Post by Benjamin Locke on Aug 26, 2015 22:21:22 GMT -5
“Hey! This rocket pop is melted!”
The ginger kid shoved the melted bit of ice cream in his face, stomping his feet somewhat. Ben sighed, closed his eyes and ran one hand through his short, kinky hair. If he hadn’t been wearing a maroon v neck and shorts with sandals, Ben was confident he’d have dropped from heat exhaustion.
"So?" Locke looked at the kid blankly, knowing full well what the kid was asking but having no intention of refunding or replacing the melted ice cream. What ice cream Ben had left he was saving for himself for later. He'd been good and he felt that he deserved it.
"So I want a different one or a refund and I want it NAAOW!"
The little brat was starting to go full temper tantrum. He freckled cheeks were starting to puff up and get red, tears streaming down his face.
This Texas heat was killing Ben and it had not put him in a good mood. He normally wouldn't hurt a fly without reason but this kid w
“Look, kid. Just beat it.” Locke told him, starting to get annoyed. He tapped his fingers impatiently on the side of the truck.
“Dad! Dad!” The kid ran off screaming for his father, realizing that he wasn't going to get what he wanted.
Ben groaned. As if the hot Texas day weren’t bad enough now he’d have to deal with some annoying brats parents. Right on cue, the kid came back dragging along some balding, middle aged guy who was so stuck in the past that he was still wearing his letter jacket from high school.
“This the guy, Lamar?” The man asked his son, draining the rest of the beer he’d carried with him before letting out a belch that set his gut to wobbling. Ben calmly got out of the truck. He'd been meaning to stretch his legs.
“Yeah, dad! Beat him up!”
Lamar’s dad sneered and looked like he was about to say something awfully intimidating, but he never quite managed to get the words out. Lamar froze up with a dazed look on his face shortly before Ben's knee connected with his father's most delicate of areas in a decidedly unpleasant fashion. The man folded up and tumbled down almost immediately.
“It's too hot out for this shit.” Ben climbed back in his truck and waved goodbye. He was all out of ice cream so it was about time to get going so he could get on with his day. He left Lamar and his dad standing around confused and writhing in pain, respectively.
Whistling along with the ice cream truck’s tune, the young man drove the truck to the abandoned warehouse he liked to leave it in when he wasn’t playing ice cream man.
Ben pulled inside and put the truck in park. He dragged one hand across his forehead, leaving it looking like it had been dunked in a bucket of warm water. The young man proceeded to take the keys from the ignition and exit the vehicle.
It had been a long day and all he wanted to do was find somewhere cool to just stretch out and relax. He dried his face off with the hand towel he kept in the passenger seat and locked up. His work over, Lock was already feeling better. The heat wasn't even bothering him too much anymore.
"If you like piña colodas!"
Ben opened up a rocket pop he'd saved for himself, using it like a microphone.
"And getting caught in the rain!"
He began to strut away from the truck, singing, when something gave him pause. The young man pushed his aviator sunglasses up so he could see better in the shade of the warehouse and called out.
“Yo! Is someone there?”
Last Edit: Aug 27, 2015 0:38:12 GMT -5 by Benjamin Locke
Post by Nesley Isaiah on Aug 26, 2015 23:05:55 GMT -5
Nesley had only arrived in Texas for the first time a week or so prior, and so far, he wasn't having fun. The heat was right down unbearable, he constantly felt like he was melting. There were a couple of occasions where he really thought he was and panicked. Perhaps it was because he'd spent a good portion of his life in Maine? Such heat was unheard of, there. Well, that's a lie. But at least there, the heat only lasted about five minutes before it was snowing again!
Snow... He'd like some snow right about now. Or-- Or... Nesley blinked, snapped out of his thoughts as his inner query was answered by the sound of a rather musical truck. "Or ice cream..." He muttered to himself in conclusion, straightening up on the tree branch he'd perched on, and watching as the Ice Cream truck passed. The truck soon stopped for some child, and the winged Fae made his way down to the ground behind the tree, having to pause a moment to shape-shift into the form of a human child. He was going to get in on some of that ice-y action.
