She realised that in a booth, nobody knew her so she could actually be whoever she wanted to be and from there, a new persona was born.
While she was in the booth, none of her shyness and awkwardness came through. She was confident and spunky, occasionally delivering a lame joke or two with a boat load of self-deprecating jokes, but overall, comfortable. Sure, it didn’t translate to her real life, but as long as she was in the booth with her headphones intact and the music at her fingertips, she was safe.
♦ THE PLAYER ♦
USERNAME: Nu, Nudles, Nunu, Nubear, Knight of Nu, whatever you fancy AGE GROUP: Coupla years to 30 EXPERIENCE: Too long WHERE DID YOU FIND US? Magic ^-^
