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Post by HARLEY JADE ANDREWS on Jul 7, 2012 12:11:09 GMT -5
 you heard that i was trouble ,
BUT YOU COULDN'T RESISTJ U S T T A K E A B I T E L E T M E S H A K E U P Y O U R W O R L D- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
“I don’t pay you to sit on your butt, Harley.”
“You don’t pay me at all." Harley drawled and with a roll of her eyes, shifted from the stool she'd been perched on for the last fifteen minutes. Richard could be such a royal pain in the ass. He’d been promoted only last week and now he was strutting his stuff like he owned the damn place. Most days Harley didn’t mind his ‘I-have-a-stick-wedged-up-my-ass‘ bossy attitude. But that was because she was usually kept busy with the work load and didn’t have time to pay attention to his snooty orders. Today, however, was a slow day for work. The café wasn’t anywhere near as busy as it usually was which spelled 'b o r i n g' for the lively brunette. Harley chalked the lack of customers down to the bad weather. No one likes to pop out to cafes when it’s raining buckets out. She figured the people who were sat in the café now were only here because this was the only place they could take refuge from the gray sky and it’s merciless downpour, and get a hot drink at the same time.
“Your break is done Andrews, get back out there.” Richard snapped as he whipped by balancing a tray with only one mug and a small plate. Harley couldn’t help the automatic eye-roll that had started to happen whenever Richard spoke. “Yeah, yeah I’m going. Dick.” She had to bite back on her grin then because Richard had snapped his head around to glare at her, clearly offended. “What?" Harley shrugged her shoulders, her face the picture of innocence. “It’s a nickname for Richard.” she decided to make a quick exit then before he could try to threaten her with a pay cut or something equally ridiculous. The most Richard could do with his almighty, new promotion was report her to their boss. Scary. Not. Their boss knew how much of a dramatic stiff Richard could be and would no doubt side with her if he were to try and pull rank over something stupid.
“I’m taking my break, tell Mike will you?”
“Sure thing, Dick.” Breezing through the double doors and into the front of the cafeteria, Harley strolled over to the male stood behind the counter. “Hey Mikey, the grinch is on his break.” Mike grinned at her and immediately whipped out his cell, obviously hoping to get in a few texts before Richard returned from his break. With a sigh, Harley turned to face the café and its occupants, all of whom were either busy reading magazines and papers or talking with each other. Her eyes did a quick scan of the tables, checking to make sure they were clean and free of empty cups and plates. They were, everyone appeared to be nursing their hot drinks. She couldn’t blame them, she wouldn’t want to walk out into that torrential downpour either.
Unsure of how much more of this she could take, Harley leaned forward to rest on the counter. She'd already wasted time by cleaning, so besides waiting to serve someone there wasn't much else she could do. Despite this Richard had still been on her back all day. He was such a fucking pain that Harley often wondered how the hell he'd even been promoted. Oh, yeah ‘Because I’m efficient at what I do. The work force could really use more people like me, willing and determined and-’ blah blah blah. Ugh, seriously, he made her want to quit working at the cafe. Now that sounded like an amazing idea. Too bad she needed the money. Which meant that, unfortunately, she'd have to put up with Richard and boring, wet monday mornings.
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Post by CALLEN MICHAEL O'CONNOR on Jul 7, 2012 19:20:39 GMT -5
 I'M ONLY HUMAN I'VE GOT A SKELETON IN ME BUT I'M NOT THE VILLAIN DESPITE WHATYOU'RE ALWAYS PREACHING CALL ME A TRAITOR I'M JUSTThe weather was disgusting. If it weren't for the heat, it wouldn't feel like summer at all, not that he liked summer in the first place. It was pouring cats and dogs, and thunder occasionally rumbled in the distance. No lightning had flashed yet, and he was kind of glad, because storms weren't his best friend. He wasn't scared, per se, he just didn't like the amount of noise they made. He didn't have an umbrella, either - when he'd come out that morning it hadn't been raining, but now it was, and he hadn't been prepared. He'd had a delivery to make, long story short, and now on his way back, it had started pouring out of nowhere. Sure, the sun hadn't been high in the sky at any point of the day, but that didn't mean he had expected a storm and rain to this degree. Then again, maybe he should've just checked the weather app on his phone to make things easier for himself. Too bad he'd thought of that when he'd already been rained on quite a bit. He went into a cafe, and spotted - Harley?