Unfortunately, almost the moment he stepped out from behind the tree, ready to run up to truck with childish glee, it was leaving... Ohh, no. Nesley wasn't having that. Only just sparing the confused child and pained father a passing glance, he was off after the truck. It wasn't the Rit's style to just run after it with arms flailing like any real child, however. He had to make it fun, he had to tail it. Within moments he had slunk into the shadows and made his way to the rooftops of some nearby buildings to keep an eye on the target. He'd expected it to be a short game until the truck stopped for another child, but he soon realized the music had stopped and it was probably done for the day.
Well, that was alright, too. He could just follow it to wherever Ice Cream trucks go when they're done. Then he could get in and pig out. That was even better than the first plan, really. But the truck kept going and going... It was as Nesley watched it full into an obviously abandoned warehouse that the confusion struck. What sort of Ice Cream truck parks in an abandoned warehouse..? Maybe it was the bad kind, and there were some snatched children stashed in the back of it...
He'd certainly be finding out, soon. Children or not, he was getting himself some ice cream. Nesley had abandoned his human form at the beginning of the chase, but saw no reason to return to it now. Standing in the shadows of the warehouse, he watched as the the driver got out. The moment he did, the Rit had made his way to the side of the truck. He had just unlocked the side door and was getting ready to get in, but was forced to pause and clamp his hands over his mouth to keep in a spout of laughter as the driver began singing.
It took Nesley a small moment to recollect himself before he was opening the door as silently as he could and climbing into the vehicle. No snatched children, from what he could see. Just lotsa good ol' ice cream. Um. Lotsa half-melted ice cream... Staring in woe as he realized this probably wasn't a legit ice cream man, Nesley heard the guy call out if anyone was lurking about. Oh great. Now he had to sneak out with the guy on alert... Might as well enjoy some half-melted ice cream first. "Nope. 'S just you, man..." He muttered mockingly to himself, looking through the stock of leftover ice cream for something he could actually eat.
Post by Julian Clark on Aug 28, 2015 16:56:46 GMT -5
Julian parked his truck a few blocks away from the new abandoned warehouse that he had found to use, since he no longer had the privilege of enjoying his previous one. Wanting to get to the place before the heat began to melt the city, Julian had thrown on a thin, grey t-shirt, some basketball shorts, and running shoes before leaving his apartment, not even taking the time to properly wash his face of comb through his hair. As he walked towards the warehouse, the coffee he brewed that morning within a cup held in his hand, he thought over the events that lead to him having to find this place.
He had previously been using a warehouse, an abandoned one of course, in order for him to mess around with the powers that he had, constantly working to improve his mastery over them. Of course, just because a being might have legs that function properly, and they can run, it doesn't mean that they are fast or agile while doing it. Such abilities have to be trained over time, and his supernatural abilities functioned the same way. The young elemental also figured that, by continuously working with his abilities, and familiarizing himself with them, he may be able to develop them to even greater levels, or figure out some new ability that he could perform; much like how he found out that he could heal toxins out of a body by chance, and learned that his healing ability could be further developed.
So the young man had found a warehouse and practiced there for a few weeks, before he saw where sometimes vehicles would park outside of the warehouse, or in it, and people would talk in an obviously guarded fashion. Sometimes, one party would deliver packages out of their vehicle, to yet another party. At this point, Julian was sure that some gang had decided to make this their territory and, in this secluded, unassuming spot, carry out their 'transactions'. Of course, Julian contacted the police force, and left an anonymous tip regarding the events that where taking place at that warehouse, before getting on the task of finding a new place to practice.
