La Catalina

[Monokuma]

Wolf was napping on the couch of his team's home, half-asleep. His main goals were fufilled as the fridge was filled to the brim with vegetables (and a small drawer of meat for special occasions and for Felecia.)

The home was relatively quiet for such a house with the exception of Wolf's muttering. "Deon, you're quite the dick if you paid a half million for a guys' birthday."

[Zaphyr Stone]

"I'm from around here." he explained, "My parents are retired Fleet Troopers, and they stayed here even after retirement. I lived on base as a kid, and then once I was out on my own, I just decided staying somewhere big like here would be better for my practice. Appeal to a wider audience and all that."

[Arminius H O Fiddywinks]

"You know," began Elizabeth. "I never did like living in luxury. To me, it felt too pretentious, too lax. But my friend insisted that I try it out, that it's time to stop living like I was still a soldier and enjoy the perks of being a civilian. He was really good at convincing people to do stuff." Elizabeth looked pensively at her ice cream for a few moments, then looked back at Ezra. "That dude was something. Too bad he's gone..."

[Zaphyr Stone]

"I'm sorry for your loss." he nodded sympathetically, "You were in the military then? Did you serve together?"

[Flare]

Felecia stared at the inside of the fridge with a look of utter disdain and defeat on her face. This fridge was filled with nothing but poison, with a small corner of heaven hidden in the middle of it. With that drawer being her only form of sustenance Felecia was going to have to make frequent trips to the market to aquire herself some more food. She slammed the fridge door after grabbing some meat and stuffing her face. "Outrage." She stomped on into the living room and sat on the floor in front of Wolf, slowly poking him over and over.

Meanwhile, nearby, a blue fox and a brown lynx had just moved into their new side home. The blue fox was named Solar, and wore his black hair in a manly ponytail, as well as wearing his white t-shirt, jeans, and the blue jacket he never went without. The brown lynx was named Rena, she had long and luxorious blond hair, and wore a t-shirt and jeans, casual attire. This lynx however happened to be a mute, and expressed her approval of the new home with nothing but a smile. Solar on the other spoke. "This place. Is fucking huge. Damn.." He then proceeded to start bring boxes inside.

 

 

[Gestalt]

[Arroyo]

Harry flicked his cigarette. "Cheap, fuel station garbage," he said in a huff reaching into his over his skinny black tie into his trench coat producing two separate carts of smokes. He tossed the new, distasteful paper cartridge to the curb, and then he shifted open a favorite, nevermind expensive, imported, and rare, brand of his which was stored in a metal case. Proto Volo - they each read in a light silver font. It was a mix inside: seven filtered on the left and two unfiltered on the right. Harry thumbed up a remaining unfiltered and looked at his new "home."

The white wolf was was soon on the phone. He rolled his deep blue eyes over this unsightly, "in" architecture of this second rate neighborhood. A friendly operator voice answered: "Welcome to Max Financial, proud supporters of our troops! How may I " -- [SECURING LINE] The routing software had been a little slow since this was a new number of his. This number was going straight up.

                                                                                                                                                                          ~~~~

"Lacey, I thought I said no calls over the billards break." The fast talking businessman had answered the conference phone before engaging in the call.

"Maximilian," Harry said easing over letting his mouthed cigarette catch the flame of a lighter. "Could you have done any worse?" His voice was practiced and patient yet evidently perturbed.

"Hector Harold, you made it!  Now yes, I could have done better... that place down the hill is nice and economy priced for this wallet of mine, but the view is not as great. Consider, the extra coin I conjured for that beaut, a charity, see. Not everyone is a Huffington."

"Was a Huffington." Harry huffed.

“I'm sorry, Harold, this is the circumstances of life in play. Look alive, she's paid for. Please, try and make the most of it. It's a nice neighborhood. I know, I have invested in it myself. Make some friends, live a worry free youth. Now, I'm due for an appointment. We will talk money later."
 
Harry took all of that in with a deep drag on the stick between his fingers. He then exhaled. "What about the shipment? Am I cleared for it?"
 
 "With a pulled string here and there, sort of. Go ahead and pick it up, kid."
 
 "Maximilian...I appreciate it." Harry hung up. He pulled shipping correspondence up on his device. A pleasant computerized voice engaged him from that device.

     Welcome to Trans Space Universal a Space Dynamics company. Triangulating location. Please stand by for verification.

The area immediately surrounding his body heated up noticeably, but only slightly. It was the orbital biometric scans.

    Hector Harold Huffington: Confirmed. Suitable clearance for delivery: Acquired. Thank you for you business Mr. Huffington: Transferring.
    Transferring. Transferring.
    Personal Note: A C-level Executive of this office offers their condolences in the expiration of your, father, Henry Harold Huffington. Payment marked complementary.
    Transferring.
    Delivery Complete.

