Introducing The Cause Of All My Emotional Problems (Or At Least 40% Of Them)

Hello, dear readers!
This time, I'm not even going to talk about how it's been forever since I've posted... I know it's been nearly a month, but I promise I tried. 
In the meantime, I've been sucked into a world of... well, of a lot of things. It started out simply enough but soon became a swirling whirlpool of secrets, priorities, misguided betrayals, misunderstanding... a place where the black and white I'd originally seen blurred into about twenty thousand shades of grays and nothing is as it seemed.
Disclaimer... none of it was my fault.
Well, okay, maybe 20% of it is, but we can blame all the rest on the friend I'm writing these stories with. You know who you are.
Anyway, the universe we're writing/have written uses my main characters who you already know and of course love, Clair Fury and William Helado, and two of my friend's OCs, Black'Fang and O'don. I just want to throw out that I don't own them but I'm using them in my blog anyway because I'm a terrible person so that I can expose my lovely readers to the trauma my friend has exposed me to :)
So here are the first two stories as to how it all began!
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Clair Has An Awkward First Encounter With A Space Mercenary 

Clair's POV 

I slip through the crowd, eyes on the passing faces and the description in my hand.

Black hair up in a bun.

Purple markings on the skin.

Most likely wearing a suit.

“Shouldn’t be too hard to find,” I mutter. Nevertheless, it takes a good fifteen minutes to find anybody similar to the description. When I find them, I follow orders; wait till they don’t expect it, wait till their back is turned. Then make the move.

“Excuse me, ma’am?” I reach to tap on their shoulder.

They turn around.

Wait. Oops.

“Yes?”

“I-I’m sorry, sir.” I catch myself blushing. “They didn’t give me much detail.”

“I get that a lot, no big deal,” he replies easily with a smirk.

“They told me you were the person to see.”

“About?”
“I’d like to get into the… modeling project. From what I heard, you’re the one with connections.”

“Interesting…”

He tilts his head—I get the feeling he’s sizing me up.

“You’ve got the jawline for it.”

I’m at a loss.

“Thanks…?”

“I could probably get you in, no trouble…”
I can’t help it—my face lights up. Never before has this been so easy.

“…For a price.”

Great. Of course...

“I have connections of my own. You’ll get money.”

“Money first, action later.” He almost looks like he doesn’t expect me to pay up right away.

“Fair enough.” I pull out my phone, tapping the case. “You want to take money right away?”

“As soon as you can get it to me. Before I’ll get you in.”

“I can bring it in right now.” I rapidly type out a text and send it. “They’ll be here in a second.”

His eyebrow arches slightly.

A moment later, a tall man with dark sunglasses approaches us with a suitcase. I take the bag and the man leaves.

“How much?” I ask, lifting the bag.

“Six hundred.”

“Perfect.” I hand him the suitcase. “You happened to pick the exact amount I brought.”

He opens the case, rapidly confirms the contents, and snaps it shut again.

“You’re in.”

   I start work the next day. O’don, as he called himself, managed to get me in as his secretary. So at nine in the morning, I pick up a white latte and head into the hub of one of the largest modeling agencies out there.  I find O’don talking to a couple of tall men in black suits—much like the men I’m surrounded by on a daily basis.

“Tell the old man the job’s done and whatever that skimpy little woman says it’s the truth.”

 I focus on the conversation, however, I had purposely positioned myself in a way that they wouldn’t be able to detect me in the crowd.

Technically, I’m just dropping in. Not really eavesdropping if it’s my job, right?

However, this tactic fails, because as soon as I came close to the perimeter of their small area, the model waved them away.

“You made it,” he greets as if nothing suspicious just happened.

“Yeah, traffic was a bit insane today.”

He tilts his head slightly, studying me. “Ready to start today’s work?”

I hand him the coffee. “Always.”

  It’s not until later when I find a chance to do my real job here. I’ve been kept following O’don around all day as he talks to various people, most of them other models, nearly all of them girls. Nobody notices me and I remain anonymous behind my clipboard, covertly scanning the people around me. Late afternoon is when I finally get a chance to get my hands on a computer and do some digging.

“I’ll be back soon,” he tells me, walking out of the office.

“I was just going to get a little paperwork done in here,” I reply. “Should I wait for you?”

He barely glances back at me. “If you want.”