Now, a week after the police made the bust, coincidentally enough on the night of a major drug trade, Julian was walking onto the grounds of a new warehouse. Taking a moment to look around, the male was pleased with the extremely scarce amount of graffiti around the premises, figuring that nobody really ever came around here. Of course, if he ever were to hear someone coming, he could always hide, or pretend that he was doing a bit of urban exploration.
Bringing the cup that he had been casually drinking from for close to 45 minutes to his lips, he discovered that it was empty and placed it to the side. The elemental then began to stretch his body in order to get rid of the last bits of drowsiness, and make sure that he was ready for what he had planned. After stretching out, he made sure that he had his keys, wallet, phone, and a stun gun in the backpack he brought with him from the truck.
Resisting the pull of gravity, part of an ability which he still had no clue how it even worked, Julian swiftly ascended to the beams going across the ceiling of the building, and placed his backpack down in a stable place up there. The elemental didn't want to leave it out in the open, where it could possibly get discovered if someone happened by while he wasn't close to it. Next, after making sure that his backpack was secure, the elemental moved away from the beam in mid-air, slowly gliding backwards. A look of determination on his face, he suddenly accelerated towards the beam he had backed away from, somehow positioning his body to where he was parallel to the ground, and, as he came to the solid metal, his body narrowly passed over it. However, the elemental didn't stop there, as he curled his body, moving himself to fly downwards, facefirst, immediately after passing the bar. About one foot off the ground, his body suddenly curved to the side, heading towards a steel column to his right, and ascending it in a winding, spiral-like fashion. The elemental was currently working on his maneuverability while in flight, constantly trying to improve upon his agility whilst doing it.
After a few hours of this, with breaks in between, and an hour long lunch break, Julian decided to sit down on the beam which he had placed his backpack on, reaching over to dig the stun gun out. As he held the small, non-lethal weapon in his hands, the male frowned slightly, displeased with the fact that, even though he did have some control over the flow of electricity, it was something which he had to really on other sources to produce, unlike his healing and flight, and even his transformation. However, the elemental pushed those thoughts aside as the stun gun in his right hand roared to life, the small bolts of electricity flickering between it's electrodes. He began to get a feel for the electricity, developing a kind of connection to it. After certain that he had control over it, Julian began to draw the bolts away from the depression in the stun gun's end; the electricity seeming like it had come to life as it slowly made it's way through the empty air, towards the man's empty left hand, where it slid in between his fingers like a small, playful snake. Cutting off the stun gun, the elemental focused more on playing around with the mass of electricity which he had already drawn out, beads of sweat appearing on his forehead as he constantly tried to make it maintain form.
After working on this for a while, it had become a lot easier to make the electricity hold shape than it used to for the young man. And now he could spend more time working on manipulating the electricity into different forms, trying to create images and figures out of it, wanting to continue his control. After about half an hour's time, Julian had a small replica of a dragon, made of electricity, prancing around in the open palm of his left hand. The figure seemed almost life-like in its movements, when it suddenly dissipated into thin air as the elemental lost concentration of his manipulation of it upon hearing a vehicle drawing close to the warehouse. Alarmed that something might happen, Julian grabbed his backpack and headed to the darkest corner that he could find in the ceiling, since people never seemed inclined to look above them, especially not in a place like this, where it would be extremely hard to reach the beams that spanned the ceiling.
From his hiding spot, the elemental watched as an ice cream truck pulled into the warehouse, and its engine cut off. Extremely suspicious of what the hell an ice cream truck would be doing in a place like this, multiple possible explanations flitted through the young man's head at once; none of them were even remotely positive, or legal. Suddenly, the front door to the vehicle opened up, and a young man wearing a maroon v-neck, shorts, and sandals stepped out, wiping his face with a towel before putting on a pair of aviator sunglasses. Julian continued watching as the male as he seemed to pull something else from the vehicle before locking it. As the other man moved his hands, Julian noticed that what he had pulled from the vehicle was a rocket pop and, after opening the dessert's wrapping, the male began singing into it like a microphone and strutting away from the vehicle, looking like a complete buffoon.