Green rays shot down from orbit, making a scene. The lights flashed for a moment and then the outline of a car’s make was drawn and the delivery materialized. A blue, white striped Shelby Cobra more fit for the show floor than the road, appeared on the street. Harry walked over to it and popped the trunk. There laid his clothes, a slim briefcase, and a small crate. He shut the trunk and shifted the Volo over his lips before heading to the dash. Therein were gloves, a pocket knife, and the keys to the ride. Over in the the driver's seat sat an antique racing helmet.

With the car lacking in fuel, Harry found himself wheeling it into the driveway. There he kicked back with half a cigarette to go and rested in the driver's seat readying himself for that house.

[Arminius H O Fiddywinks]

"Actually, no," stated Elizabeth, downing a spoonful of ice cream before continuing. "He was a civilian. A scientist. He was a... a very close friend." Elizabeth started to tear up, but shook it off.

[Zaphyr Stone]

Ezra could tell this was a hard subject for her and decided to change it. "I wasn't cut out for the military. I knew that pretty early on that it wasn't for me. What made you join?"

[Arminius H O Fiddywinks]

"The family, mostly," answered Elizabeth, regaining her composure. "I'm a military brat, guilty as charged. But... I didn't really see it as something I'd do forever. Actually, after the Aparoid Invasion, I thought about becoming a physics teacher in the college I graduated from, since I already had a degree in physics, and I could easily take additional courses in teaching."

[Naza Sutera]

"...Girl, this hair!" Amber said, digging into her frohawk to scratch her scalp. "I'm about to take this shit out. The bobby pins are starting to itch."

Amelia came out of the master suite after dumping her boots in the closet. "Why? It's cute!"

"I repeat: the bobby pins are starting to itch."

Sitting down on the couch next to Amber, Amelia decided to change the subject. "So, that new car. How much was it?"

"The Buick? Oh, that's a rental. But I was thinking about getting one. But first I have to figure out this whole debauchery because now they are trying to sue me or something."

"What?" Amelia was incredulous. "How in the hell are they trying to sue you? THEY were the ones at fault!"

"Girl, it is a whole mother effing story..."

"Tell me." Amelia got comfortable. "I wanna hear this."

"Lord have mercy, where do I begin with this...?"

[Arminius H O Fiddywinks]

Elias sighed as he sat up from the bed to the shining sun. He was wearing no clothing, and the lower half of his body was covered with the bed's blankets. "It looks like the sun's finally out," he said, shielding his eyes with his right paw as he looked out the window, which was not too distant from the bed. Then, his wife Joanna sat up as well, covering her unclothed body with the blankets, too.

"I guess we can finally hit the town, Eli," she said, smiling. Elias looked back to her and smiled as well. They kissed each other on the lips.

"Do you want to shower first?" Elias asked to Joanna.

"Sure, Eli," she replied. Joanna stood up from the bed, and walked into the bedroom's bathroom. Elias then turned to the nightstand located to the right of him. He noticed his phone was on and that someone had attempted to contact him earlier, when he was... unavailable. Elias grabbed his phone, unlocked it, and called back the person who tried to contact him: his younger sister, Emnet.

"Emnet, you called me?" he asked in Ge'ez, the official language of Abyssinia, once his sister picked up her cell.

"Yeah, I wanted to tell you something," Emnet replied in Ge'ez. Conversations between Elias and his family almost always were in Ge'ez. "Father wants you to come home for your birthday." Elias groaned, almost in frustration.

"I think it would be much healthier for him if he were to come to Corneria," Elias proposed. At that moment, the shower in the bathroom began to ran, a signal that Joanna was showering. He glanced at the bathroom door before looking back out the window, still sitting on his bed.

"Elias," began Emnet. "You know Father is not as... open as you. He isn't going to leave Katina. You know it and I know it."

"Emnet, I respect Father as much as you do. But he needs to do this. I don't care what excuse he brings up. This will be beneficial for everyone involved." A few moments passed before Emnet replied.

"Father will think you've abandoned us," she reminded, noting how Elias's father had a tendency to exaggerate things.

"What Father thinks and what is real is not the same," commented Elias. "As I have stated before, he needs this. It's time for him to step outside the family manor and smell the flowers."

"Fine," answered Emnet. "If I can't convince you, then I'll try to convince Father."

"Thank you," replied Elias. "Goodbye."

"Goodbye, Elias," said Emnet before hanging up. Elias put his phone back on the nightstand. He leaned back down on the bed, staring at the ceiling. He then began to softly sing an old Abyssinian folk song his father taught him when he was a little child.

[Monokuma]

As Fel kept poking Wolf, he got more and more awake, groaning. "The drawer isn't as bad, ya know...Hehehe, there's some hidden around too. Why don't you go explore the neighborhood and make some friends while the rest of our group make their way here?"

