72 Garden Lane--The Wright Residence

[More than Music]

OOC: Poppy, why don't you go ahead and close this up in your next post? : )

Clarence Morgan

"So, was that all you wanted to talk to me about, or was there something else...?"

"I came because I didn't see you talking, babe." He leaned down and laid kisses up her neck. Her eyes closed and she seemed to relax... maybe... a little... not really. "Now I just wanna be here. Is that okay with you?"

He saw her smile a little. "Of course."

Clarence took in a deep breath, not sure what else to say. He hated that feeling. He hated it so much. "I might love you."

Cassie was quiet for a while, and Clarence sighed. He'd messed it up. He'd messed it up all over again and nothing was working.

Great. Just freaking fantastic.

Then Cassie turned and kissed him. That made things feel a little better. Okay, a lot better. Holding her waist, Clarence opened his mouth around hers, breathing in the taste of her mouth.

"Well, that just solves everything," he breathed, pulling away from her just long enough to speak before kissing her again. 'Doesn't it?'


Clarence is pretty much done here

[The Phantom of Paris]

OOC: Sure thing! BIC:

Cassandra "Cassie" Wright

"Now I just wanna be here. Is that okay with you?"

"Of course," Cassie replied automatically, giving the response she knew he wanted to hear. But inwardly, she wasn't quite sure. She almost just wanted to be alone today, not to have to worry about other people for once in her life. But Cassie knew that being left alone with her own thoughts could be dangerous, could take her down roads she didn't want to go down. Her mind would wander to her worries and doubts, to Kagayaki, to her stupid pathetic little regrets...she didn't want to deal with that today. Not now. So Clarence sticking around really was the best thing for her, right? Right?

There was a little silence after that. Not necessarily an uncomfortable silence, but an awkward one as they both fought to find something to say. What does that say about us, hmm? We're dating and yet we can't find a single word to say to each other? That's got to mean something, but I honestly don't want to know what it is. Not today. Not right now. Tomorrow. I'll worry about it tomorrow. Or tonight, when I can't sleep. Just please, not right now...

"I might love you," Clarence finally said, his voice soothing her just slightly. Cassie responded by kissing him, a lame cop-out to actually coming up with something to say in response to that statement that she couldn't return, not fully, not yet. But he didn't seem to mind.

"Well, that just solves everything."

"Mmm-hmm," Cassie agreed quietly, murmuring against his mouth.

But does it?

Cassie is done here, I believe.

[More than Music]

OOC: Planned Clarence/Shelby. : ) Reference picture works except for the fact his arm is in a cast. ;P
BIC:

Clarence Morgan

How long had it been since he'd been here? Since he'd been with Cassie, hadn't it?

So much had changed since then.

That made him think about Quinn... would he ever be able to see her again? He knew he'd messed up bad with Jess, but... part of him had changed since he'd realized he had a daughter. Part of him had grown up. Yeah, there were still some things left over from when he was growing up. He didn't want to pretend that loosing his temper with Jess was okay. It wasn't.

At least he still had Shelby, right?

Shifting his right arm around in the cast as much as he could, he felt a shot of pain in his shoulder, but not enough to worry about it. It was doing better than it had been. It had been a couple weeks since he'd been shot anyway. In the end, it had been worth it. No one needed to hear about how it had happened though. He wasn't the sort of guy who would complain about pain anyway, so he'd decided just to go with that 'get shot at enough and you get shot' excuse unless someone pushed it.

He felt a little more vulnerable without his jacket to cover up the cast. It felt like he was trying to draw attention to it. He didn't want people to stare at his cast and feel bad for him. Reaching up with his left hand, Clarence took hold of his dog tags and ran his fingers down the surface.

'Morgan. Clarence J. O-. No preference.'

He closed his eyes and took in a deep breath.

'No sweat. Just go chill with Shelby for a little while. She'll be happy I'm here. Definitely.'

Avoiding the house altogether, Clarence headed to the gazebo, planning on calling Shelby from there to get her to come outside. He remembered the night he'd gotten Cassie out here. She'd been so much more care-free then, once the alcohol hit. Now she'd probably hit him over the head with a metal bat before coming out here to drink with him. Well, that was cool, because he didn't want her to. He was tired of being numbed by things like anger and alcohol. He wanted to feel his life, all of it. Seeing people die and seeing people crumble had made him want to live.