And he’s gone.
I quickly sit at the computer and pull up all the records of the models in the agency. With keywords like ‘recent’ and ‘male’, I find the one I’m looking for. He’s hiding as a model in this agency, posing as a newcomer to the industry ‘with potential’. That means if I just keep my eyes open long enough, I should get my chance.

O’don returns just as I finish up. I quickly click out of what I was doing and open a random fan-fiction tab.

“Still here?”

I close the tab and the laptop. “I just finished.”

“Fan-fiction? Didn’t think you’d be into that.”

I blush awkwardly. “You never know about these things.”
“Hm.”

I stand up from the desk, picking up my clipboard. “If you don’t need me for anything, there’s… someone I need to find here in the agency.”

Just as I say this, I see the one I’m looking for.

And he sees that I see him.

“Well—“ O’don begins, breaking off as I brush past him.

“Be right back!” I call as I sprint out the door.

“What?”

I’m too far away to reply. The one I’m chasing is fast and not above shoving people and objects in my way as he escapes. I dodge a potted plant, spilling brown earth on white tile, and put on a burst of speed. If I can get him before he reaches the doors…

With another burst of energy, I tackle his legs just before he would open the door. We both go crashing to the ground, and I manage to scramble onto his back before he can move.

“You’re under arrest by order of A.R.R.O.W for the kidnapping and murder of Travis Swartz,” I announce, retrieving a pair of handcuffs from my pocket and securing the man’s wrists.

The sound of applause startles me. I glance up to see O’don leaning against the wall, clapping.

“Well handled,” he says smoothly, as if this is a completely normal thing to see your secretary do.

I stand up, brushing myself off, keeping one eye on my catch and one eye on O’don.

“All in a day’s work,” I reply evenly.

“A.R.R.O.W, huh? Never heard of them.”

I notice the surrounding people staring with curiosity.

“Not so loud,” I mutter, glancing around. “We tend to work outside of the public eye.”

He shrugs.

I lean down and haul the handcuffed man to his feet. “I should get him away from here.” I glance back at O’don. “I’m fired now, I’m assuming.”

He takes a sip of his coffee. “…Yeah. You’re fired.”

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Clair Has A Slightly Less Awkward Encounter With A Mercenary And They Become Roommates 

                                                    ... A Few Weeks Later...

Clair's POV

“I’m moving out,” I announce.

Dad blinks. “Wait, really? This is the ultra-big life-changing news you had to share?”

I shrug. “Big news to me.”

“I mean… I figured it was only a matter of time. Believe me, I’m happy for you.”

“Happy for me, or happy that I’ll be gone most of the time now?”

He rolls his eye. “Maybe it’s both.”

“Love you, too, Dad.” I grin.

“When are you moving?” he asks, changing the subject.
“Tonight, hopefully. I have a line on a house for cheap rent.”

“Nice,” he nods.

I glance down at my watch. “Speaking of, I should head out. I’m supposed to meet with the landlady in like, ten minutes.”

He steps forward for a quick hug. “See you later?”

I nod.

“If all goes well.”

  I step out of the car and immediately see the landlady, standing out in front of the door.

“Hi there,” I call with a broad smile, walking closer.

“Glad you could make it,” she says lightly, shaking my hand. “Care to see the inside?”

“If it’s as pretty as the outside, I can’t wait,” I reply, looking up at the white exterior and dark blue door.

She smiles and opens the door. “Now this is a two-story house, but I decided to open it up to two people, to help cut the rent. So, you’ll have a roommate.”

“That’s fine,” I respond, eyes adjusting to the dimness of the hallway.

The landlady leads the way into the living room. “Still here?” she calls to someone inside.

“Yep,” replies a somewhat familiar voice.

I step into the living room and blink. I recognize him as O’don, the guy from the modeling agency I worked at a few weeks ago.

Wait. Something’s different.

His ears, instead of looking like normal human ears, are long and pointed. He also has interesting purple markings under his eyes and a snake-like tattoo on his arm. He half-turns and sees me.

“Oh. Hey.”

He’s decidedly somewhat wary, now. Not quite like the calm, confident man at the modeling agency.

“Hi,” I reply with a little wave, deciding not to bring up the change in appearance… yet.

“You two know each other?”

“Kind of,” I admit.

“Ah,” the landlady says, looking a little caught off guard.

“We’ll get along fine,” I assure her, turning away from O’don. I don’t know about him, but I definitely don’t want to give up this chance at a cheap two-story house. I suppose if he really doesn’t like it, he can leave.

“Sure,” O’don agrees, handing a sheaf of papers to the landlady. “I signed everything already.”