Julian was still on alert, since he had no clue why this man had driven an ice cream truck into an abandoned warehouse. Did he have a body hidden in there? A group of abducted people who he was helping sell into slavery? Was he supplying drugs to someone under a well-planned disguise? The elemental may not have the answer, but he would stay until he found out. Turning his attention back towards the ice cream truck in question, noticing that something seemed to be a bit off about the vehicle. Was the back door slightly ajar like that earlier?
Suddenly, the "ice cream guy" stopped singing mid-line, and began to look around him, peering into the darkening recesses of the warehouse, which would grow darker still as the sun continued its descent. Thankfully, it was currently only around 5pm, so there were still about two or three more hours of sunlight left. However, Julian began to look around as well when the guy called out "Yo! Is someone there?"
Noticing that the guy didn't seem to be reaching for a firearm or anything, Julian began to think that the drug dealer and human trafficking ideas weren't likely, and the man did not seem alert enough about someone else being here, so there actually may be nothing for him to hide or protect within that odd vehicle of his. No matter what speculations the elemental may have, he was still resolute on sticking around until the answer had been provided, since he seriously did not want to have to find yet another barely-visited abandoned warehouse.
Last Edit: Aug 30, 2015 22:49:24 GMT -5 by Julian Clark
Post by Benjamin Locke on Sept 6, 2015 22:04:35 GMT -5
Ben repeated his question again, glancing around the warehouse in a casual manner. He didn’t really expect a response. After all, if there was someone around who intended him harm they probably weren’t planning on tipping him off to the fact.
Locke shrugged. It was probably just some rats or something. Maybe a junkie or two.
“If you’re planning on robbing me, you should know I’m just a poor, innocent ice cream truck driver with no cash or dead babies."
After a moments thought, he added. "Also, I totally have a flamethrower so no monsters better try to eat me.”
The young man held one hand behind his back, as if he were concealing a flamethrower from anyone who might be watching from the shadows.
He just stood there and listened for movement or whatever while he ate some of his ice cream. Without anywhere to be at the moment and an infinite life span, Locke didn’t mind taking his time.
In the midst of bringing the ice cream in his hand up for a bite, the frozen snack fell off it’s stick, narrowly missing Ben’s shirt.
“Shit!” Locke exclaimed, backing up a step. The ice cream gone, he threw the stick on the ground and resisted the urge to wipe his hands on his shorts. Ben sighed and made his way to the back of the truck where he kept sanitary wipes for just this purpose. He’d just reach over the pile of dead babies and grab a couple to wipe his hands.
"Stupid junkies, making me drop my ice cream." Ben muttered to himself as he opened up the back of the truck.
Last Edit: Sept 6, 2015 22:05:34 GMT -5 by Benjamin Locke
Post by Nesley Isaiah on Sept 7, 2015 19:17:03 GMT -5
While he was fully distracted pigging out on the sub par ice cream, Nesley suddenly froze, every hair on the back of his neck sticking up as his entire body told him he was in danger of imminent discovery and needed to do something about it. After about a second of panicked flailing as he realized the truck's owner was about to open the door, the Rit quickly abandoned his natural form to put on that of a child. A scared child.
As Locke opened the door, he would see a very small little boy sitting in the middle of various ice cream wrappers and looking up at him with wide teary eyes as if he was the victim. Obviously this was not the case, but Nesley was more than willing to put on a little act to get out of a bad situation. After staring at the man like a frightened deer in headlights for a few more seconds, he scurried backwards as if to get away, the ice cream wrappers crinkling as they were stepped on or swiped out of the way. "M-mama! Mama!" He cried out, now huddled in a far corner as if terrified for his life. Nesley liked to think he was pretty good at this.