He was a couple yards away when he saw a girl standing in it. She was wearing dark green hoodie, and he could see some red hair escaping out the front. Thinking for a moment, Clarence came closer. Her posture and something else told him it wasn't Cassie.

'Looks like you and I had the same idea, babe.'

Smirking, he side-stepped a little to come behind her. He put one foot on the first step, stomping it down with an admittedly pompous look on his face. Tilting his head to the side as she turned, Clarence raised an eyebrow.

"Hey there, little soldier. Can an injured man trouble you for a hug?"

[The Phantom of Paris]

Shelby Wright

Chemistry sucked.

Actually, to say it sucked was an understatement. Sure, SJ was a great tutor, and Shelby had to admit that her work with her was probably helping her understand the material a great deal more than if she had to slog through it herself. But that didn't help the massive pile of catch-up work she now had to do for a class that she'd never planned to take, or lessen the endless frustration, tears, and cups of coffee it would take to complete that work. Added to that was the fact that it had occurred to her very early on that doing chemistry homework would be next to impossible at home--that is to say, with an eight-year-old, a six-and-a-half year old, and a seven-month-old in the house.

So, she'd taken it upon herself to find some quiet place to study. The library had worked at first, but today the weather was so gorgeous that she felt like she would go crazy if she didn't get outside. The park was too noisy, the benches outside the library still too close to people for her to focus. Somehow, she'd found herself in front of the old mansion, the place that she used to call home. It seemed like it would do the trick.

She smiled up at the tree house as she trekked through the now- overgrown backyard. The tree house had been her first thought as her new study spot, but it didn't feel right, going there without Preston now. Since the night of the party, the tree house had become undeniably their place. It was a sacred, secret place, a place for conversations and secrets and kisses, and definitely not chemistry homework.

So she glanced around, considering. The grass under one of the old oak trees would probably do nicely, or she could set up shop in one of the swings. Somehow, though, the gazebo seemed to call to her, so it was there that she set her things, gazing down at the mess of notes and worksheets and practice problems with a look of alarm. There always seems to be more than I expected.

Even though it was warm, she pulled her hood over her hair. She wasn't sure how the old neighbors would react to seeing her wandering around her old home in broad daylight. A little anonymity would be nice, if only for a while.

She worked for a solid hour, sprawled out across the hard wooden floor of the gazebo, before her resolve finally broke and she had to take a break. She sat up slowly, stretching her arms up over her head and feeling several vertebrae crack--a welcome feeling after staying in the same position for so long. Standing up, she surveyed the vast expanse of the property as if seeing it for the first time. It almost looked like a new place to her, the formerly manicured long now allowed to run wild with no one to tame it...

Shelby turned as she heard a loud noise behind her, feeling a pair of eyes watching her. Was it Preston, showing off his superior stalker skills again? Or...

"Hey there, little soldier. Can an injured man trouble you for a hug?"

Shelby stared at the confident, cocky face in front of her, frozen for a moment. It was as if she was seeing a ghost. She blinked once, twice, and when the apparition didn't disappear before her eyes she ran to it, catching him in a fierce hug without saying a word. One of his arms was encased in a bulky cast, but the other one seemed fine, so this was the one she chose to attack first. "You idiot!" she yelled, throwing a punch at the unmaimed arm before aiming a couple more at his chest for good measure. "What the hell were you thinking? What the hell happened? What the hell did you do?!"

[More than Music]

Clarence Morgan

It sure had been a long time. She looked a bit older in her face. Her hair was longer.

She was doing homework.

He walked up to the gazebo, his eyes locked on her. She stretched, not noticing him. Clarence smirked, stomping on the first step to get her attention. He tilted his head to the side, watching her face as she whirled around to look at him.

"Hey there, little soldier. Can an injured man trouble you for a hug?"

Shelby seemed stuck at first, just staring at him. Clarence laughed. "Well?"