He held back on shaking his head like a dog to get the water out of his hair, instead running a hand through it and then wiping it on his jeans. He couldn't have any water in his eyes, that wouldn't be okay. Taking off his shades, folding them up and hanging them onto the front of his shirt, Callen sat at the counter with a playful smirk. He and Harley were not only both ex-CIA, but they'd also known each other for quite a few years. He would actually call them friends - which was a word he didn't throw around too easily, quicker to say acquaintance than anything else. They weren't overly close, but they knew each other well enough and had hooked up in the past more than once. Even though he didn't seem the type, he did take the people that he kept close seriously, and anyone in the ex-CIA, he was protective of. He'd laid a hand, however small a part he believed he'd played, in creating it, and that meant that everyone involved, he'd kept an eye on. He had his priorities, but as he'd gotten older he'd realized that maybe letting other people in wasn't so bad, and he didn't have to be so ... choose-y.
"You look like you're having a blast. Rain got you down?" He asked, taking in her expression. The other man behind the counter was on his phone, and Callen couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. The cafe wasn't too full - it barely had anyone compared to what it could seat, really. No one wanted to be out on a day like today. Even the weather people were probably warning people to stay indoors while the rain cooled things down, as they'd say. But the weather's definition of "cooling things down" to the way some people wanted it to be cool were two totally different things. He brought his brain pack to the present and wondered where their boss was. He couldn't be here if there was only two of them, and the two of them didn't look busy or even remotely worried about being caught looking relaxed. "Your boss step out on a smoke break?" Sure, it wasn't the nicest way to phrase the question, but some girls appreciated not being treated like glass. Anyone that passed through the CIA, then joined the ex-CIA, had to be one of these girls. Harley wouldn't have made it this far, otherwise.
T A G G E D ? ! harley~
W O R D C O U N T ? ! six forty
M U S E ? ! callen is callen let's leave it at that shall we
N O T E S ? ! the posts will get better, i swear xD being surrounded with loud small children isn't exactly the best place to post
C R E D I T ? ! graphic credit goes to bittersweetworldxo of caution two point oh. lyric credit goes to paramore with their song monster.
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Post by HARLEY JADE ANDREWS on Jul 8, 2012 11:56:50 GMT -5
you heard that i was trouble ,
BUT YOU COULDN'T RESISTJ U S T T A K E A B I T E L E T M E S H A K E U P Y O U R W O R L D- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -One hour, thirty four minutes and forty eight. . . forty seven. . . forty six. . . seconds and she'd be home free. That's not too bad, she thought. Except it felt like an eternity when you were bored and had nothing to do but take abuse from your co-worker, who happened to be a pretentious egomaniac. Harley frowned, her large eyes squinting into a glare at the clock hung on the wall, as if she could speed up time just by staring at it really hard. Unfortunately, it wasn't working and if she kept it up she was going to start getting weird stares. Groaning quietly, she dropped her gaze from the clock and did another lazy sweep of the Cafe with her hazel eyes. Still quiet, still nothing to do. Ugh, why did it have to be raining. What was up with that anyway? It was the middle of summer. Where had the sun gone? Harley had nothing against rain most of the time. In fact she kind of liked it, but only when she was staring out at it from her behind her apartment window, nice and dry. Only then, when she had no intention of doing anything for the day but stay in her PJ's, eat ice cream and watch old horror movies, was she okay with it raining.