Though at this point, he really just had to hope this guy did in fact have a soft spot for children and didn't murder them for sport. Actually looking at Locke, now, he was suddenly having doubts that this plan was such a good idea... It might've been a terrible one. Imagine that, living for 132 years just to be brutally murdered in the back of an ice cream truck. The things people would say! Er... Well, good thing he didn't actually know any people.
Post by Benjamin Locke on Sept 12, 2015 0:01:07 GMT -5
When Locke opened the back door of his ice cream truck and was met with the sight and cries of a crying, a number of emotions and thoughts ran through his head. Chiefest among them was confusion. The young man certainly didn’t remember abducting any children today.
On the off chance he’d simply forgotten, Ben checked the day on his phone. It was Friday.
“It’s not Tuesday,” the young man stated, scratching his neatly cropped black hair, a confused look on his face. “What are you doing in my truck, kid?”
Surrounded by ice cream wrappers, it was obvious what the little punk had been up to. Stickyfingers here had clearly been in the process of eating what was left of his ice cream! That was so not cool.
But, to be fair, Ben had stolen the entire truck himself so he could play ice cream man in the first place and had intended to just leave the truck there in the empty warehouse, letting the half melted ice cream in the back finish melting.
“Didn’t your parents teach you that stealing is, like, wrong?” Ben asked the kid, wondering what to do.
On one hand, he didn’t really care what happened to the rest of the ice cream. On the other, he didn’t particularly like the thought that Nelsey had either snuck into the back on one of his routes without Locke noticing, or he’d climbed in after the young man had parked in the warehouse without him noticing. Either way, Ben had been ninja’d by a toddler. That was pretty lame.
Locke shrugged. The shrimp was welcome to all the ice cream he could eat. “Name’s Ben,” The young man held out one sticky hand from ice cream to shake the kid’s own sticky hand, introducing himself. “You’ve got some skills for a little kid, sneaking up on me like that.”
For those who are wondering… Think child-murdering Tuesdays.
Post by Nesley Isaiah on Sept 18, 2015 11:47:33 GMT -5
Nesley blinked, now at a bit of a loss. What was he to do, next? The guy hadn't reacted very favorably, when the Fae just wanted a chance to escape... Aside from the initial confusion in his features, he'd barely reacted at all! And now he was trying to be all friendly and--- Wait, what was that about Tuesdays?
Deciding it would be best not to stay on that line of thought for much longer, Nesley put on his best pout, pitifully rubbing at his eyes to keep up the charade. He had to choose his next words carefully... Or he could just sit and pout and hope the guy went away. That probably wouldn't work, would it..? Ahh, the whole 'inability to lie' thing always made his acts so much more difficult than they had to be!
"Um--.. Um.. Um..." He sputtered as a scared child would, trying to buy some time to get his thoughts together. Maybe it would be best not to ignore the potential toddler-killer's question and just go along with it. "I'm Nesley... Can I go home, now?" He asked, clutching at the hem of his shirt. "I'm sorry for eating your ice cream, Mister."
Post by Julian Clark on Sept 20, 2015 22:52:22 GMT -5
Julian was not quite sure how to feel about this awkward situation which had swiftly developed.
Soon after calling out the first time, the ice cream truck driver repeated himself and, after looking around for a little more, followed up with, “If you’re planning on robbing me, you should know I’m just a poor, innocent ice cream truck driver with no cash or dead babies."
Before Julian could even properly react to the thing about dead babies, the man added, "Also, I totally have a flamethrower so no monsters better try to eat me.”
A smirk came to the elemental's face in response to this man's very lame threat of a warning; it was a bit on the obvious side that the male was a bit flustered and wasn't going to pull out something as ridiculous as a flamethrower for protection, if he even had any sort of protection. Julian rose an eyebrow as he mentally commented on the man's words.A flamethrower? Really? Why not just use a nuke?
Not very long after, the man's ice cream fell from its stick, narrowly missing his shirt. The ice cream man backed off as soon as the ice cream fell, letting out an annoyed exclamation before throwing the treat-lacking stick to the ground in what appeared to be a momentary bout of rage.