She blinked a few times, then finally ran forwards and threw her arms around him so tight it hurt. Especially his right arm. But he didn't care. He returned the embrace with his left hand, as strong as he dared, and a bit more. For a few seconds, it seemed like it would all blow over.

Then she punched him in the left arm. It was the kind of hit that made him laugh, even though he took a step back. "You idiot!" she cried.

"That didn't hurt," he said, still laughing. "Try again."

Hitting him a few more times, this time in the chest, she seemed to have the same fire in her that she'd always had. He stood firm, just smiling at her, even though it did wind him a little. Ha, he'd taken worse.

"What the hell were you thinking?" she snapped, and he shrugged a little.

"I dunno. Maybe 'wouldn't it be fun to irritate the hell out of Shelby' or something like that," he muttered, punctuating it with a pout. "Seriously, babe. What kind of question is that?"

"What the hell happened? What the hell did you do?!"

Raising an eyebrow, he put one hand on his hip. "Excuse me, little soldier, you watch your mouth." He smiled. "It's bad enough that I do it. Chill out." Clarence leaned over and pulled Shelby into a half-hug with his good arm, he put his chin on her head for a moment. "Get shot at enough, you get shot, baby. Calm down. I'll be fine in a few months." He pulled her hood down and kissed the top of her head.

He pulled her over to sit down on the steps. "S*** happens, babe." He paused. "... Stuff. But..." He grinned. "Guess what? Since it does, I get to be here. Not so bad. Plus... I'll be here in June. Pretty awesome, right?" He leaned over to check her expression. "You're not too mad at me, are you? Seriously, don't be. Soldiers get shot all the time. I'm alright. I'm alive."

'Some guys aren't, you know. But maybe it's better you don't know that.'

[The Phantom of Paris]

Shelby Wright

He couldn't be here. He was overseas, fighting a war he shouldn't even have been in and still making her sister miserable even half a world away. Clarence, the guy she had hated at the outset but now regarded as some weird hybrid between protective older brother and best friend with an annoying streak, could not be standing in front of her right now, looking arrogant as ever and asking for a hug. It had to be a hallucination, brought on from excessive amounts of studying for a subject that she would never use in the real world. It couldn't be Clarence, she had to be mistaken.

Except she wasn't.

When she figured it that she wasn't going crazy from the heat and too many useless equations, she attacked him, going in for a hug so fierce that Shelby thought for a minute that Clarence would squeeze the life right out of her. Okay, maybe it is a hallucination. A suicidal hallucination brought on by an overdose of chem. Immediately after, she attacked him again, this time striking out with closed fists with the goal of knocking some sense into his thick skull the only thing in her mind as she screamed at him. He had gotten shot. And in Shelby's mind, that was stupid enough to earn him some more punishment on her part than what he had already received.

He didn't seem fazed, though, as she hit him and screamed. "That didn't hurt," he teased, laughing at her as he egged her on. "Try again."

And so she did, several more times, her eyes flashing. "What the hell were you thinking?" she demanded, earning nothing more than an infuriating shrug.

"I dunno. Maybe 'wouldn't it be fun to irritate the hell out of Shelby' or something like that. Seriously, babe. What kind of question is that?"

"What the hell happened? What the hell did you do?!" She struck him a few more times for good measure before backing off, eyes still livid.

"Excuse me, little soldier, you watch your mouth. It's bad enough that I do it."

"Oh, watch your own ****ing mouth, Clarence."

"Chill out." He leaned over and pulled Shelby into a half-hug with his undamaged arm, he put his chin on her head for a moment. "Get shot at enough, you get shot, baby. Calm down. I'll be fine in a few months."

She chuckled a bit, pulling away. "Easy there. You get shot and all of a sudden you think you can get a little? I'm taken, buddy, if you recall."

"S*** happens, babe."

She raised an eyebrow. "Didn't you just tell me to watch my mouth?"

"... Stuff. But...Guess what? Since it does, I get to be here. Not so bad. Plus... I'll be here in June. Pretty awesome, right? You're not too mad at me, are you? Seriously, don't be. Soldiers get shot all the time. I'm alright. I'm alive."