The bell on the door chimed then and it took a lot of effort on Harleys part not to jump for joy like a complete moron. She couldn't help it, sitting around doing nothing was not the norm for someone as lively and playful as herself. Dusting off her shorts, she hopped over to the bar, a grin lighting up her features at the familiar male sat before her. "Are you kidding? I love this weather. Who doesn't love torrential downpours?" she replied, her grin taking the edge off of her sarcasm, which was like a second language to the petite brunette. Finally someone had come into the cafe and it was someone she knew. Harley sent up a silent prayer and then folded her arms on the counter top. She bopped her head at Callens question. "Yeah, he shouldn't be back any time soon. Hopefully." she sent a quick look back over her shoulder but there was no sign of Richard yet. It wouldn't surprise her if he was slacking off himself, having a sneaky nap in the back. Harley couldn't blame the guy if he was, especially since it meant that she didn't have to listen to him bitching at her.
"So, what brings you down to my neck of the woods, stranger?" she quirked her eyebrow, a playful smile on her lips. It had been far too long since she'd last chatted with Callen. He was usually busy doing whatever it was Ex-CIA co-founders did and well, she worked two jobs and had missions in between. She'd have to take a break soon, she was due some fun time. All work and no play made Harley a very dull girl. She realized then that she had yet to actually serve Cal, too caught up in her thoughts. Shaking her head lightly, she stood up right and cocked her hip before resting a hand on it. "What can I get you, cutie?"
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Post by CALLEN MICHAEL O'CONNOR on Jul 9, 2012 18:53:20 GMT -5
I'M ONLY HUMAN I'VE GOT A SKELETON IN ME BUT I'M NOT THE VILLAIN DESPITE WHATYOU'RE ALWAYS PREACHING CALL ME A TRAITOR I'M JUST Callen raised an eyebrow. She was a bit hyper for someone that seemed to be so bored ten seconds ago. Then again, he was the same way. Bounced from moods at the speed of light, from being tired to hyper like a car going from zero to sixty. "Well for one, cats." He said, against her sarcasm. The water dripping down his neck onto his shirt made him shiver quite a bit, and the air conditioning didn't help, either. He wouldn't whine, but from coming straight out from wet, hot summer air into a cool, air conditioned cafe might not have been his smartest idea. However, it beat being soaked even more. At least this way, he could maybe wait it out until the rain slowed down a bit, and then head back to the apartment and take a nice, long, hot shower. He wondered when Harley got off, and if she was doing anything after. Maybe they could walk back together, or something. Hopefully, if they did, she had an umbrella that he could try to completely hog, to end up getting her just as soaked as he was. In the name of friendship.
He nodded when she said that her boss wouldn't be back any time soon. Maybe he'd be taking an extra long break, or something of the sort. At least the kid behind the counter hoped so, the way he was on his phone. Harley probably hoped so, too. He never really had a thing for authority figures, which is why he worked at the Flower Bay and had always gotten in trouble with the CIA and his handlers, and really anyone else in power there. "I've gotta say, I never thought you'd be the type to get a normal job anywhere," he said with a smirk, not being able to help himself. "At least I know I can't do it." The Flower Bay really wasn't a normal place to work since Dmitri was his 'boss' and even then it wasn't like that. Neither him nor Dmitri tried for normal lives outside of pretending for Bay because they knew they couldn't pull it after so long in the CIA. A lot of them couldn't handle it, really, and he didn't blame them. And for the ones that could handle it? He was actually pretty damn jealous, not that he'd ever act that way or say it out loud. It wasn't right, and it wasn't fair.
When she asked him why he was around here, he shrugged. "I was looking for some place to duck and cover, wait out the rain for a bit, really. Didn't realize it was gunna rain so hard, came out to get some stuff done, and got caught in the downpour." He held back a smug smirk at 'cutie'. "Coffee, black, three sugars," he asked, simple. He was one of those people that preferred coffee bitter and sweet. He'd always had a sweet tooth, it came along with being hyper, and it'd never gone away, even after he'd hit his twenties. Bay made fun of him for it all the time, and he managed not to take offense because she was the same way, and buying her candy gave him an excuse to buy himself some, too. "Thanks," he added, unintentionally making it an afterthought.
T A G G E D ? ! harley~
W O R D C O U N T ? ! five seventy two
M U S E ? ! second post on my list, woo
N O T E S ? ! he almost called her 'love' like twice, omg
C R E D I T ? ! graphic credit goes to bittersweetworldxo of caution two point oh. lyric credit goes to paramore with their song monster.