The man then proceeded to move to the back of his vehicle, and Julian silently flew among the rafters, finding a better vantage point for him to view the man's actions at the back of the automobile.
As soon as the male began opening the door to the back of the vehicle, Julian could hear a voice, which sounded like it belonged to a young child, yelling out "M-mama! Mama!" Startled into inaction for a second, Julian soon recovered and realized that there was obviously a child in the back of this vehicle. Maybe this man wasn't so innocent seeming after all.
Not even taking the time to think about the odd fact that only one voice had called out, the elemental slowly began to drift down towards the ice cream man, subconsciously tightening his grip on the stun gun that had never left his hand. He watched as the man pulled out his phone and looked at it, probably checking on some kind of transaction for the kid or something. However, he was caught off guard when the ice cream dealer casually responded to the kid's cries by saying that it wasn't Tuesday. Hints of confusion could even be heard in the man's voice, as if he was surprised that there was a kid in his vehicle. But what did Tuesday have anything to do with this?
The man then followed up by asking the supposed child what he was doing in the back of this man's truck. At this point, Julian wasn't sure whether or not the man was truly unaware that there had been a child in the back of his vehicle. As he took a moment to piece things together, it seemed likely that it might actually be the case. After all, why would he only kidnap one child, unless that child was from some rich family? Also, why would he put on a play of asking the child how he wound up in the vehicle, unless there were obviously other people around who would view the situation negatively? This man did not seem to be aware that there was anyone else around, and even seemed to believe that whatever noise he heard earlier was simply some junkies passing by. Thinking that this man might be honestly puzzled over what was going on, Julian retreated a bit, not wanting to be discovered if he wasn't going to even do anything.
“Didn’t your parents teach you that stealing is, like, wrong?” Waiting to see how things turned out, Julian stayed suspended in the air, ready to move in at a moment's notice.
“Name’s Ben,” The young man said as he held out one towards what was presumably the child in the vehicle, introducing himself. “You’ve got some skills for a little kid, sneaking up on me like that.”
Julian finally heard a reply from the child, who he was still incapable of seeing, without potentially revealing himself to the child as well. After a bit of stuttering, the child's voice announced, "I'm Nesley... Can I go home, now?" After a slight pause, the voice continued. "I'm sorry for eating your ice cream, Mister."
It no longer sounded frightened or threatened, instead the voice came out with an apologetic tone. Not sure what exactly was happening right now, Julian flew back to the rafter in order to grab his backpack. Doing his best to silently place it over his shoulder, he then descended until his feet were stably on the ground.
Now pretty sure that there was nothing shady, or dangerous, going on, the elemental called out towards the ice cream truck, acting as though he was oblivious to the situation. "Yo! What's going on in here? I thought I heard yelling coming from over here a moment ago."
Post by Benjamin Locke on Sept 20, 2015 23:24:38 GMT -5
Ben rolled his eyes at the kid's apology and request to go home. "No one's stopping you from going home kid." He held his hands up as if inviting Nesley to walk off. "I imagine that's where you'd be right now if you hadn't climbed into the back of my truck to steal ice cream from a poor, hardworking ice cream man such as myself." The young man added sarcastically.
Though he'd discovered the kid in his truck, Ben still couldn't shake that feeling that someone else was about, watching him. The creepy sensation was really starting to bug him.
Then a man called out, asking what was going on. Locke turned to look at the guy. He looked to be pretty young, about Ben's age. The newcomer was carrying a backpack. Ben wanted to know what was in there. Maybe it was something cool?
"Yeah. I caught this kid sneaking around in my truck, stealing ice cream. Apparently his name is Nesley. You know him?" Ben asked politely, a look of curiosity on his face. Was he about to get ripped off? Was grand theft ice cream even a thing? That would be so lame.