[Flare]

Felecia listens to him quietly before frowning again and locating a weak point in Wolf's side, jabbing him directly in that spot. "You leave too." She glanced up at the clock, momentairly wondering why the others could be taking such a ridiculous amount of time, when she had gotten there so quickly.

[Zaphyr Stone]

"Oh really?" he smiled impressed, "I could see you being a good teacher. You're incredibly patient and you can handle annoying situations. I'm sure being in the military helped you hone those skills even more. Teaching is a very honorable profession, you know."

[Arminius H O Fiddywinks]

"Aw, thanks Ezra," Elizabeth said, blushing. "Yeah, being a sniper means that you have to be patient. Get too antsy, and you might get shot." She dabbled with her ice cream for some time before speaking again, but now she had changed the topic to something more personal. "Hey Ezra, I wanna ask you something. I got the feeling that you don't feel comfortable around new people. Why is that?"

[Gestalt]

With the cancer stick now down to its butt, Harry prompted himself to dredge on. He wheeled his car over the bricked driveway around to the triple doored garage in the back. It was meant to house at least three large vehicles with plenty extra leg room and still have a nice portion off to the side for a workstation, if one so pleased. He parked his single car slant and cut the wheels. It would be quiet show through the glass wall ahead which marked the side entrance to the house. Harry walked to the door and scanned himself into the house. There sat an 8 chair, carved dining table.  In that moment he went back to the car, having remembered the contents of the trunk, and decided to haul it all, in one trip, over to the table.

Most of everything was bare down here on the first floor, save the necessary furniture and appliances here or there. He took the crate to the front room - the largest and barest room so far, sat down on the floor, and pried it open. From the top he could see it was composed of a few packages from a few people:

 1. For the smell~ - Lacey Karat

The first was some pocket sized mechanical deodorizer for the smoker. He wasn't around people that much but he would gladly minimize the odor for his favorite company.

 2. Enjoy~ - Lacey Karat

Under that was the second, a stack of imported cig cartons taped together - Lucky Strikes, Magnum Red and Silver, Armada, and Volos. He cracked the first smile since being here.

 3. Pocket Change. I'll have you a card by Friday. Call if you get in a bind. - Maximilian

  P.S. Try not to get in a bind.

The manila envelope was filled with as many folded hundreds as could fit, roughly ten to fifteen grand.

 4. Legacy Services: Henry Huffington - Director Morris

The aluminum cylinder was the ashes. He sat those aside.

"Now what..." he said dropping back on the floor. "Fuel."

Ordering it was easy, waiting for it was hard. An impatient Harry left the payment in cash on the hood and kept the garage door and the gate open. He deployed the aviators stored in his coat pocket and went for a stroll up the street and over the bridge toward Arroyo's main guard house.

 

 

[Zaphyr Stone]

Ezra's tail wagged subconsciously, happy that he was making her smile. He blushed somewhat at her question. "Ah, well..." he took a spoonful of ice cream before answering, "I guess it's just a result of my upbringing. As a kid I was very sick and didn't get to go out anywhere. So I didn't get to make friends until I went to school, and at school I was picked on for being the "class wimp", if you will. I think over time I just learned to keep to myself, so...it takes me a bit to warm up to new people."

[Arminius H O Fiddywinks]

"Aw... poor thing," Elizabeth replied sympathetically. She knew people who were bullied before, especially Sandor. "Well, at least you turned out o.k. Alex, that kid you gave a pep talk to earlier, he got bullied savagely when he was younger. Now, Alex is a broken young man who wants to shoot the Universe in the head." She shook her head in pity for Sandor. "Y'know, some days he acts like his age. Other days he acts younger. And on some days, he's in a very, very bad mood. I guess some situations mold people differently. Some stay strong, others change, and a few crack." She took a spoonful of ice cream from her cup and ate it.

[Monokuma]

When Felecia poked at Wolf in that spot, he practically laughed out in pain, while both of them know of that spot. Wolf was repeatedly shot, stabbed and overall injured in his side, but he didn't relatively get angry at her, more of her type of jokes and dark humor made him laugh more.

A white van pulled up in the driveway, followed with two car doors slamming, with a black indescribable animal without a shirt and a red-dominant fox with cat ears coming out of the driver and passenger doors, walking towards the front door of the house. The fox spoke first, following a response from the mixed animal, speaking something other than English.

"This is place, Kimari?"

"<Yes. Given the motorcycles here, both Wolf and Felecia are here.>"

 

[Flare]

Hearing the sound of a car approaching and doors opening Felecia's ears perked up. "Here." She stood up and moved towards the window, looking out of it to see who exactly it was that had just arrived at their home. Upon seeing two of her favorite people a smile showed up on her face and she proceeded to head outside to greet them both.