I smile at the landlady. “And I’d be glad to go ahead and sign the papers, too.”

“You haven’t even seen the rest of the house yet…”

I shrug. “If it’s as nice as what I’ve already seen, I’m sure I’ll love it.”

O’don gives me a weird look, which I catch out of the corner of my eye.

The landlady hands me a stack of papers, which I read through carefully and sign.

“It’s yours,” the landlady announces when I hand her the papers. She hands both me and O’don a copy of the keys and leaves.

I half-turn to face O’don.

“So… the ears?”

He gives me a look and walks out of the room.

I frown at his swiftly retreating form and turn around, examining the living room. The walls are white and all the furniture is dark fake leather. There’s lots of windows, giving the room a light, airy effect.

I step into the hallway and find a kitchen across the hall. This, evidently, is where O’don went after rudely leaving me in the living room.

I walk in and lean against the counter. He ignores me.

“Are we not going to talk about the whole, ears and tattoo thing?”
“No.”

I frown at him again. At least he isn’t just going to leave the room again.

“Why not?”
He just looks at me and sips his coffee.

“I mean, you already saw I’m not technically a normal person,” I point out. “And I’m more curious than anything.”

He leans against the counter, giving me a very obviously fake smirk.

Of course, now that I’ve seen his real side, it doesn’t take much to recognize the fake exterior.

“I’ll tell… for a price.”

I roll my eyes.

“Seriously, if we’re going to be roommates…”

He raises an eyebrow, waiting for me to finish.

“Keeping secrets isn’t going to last long.”

He looked a bit taken aback.

“Honesty is the best policy,” I remind.

“Honesty? Really?” He smirks dryly. “What kind of world do you live in, kid?”

I fold my arms, regarding him coolly. “I’ll find out sooner or later.”

“Personal space is my policy,” he replies, turning to leave.

“I mean… the information sharing doesn’t have to be all one-sided here,” I offer.

He stops, barely glancing back at me.

“I’d answer any of your questions… providing the answer wouldn’t endanger anyone,” I continue.

He sighs. “What’s your favorite color?”

I blink. Okay. That was unexpected.

“Yellow.”

“Weird,” he comments.

“Okay, now you get to tell me what’s up with your ears.”

“That’s not how it works. You can ask me a question on the same level as my question.”

“So we’re, like, going to work up to that? Fair enough.” I think for a moment. “Uh.. What’s your favorite food?”
“Coffee.”

“That’s not food,” I object.

“Yellow is a weird color,” he replies, finally turning to face me.

I roll my eyes. “Fine.”

He tilts his head. “Want to continue with the questions?”

“Sure, why not?”

“Alright… what’s your favorite animal?”

“Foxes.”
“Alright, nice. Your turn.”

We continue like this for a while, barely moving up in the intensity of our questions. He refuses to give anything. I won’t give much up either. We’re almost at an impasse when O’don slips up.

“What does the acronym of your agency mean?”

I blink, startled by this level of question.

He realizes the mistake. “Wait—“

“No, you already asked the question,” I announce.

He gives me a purely done look.

“Actually, nobody really remembers what the initials stand for. The meaning was lost, like, a century ago after the organization first shut down and was restarted.”

“How about… A.R.R.O.W; A Really, Really Odd Wheelchair,” he suggests.

I laugh.

“Or—“

“Wait a minute,” I interrupt. “You’re just doing this to get away from the question game.”

He groans in response.

“Would that level of question get me an answer about the ears?” I ask, mostly out of curiosity.

“Absolutely not.”

I sigh. “Worth a try. What about the markings?”

“Possibly.”

“Oh?”
He looks at me. “How about, I get to ask you two questions, of any depth, and then I’ll tell you about the ears. And the markings.”

Finally. “Fair enough. Ask away.”

“Are you single?”

Wait. What?

“Uh. Yeah, currently.”

“And… what’s your number?”
I give him a weird look. “Wait, is this whole thing just you hitting on me?”

“Yes.”
At a loss for words, I just give him another weird look.

He shrugs. “Can’t blame a guy for trying.”

“I’m flattered, but—“

“So, the ears are because I’m not from Earth. The markings are a sign of my clan.” He yawns carelessly, as if it didn’t matter much.

Now I’m just really confused.

“Okay, wait, let me get this straight. You’re an alien, and you pretended like that was a big deal just to weirdly hit on me?”

“Yep.”