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Post by HARLEY JADE ANDREWS on Jul 11, 2012 16:32:52 GMT -5
you heard that i was trouble ,
BUT YOU COULDN'T RESISTJ U S T T A K E A B I T E L E T M E S H A K E U P Y O U R W O R L D- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Harley couldn't remember the last time it had rained so hard in the middle of Summer. Sure there were the odd summer showers but it rarely ever rained like it was now; there would be a thunder storm for sure. That was fine, Harley loved thunderstorms. "Girl's gotta eat." she replied simply in response to Callens statement. Anyone overhearing might have thought that what he'd said was offensive, implying that she was lazy or something. But Harley understood where he was coming from. A lot of Ex-CIA didn't work. Not because they didn't want too, but because they found they couldn't. So much had happened to them during their time with the CIA, that a lot of them struggled to live normal day to day lives out in the real world. It would probably take years and years of therapy to even come close to cracking the problems of some of her fellow ex-CIA. "I like having something to do." she shrugged her shoulder, "helps me take my mind off of things." It was why you'd never find her sat alone, doing nothing. Being left alone with nothing but her memories for company was a recipe for disaster.
"Well I'm glad you came in." and she genuinely was. Harley really liked Cal; he was a lot like her in some ways, easy going, pretty fun and probably just as flirtatious. They'd hooked up a couple of times in the past but besides that, they were friends. "Coming right up." she flashed him a smile and then went about fixing up his drink. It didn't take long. "Here ya go. It's on the house." Handing him his drink, she grabbed a cloth and swiped it over the area she'd just been working on, before discarding and turning back around to face Callen. She'd been about to sit down when another customer came to the counter and ordered a latte macchiato and a blueberry muffin. It was the woman's fifth latte and third muffin and Harley had to fight the urge to roll her eyes. Geez, the woman was overloading on caffeine and chocolate just because she didn't want to brave the rain. Okay, so it was a little crazy outside but some people were just babies about the whole thing. A little water wasn't going to hurt anybody. Still, if the woman wanted more coffee then it was her job to serve it. Besides, the lady tipped every time she came up to order so Harley couldn't complain.
Four minutes later and Harley was pocketing another tip. She shrugged unsympathetically at Mike, who was pouting over at her. If he wanted tips then he needed to get off of his phone and serve every now and then. She was glad he was too lazy to bother though, she needed the money. "So, what's new with you Mr. O'Connor?" she had helped herself to a chocolate chip muffin and was picking at it with nimble fingers. Popping a piece into her mouth, she folded her arms on the surface of the counter and leaned forward to rest her weight on them.
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Post by CALLEN MICHAEL O'CONNOR on Jul 12, 2012 17:38:08 GMT -5
I'M ONLY HUMAN I'VE GOT A SKELETON IN ME BUT I'M NOT THE VILLAIN DESPITE WHATYOU'RE ALWAYS PREACHING CALL ME A TRAITOR I'M JUST He nodded slightly, but didn't show any other signs of really taking in what she said. He didn't technically have a job - yeah, he worked at the Flower Bay, but he didn't consider that a job, and he got paid because of Dmitri's stubbornness and nothing else - and he had the ex-CIA, which was more of a job than an actual job, but he got that some people needed to keep busy. Most of the time, he kept busy a little bit too easily, if you asked him. Not that he was complaining. He liked doing way too many things at once, since he was a borne multi-tasker, and also for what Harley had said. Taking their minds off things was the one thing that people like he and Harley did best. Lingering only did damage, and so he didn't linger. Not the way that some people did. It just ripped you to shreds eventually, and he couldn't afford to have that happen. He had people that he depended on, and he couldn't destroy himself, and leave them hanging. It'd been three years since he'd been out of the CIA, and he thought he was doing pretty damn good, if he did say so himself.