She was silent for a minute before reaching out and smacking him upside the head once again. "Now I'm not mad at you. Just mad that you let something like this happen, mad that it had to happen to anyone, not just you...I'm allowed to be mad, Clarence. Don't you tell me I'm not allowed to be mad and passionate about something I believe in." She paused, looking at him. "But I guess it is nice to have you around for a bit. And you'll be here for the wedding of the century, right? You better, or you'll break Erin's heart, and then Timmy and Yukito and I will all team up to break your face, you hear me?"

[More than Music]

Clarence Morgan

"That didn't hurt," he commented, punctuating it with a laugh when she attacked his arm. "Try again."

Eyes flashing at him, she was clearly ticked, swinging a few more times. He formed his hand into a fist, tensing and watching as she tried to get out her aggression. He waited. Being hit was nothing new to him. And it was clear her intention wasn't just blind anger, so he didn't care.

"What the hell were you thinking?" she demanded.

He shrugged. "I dunno. Maybe 'wouldn't it be fun to irritate the hell out of Shelby' or something like that.” He sent her a look. “Seriously, babe. What kind of question is that?"

"What the hell happened? What the hell did you do?!" She hit him a few more times. Her fists were probably getting sore, or her anger was wearing off, because her arms fell to her sides. Clarence reached over, touching her knuckles with the tips of his fingers, a bit of concern in his eyes.

'Your anger's getting worse. Don't be like that. Being angry and letting anger become who you are... they're different. Cut it out. Cut it out now.'

"Excuse me, little soldier,” he snapped, “you watch your mouth. It's bad enough that I do it."

"Oh, watch your own ****ing mouth, Clarence."

Anger was his first reaction, but he took in a deep breath and pulled her into a half-hug. "Chill out.” Putting his chin on her head, he gave himself a second to breathe. "Get shot at enough, you get shot, baby. Calm down. I'll be fine in a few months."

Shelby let out a little laugh, showing the stone-cold of her anger was thawing out. "Easy there. You get shot and all of a sudden you think you can get a little? I'm taken, buddy, if you recall."

Clarence put up his hands in mock-surrender, which hurt a bit, but that never stopped him. “Swear that wasn't what I was thinking, little soldier. Swear.” He smirked, backing off a little. "S*** happens, babe."

Raising an eyebrow, she didn't look impressed. "Didn't you just tell me to watch my mouth?"

He frowned. "Fine... Stuff,” he said, nudging her with his elbow. “But...Guess what? Since it does, I get to be here. Not so bad.” He paused for a second. Maybe Shelby would pick up faster than Erin, who was gracefully naïve. “Plus... I'll be here in June. Pretty awesome, right?” He leaned down to search her face. “You're not too mad at me, are you? Seriously, don't be. Soldiers get shot all the time. I'm alright. I'm alive."

That phrase 'silence is violence' came to mind in the quiet moment Shelby gave him.

'No cold shoulder. No way. I don't do that. I'll punch you in your cold shoulder, girl or not.'

"Now I'm not mad at you. Just mad that you let something like this happen, mad that it had to happen to anyone, not just you...I'm allowed to be mad, Clarence. Don't you tell me I'm not allowed to be mad and passionate about something I believe in."

Clarence raised both eyebrows. “Passionate about? You've never mentioned the wars we're in, the people who die... nothing. You never said anything about that sort of thing.”

'And you have no idea how lucky you are, compared to the people living in Iraq. God, it's depressing.'

He shrugged again, ignoring the fact his doctor had repeatedly told him not to move his shoulder. “But, hey, if you're passionate about it because I'm a soldier... I can dig that.” Clarence smirked pointedly. “That'd be pretty nice, actually.”

"But I guess it is nice to have you around for a bit. And you'll be here for the wedding of the century, right?”

He looked at her with fake surprise. “Wedding? What wedding?” He pretended to think for a minute, then put a hand on his face. “Oh, shoot. The wedding. When is that again?”

“You better, or you'll break Erin's heart, and then Timmy and Yukito and I will all team up to break your face, you hear me?"