I cross my arms. “You’re really weird.”

“Glad  you noticed.”

I glance down at my watch. “Oh, uh. I should go back and get my stuff. I told my dad I’d be back.”

“You still live with your dad?” Something flickers across his face, but it’s gone before I can read it.
“Not anymore, I don’t.”

“You seem awfully anxious to move away from him.”

I shrug, already turning to leave. “I love him and all, but we don’t exactly see eye to eye on, like, anything, and I’m super tired of fighting with him.”

“Ah.”

“I’ll be back soon.”

“See you then.”

Packing up my stuff took much less time than I expected. Arguing with my father about having an alien for a roommate was much more of a hassle.

He didn’t want me around ‘that kind of person’.

I pointed out it would be easy for me to keep my eye on a potential threat if I’m roommates with him.

He told me nobody knows what kind of stuff he’d been doing in space before coming to earth.

I informed him O’don works at a modeling agency and he helped me with the modeling mission a couple weeks ago.

He said that didn’t mean anything.

I pointed out that this was how my friendship with Will started.

He mutters something about “because that worked out so well”.

And I leave.

After making my way across town, I arrive at my new house. Shifting the suitcase in my hands, I unlock the door and step inside, noting the distinct scent of O’don still in the house.
“I’m back,” I call.

“Neat,” O’don replies from the living room, where he’s watching TV.

I poke my head into the doorway.

“Did you pick a bedroom already? The landlady said there were three. I’ll take whichever you don’t want.”

“Mine’s the blue room at the top of the stairs,” he replies, not even looking up.

“Alright, cool.”
I drag my stuff upstairs and look around. Immediately on the right is a closed door—I assume that’s O’don’s room. One door slightly open reveals a bathroom. I open the next door further down the hall and find a yellow bedroom decorated with white and light grey furniture, much like my old bedroom. The next bedroom I find is painted white with dark furniture, like the living room. I go back to the yellow bedroom and drop my suitcases.

Unpacking takes up less time than packing did. All I need to do is sort out my clothes into the dresser and put up all the books I brought onto the shelf in the closet, and I’m finished. Halfway through, however, I get the unsettling feeling someone’s watching me. I wait one, two seconds, and then whirl around quickly, claws unsheathing instinctively.

O’don raises an eyebrow. “A bit jumpy, are you?”

I hide a sigh of relief. “You startled me.”

“I noticed.” He leans against the doorway, watching me. “Nice knives.”

I look down, having barely realized they had come out. “Uh. Thanks.” I quickly retract them, a little embarrassed. “You shouldn’t sneak up on people like that.”

He shrugs. I continue unpacking.

“That’s a lot of books,” he comments.

I glance at him. “I read a lot.”

“Apparently.”

O’don yawns and moves to sit cross-legged on my bed, still watching me unpack.

“So what’s the deal with your dad? Is he in the A.R.R.O.W business, too?”

“He’s the leader of the entire organization, so I guess so.” I keep my eyes on my work.

“Must be nice.”

“Not always.” I shrug. “He gets paranoid.”

“Don’t most fathers?”

“He’s not my real dad,” I mutter, remembering our argument earlier.

The conversation dies.

“You never did give me your number,” O’don reminds me.

I sigh. “Listen, I’m just going to warn you, people dating me basically  never turns out well for, like, anybody.”
“Why is that? Your father?”

“Kind of.” I put the last book on the shelf and turn around, task completed.

I mean, it is my father’s fault I’m in the business. And this business is dangerous for relationships.

“So if that’s a warning… what if I don’t listen?” He gives a charming grin.

“You’re an interesting and nice person, and I don’t want you to get hurt,” I reply, leaning against the dresser.

“And that means…?”

“No. Sorry.”

He shrugs, then goes for dramatics. “Oh, it’s no big deal…” He stands up with a deep sigh. “I’ll be downstairs, recovering from a broken heart.” He starts out of the room and glances back. “I’ll try to survive,” he adds, heading down the stairs.

I know full well this is an act, and he knows I know. A moment later, he pokes his head in the room.

“Want some ramen?”

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And this is just the beginning, dear readers...

You haven't met Black'Fang yet, or found out what happens to Will, or heard of all that occurs between a crazy group of roommates, or anything yet. With any luck, next weekend will bring the next story for you guys as long as I don't completely give up by then. Until then, go and read my guest post on my mom's blog!(  http://fourlittlepenguins.blogspot.com/ )

--Kaytie