 

[Arminius H O Fiddywinks]

After finishing his ice cream, Sandor turned off the television. He walked to the kitchen, with the empty mug in hand. The spoon was placed within the mug. Sandor placed the mug and spoon in the sink, yet walked away, electing to wash them both later. He then went into Salamon's room, and checked on his adopted son. Salamon was sleeping like, well, like a baby. Nodding his head in approval, Sandor quietly left the room, gently closing the door. He activated Bela. "What is your command, sir?" Bela asked.

"Watch over Salamon," ordered Sandor.

"Yes sir," Bela agreed obediently. Sandor then walked down the hallway, flanked by a small table with a vase containing Torki Flowers from the Magyar home world, and two chairs across from the table. Sandor suddenly had the urge to lie down. He, however, was far too tired to scale the mountain that was his staircase. He fell to his knees on his oak wood flooring, and then onto his side. He then rolled onto his back, with his last sight being the wooden ceiling, with partially exposed wooden support beams. He closed his heavy eyes, and began to snore lightly. Sandor, however, forgot to lock his door. As a result, it opened, with two figures entering his home.

 

Meanwhile, in Town Square, Bohdan quickly became bored with the prospect of continuing to play video games. Sven, too, was tired of this mindless gaming, and began to nod off. Bohdan saved the game, approached the ancient Game Cube, and turned it off. When he turned, he saw Sven already napping on the couch. Frustrated with the lack of activity, he saw a glimmer of hope in his neighbor. Bohdan grabbed his phone, wallet, keys, earphones, and put on boots, and left the condo. Locking the door behind him, Bohdan dashed to his neighbor's door, frantically knocking on it. He was desperate to do something.

[Zaphyr Stone]

Ezra nodded in understanding. "In my field of work, there's some division about whether that's due to the environment one grows up in or the actual makeup of that person. I personally believe the two go hand in hand. Your friend is not a bad person, whether he chooses to believe it or not. He's just had a lot of bad happen to him in his life. And I believe his heart, in the end, is what saves him, the reason he's still here today."

----

Jolene was soaked with sweat, the combination of the muggy after-rain humidity and the arduous ferrying of bulky cardboard to the compactor starting to get to her. She had tied her handkerchief in a headband that kept her hair out of her face, and she waved the hem of her sweat-splotched tank top like a flag to try and cool herself as she hopped up the stairs yet again. She looked up in surprise to see the crimson dragon that was her neighbor fidgeting outside her door.

"Bohdan?" she smiled curiously as she reached the top of the stairs, "Is something the matter?"

[Monokuma]

Both the fox and Kimari smiled as they saw Felecia, with the fox trying to hug her, Kimari keeping close behind, not attempting to interfere, but looking at the house in his peripheral vision, inspecting it. The fox spoke, slightly comedic in a caring tone.

"Now, now, who's this cute kitty coming out to greet us? Sam's here to dye the hair, get the clothes, and overall....here! How's the day been so far, hon?"

[Arminius H O Fiddywinks]

Bohdan, his disposition cheered up by the mere presence of Jolene, smiled. "Ah, Jolene! Thank God you are here. I must ask you something." Bohdan then dashed down the stairs, but tripped over one and fell down a few, only to be saved by his quick reactions when he grabbed onto the railing. "I am fine!" he said as he managed to stop himself. Holding onto the railing for dear life, he looked to Jolene, who was mere inches from him. "I am bored. Do you think we can do something? Now? Or perhaps, you need some help?" He got up and dusted himself off. "Please, Jolene. If I do not do something, I will die of boredom. Or sleep." It was now at this time that Bohdan began to lose himself in his train of thought. "However, I do not wish to sleep. Perhaps I can go out and watch a movie... No, most of the movies out now are mediocre. Hmm. Maybe ---" Finally, Bohdan snapped out of his trance. "Oh, I am sorry, about all of this. I just feel like doing something."

 

Meanwhile, in the ice cream parlor, Elizabeth and Ezra continued their conversation. "Yeah, maybe," said Elizabeth. "You're the expert here, after all." Elizabeth continued to dabble in her ice cream, which was almost gone, before she asked another question to Ezra. "Hey Ezra, have you ever been in a relationship at all?"

[Zaphyr Stone]

Jolene laughed at his antics. "Well, if we're going to do something, we have to do it right. I could use the break, to be honest." she smiled thoughtfully, "Come on, we can decide what to do while I clean up. Just excuse the mess. It's still a work in progress." She opened the door for him and stepped inside.

----

Ezra's blush deepened as he swallowed the last spoonful of his ice cream. It wasn't that he was embarrassed by the question as much as it was the answer he had to give. "Technically yes, but only two, and I don't like to count them. They weren't...the best times in my life."