Clarence laughed, reaching over to whack her upside the head much lighter than he did for his other friends. “Seriously, give me some credit, babe! I plan on going. That's a good reason why I'm down for this long. Won't be heading back over there until late July or August.” He grinned, leaning back a little. “Though I'd like to see you and Timmy try to beat me up... Yukito and you, maybe, but not you and Short Round... nah.” He pushed her with his shoulder a bit, smiling. “So, how's school, little soldier? I see you're being very... studious.”

[The Phantom of Paris]

Shelby Wright

He looked a little ticked at her--maybe it was time for her to calm down. She had gotten her anger out, hadn't she? Maybe she should try backing off instead of trying to succeed in doing what some enemy soldier or sniper or whatever had failed to do to him. Yeah, she was still upset, but she wasn't really mad at him, just taking her anger out on him. And given both of their tempers, that was never a wise move.

So Shelby tried to relax as he pulled her in for another hug, noting that he still seemed tense as well even as they quickly settled back into their old familiar banter. "S*** happens, babe."

"Didn't you just tell me to watch my mouth?" It's like the pot calling the kettle black. Oh, God, I'm thinking in cliches. Now I know I've done too much chemistry today.

"Fine... Stuff. But...Guess what? Since it does, I get to be here. Not so bad. Plus... I'll be here in June. Pretty awesome, right? You're not too mad at me, are you? Seriously, don't be. Soldiers get shot all the time. I'm alright. I'm alive."

She frowned, her own opinions on the issue threatening to burst through the surface. Instead of voicing them, though, she hit him once again. "Now I'm not mad at you. Just mad that you let something like this happen, mad that it had to happen to anyone, not just you...I'm allowed to be mad, Clarence. Don't you tell me I'm not allowed to be mad and passionate about something I believe in."

“Passionate about? You've never mentioned the wars we're in, the people who die... nothing. You never said anything about that sort of thing.”

"Clarence, have you met me? Just because I don't talk about things doesn't mean I don't have a strong opinion of them. And just because you say soldiers get shot at all the time doesn't mean I have to like it, or even accept it. I've always been anti-war, Clarence, and I'm really against the war in Iraq. I'm a pacifist." She grinned then, thinking back to her assault on him just a few minutes earlier. "Most of the time."

“But, hey, if you're passionate about it because I'm a soldier... I can dig that. That'd be pretty nice, actually.”

She rolled her eyes. "Fine. If that's what you want to believe, then keep telling yourself that. But I guess it is nice to have you around for a bit. And you'll be here for the wedding of the century, right?”

His eyes widened comically, as if the thought of Erin and Yukito's wedding had just occurred to him. Real mature. Remind me why I hang out with you again? “Wedding? What wedding?” Shelby looked at him skeptically as mock realization dawned on Clarence's face. “Oh, shoot. The wedding. When is that again?”

She ignored his question. “You better, or you'll break Erin's heart, and then Timmy and Yukito and I will all team up to break your face, you hear me?"

Clarence laughed then, and suddenly it was his turn to hit Shelby upside the head, thought it didn't really hurt. “Seriously, give me some credit, babe! I plan on going. That's a good reason why I'm down for this long. Won't be heading back over there until late July or August.” Her face darkened a bit at the thought of them sending him back. I thought they let you stay home if you were wounded overseas? Or is that just in the movies or something? That's what they did in A League of Their Own. Which, granted, is a World War II movie. Great. All my facts about this sort of thing are not only out-of-date, they're fictional too.

“Though I'd like to see you and Timmy try to beat me up... Yukito and you, maybe, but not you and Short Round... nah.”

"Short Round? Indiana Jones nicknames? Really?"

“So, how's school, little soldier? I see you're being very... studious.”

Shelby let out a loud groan, falling backwards until she was lying on her back on the wooden floor looking up at the ceiling of the gazebo. "Don't remind me. The school freaking screwed me over and I have to take this extra science class or else they won't let me graduate on time next year. I'm literally drowning in catch-up work." She sat up, looking at him. "Or at least I was until you decided to ambush me."

[More than Music]

Clarence Morgan

"I'm allowed to be mad, Clarence. Don't you tell me I'm not allowed to be mad and passionate about something I believe in."

He sent her a look, a bit surprised she had any opinion on the war at all. “Passionate about? You've never mentioned the wars we're in, the people who die... nothing. You never said anything about that sort of thing.”

"Clarence, have you met me? Just because I don't talk about things doesn't mean I don't have a strong opinion of them."

Clarence rolled his eyes. "Well, that makes no sense. If you have a strong opinion about something, that means you express it, at least to someone you're close to."

'I know not everyone is as outgoing as me, but, geez, you never mentioned it!'

"And just because you say soldiers get shot at all the time doesn't mean I have to like it, or even accept it. I've always been anti-war, Clarence, and I'm really against the war in Iraq. I'm a pacifist."

"Pft," was all he said.

She smiled. "Most of the time."

"Something like that," he said, leaning back, thinking of something possibly positive to say. “I think that's kind of stupid." That was honest, but it wasn't so positive. "But, hey, if you're passionate about it because I'm a soldier... I can dig that. That'd be pretty nice, actually.”

'Hey, that works! Much better. I'm kind of proud of myself now.'

He smirked, looking over at her and catching her rolling her eyes. "What?" he laughed.

'It's better than your I'm-a-passionate-closet-pacifist crap. You have to admit that.'

"Fine. If that's what you want to believe, then keep telling yourself that."

"I think I will," he said, leaning back.

"But I guess it is nice to have you around for a bit. And you'll be here for the wedding of the century, right?”

He put on a face, pretending he'd forgotten and asking when the wedding was. She didn't seem impressed or amused. That disappointed him. 'Lilith would've laughed. Silhouette would've at least smiled and rolled her eyes. Erin would've either tackled me or gone into a giggle fit. But you and your sister wouldn't have. Nooo, you just love to ruin my fun, don't you? You know, it would do you some good to laugh more often, like me a bit more, and stop thinking your opinion is automatically known and acknowledged as the best.'

“You better, or you'll break Erin's heart, and then Timmy and Yukito and I will all team up to break your face, you hear me?"

He laughed at the idea, playfully hitting her upside the head. “Seriously, give me some credit, babe! I plan on going. That's a good reason why I'm down for this long. Won't be heading back over there until late July or August.”

Her face darkened a bit. 'That's right. Deal with it. I'm a soldier, and now that I am, I always will be. I want to be someone who protects, not just whines when everyone else takes advantage of them. Look, Shelby, you're like family. So you really need to grow up a bit.'

But two could play this game. He pretended it didn't bother him. Living with his mother had taught him how to fake things -- not very well, but he could try. “Though I'd like to see you and Timmy try to beat me up... Yukito and you, maybe, but not you and Short Round... nah.”

"Short Round? Indiana Jones nicknames? Really?"

He sent her a raised eyebrow, pursing his lips. "Don't tell me you're uncool enough to not like Indiana Jones, babe." Sighing, he looked over at all the homework she had laid out in the gazebo. “So, how's school, little soldier? I see you're being very... studious.”

Shelby groaned, falling back dramatically, staring upwards. She was such a highschooler. "Don't remind me."

Clarence smirked, punctuating each word with a poke in her shoulder. "Schoolwork. Schoolwork. Homework. Schoolwork. Homework."

"The school freaking screwed me over and I have to take this extra science class or else they won't let me graduate on time next year. I'm literally drowning in catch-up work."

He paused a second. "Drowning in catch-up work? Over one class? Let me look at that stuff."

She sat up, looking at him. "Or at least I was until you decided to ambush me."

"Pft, if you were drowning, I saved you," he pointed out. "Plus, I believe you did the ambushing, little soldier." He rose his shoulders, rubbing his arm a bit. "Ow, ow, I'm gonna bruise," he muttered half-heartedly, glancing over at the homework again. "What is that, science?" Laying over on his side, he scooped up a page. "What's this, biology?" He studied for a few more seconds. "No... chemistry, right?" He stuck his tongue out, making a disgusted face. "Chemistry is work." He let the paper go over his shoulder, laying back like she was. "But I still got a B+. School was no big deal. It was the people I didn't like."

'Though there were a few I will say I did like. Definitely.'