When she said it was on the house, he shook his head and pushed his card forward. "I shouldn't get any special treatment," he said, with a raised eyebrow. He watched as a woman came forward, and Harley served her. The boy behind the counter had made a noise of discontent, but a look had been shot in his direction, and he went right back to typing away on his phone. Callen snorted softly. He smirked at her question, pausing before answering to snag a bit of her muffin, popping it into his mouth easily and chewing. "Nothing much. A little bit of this, a little bit of that." He said easily.
Callen didn't talk about himself much, if at all. He was almost incapable of it. Everyone around him was a lot more interesting, and most humans, by nature, liked to talk about themselves. So he played off of that, and he directed the questions that he didn't feel like answering in a great enough detail. "You? I feel like we haven't actually gotten the time to talk in ages." Not that he was a talker. Callen was good with people, but he could have a conversation with the same person for hours and basically say nothing. He was a bit more slick than most people gave him credit for, or even realized, really. He wasn't obvious about it because he wasn't stupid, but that didn't mean that he didn't know how to choose what card he was slipping from his sleeve into the hand he was about to play. It was a CIA-taught trick, one that he used a bit more than he'd ever admit, even to himself. He took another sip of his drink, the bitter sweetness mixing well with the taste left behind by the bit of muffin he'd stolen. He'd been asked more than once by Bay how he'd never had a cavity in his life with the way he ate sweets, and other sugar filled things, and it was those days when he thanked the parents he could thank for nothing else, for good teeth.
T A G G E D ? ! harley~
W O R D C O U N T ? ! five eighty
M U S E ? ! fading in and out
N O T E S ? ! poor muffin. callen's the worst xD
C R E D I T ? ! graphic credit goes to bittersweetworldxo of caution two point oh. lyric credit goes to paramore with their song monster.
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Post by HARLEY JADE ANDREWS on Jul 20, 2012 17:16:25 GMT -5
you heard that i was trouble ,
BUT YOU COULDN'T RESISTJ U S T T A K E A B I T E L E T M E S H A K E U P Y O U R W O R L D- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Harley rolled her eyes at Callen and purposefully pushed back his card. "Lighten up, it's a coffee. My treat." She gave him a look, one that told him very clearly that she wasn't going to take his money. Callen and Dmitri had done so much for the ex-CIA that buying him a coffee was the very least she could do. She owed them a hell of a lot. Harley was a survivor, always had been and always would be, It was a hard to keep a girl like her down. But she didn't like to think what her life would be like now if she hadn't had the safe haven Dmitri and Cal had made for others like herself, to turn to.
"Sounds exciting..." she squinted her eyes into a half-hearted glare, her lips temporarily falling into a frown when he stole from her muffin. She wondered briefly if he'd been on any "missions", maybe that was why he was being so vague. Or maybe he actually hadn't been up to anything, nothing that was interesting enough to share at least. If he had been on any sort of ex-CIA business then it wasn't like he could talk about it here, in the open, so she didn't push. Sticking her nose where it didn't belong wasn't her style anyway, she never had been one to pry. Unless of course the situation called for it, like when she used to have to pry information out of her targets back in the CIA. Quickly Harley bit her lip and pushed the thought from her mind before memories of long nights filled with screams and blood could fully form.
"Uh, me?" she blinked a couple of times and stared down at her fingers which were covered in bits of chocolate muffin. Shrugging lightly, she licked a couple of finger tips clean and then wiped off her hands with a napkin. "I've been working." and she had, too much if you asked her but she needed the money since she was trying to save up for a half decent car. "Picked up a couple more shifts at the bar," she explained, the bar being the club she worked at on week nights. "I need a ride. I thought about getting a bike but eh, I dunno. A motorbike is cool but a car is more convenient, right?" she was musing to herself mostly, trying to convince herself that yes, the car was the better option. Considerably less cool, but better in the long run. Maybe one day she could have both.
Tossing the napkin she'd used to clean her fingers, Harley chanced a quick look out of the window and let out an exasperated sigh. "See, if I had a car then I wouldn't have to walk home in that." she jerked her hands towards the windows, at the endless downpour of rain. "There goes my plan for catching some rays after work." she held out an arm and examined it, yes it had been far too long since she'd last had a tan. Eesh, she looked pasty. "What are your plans for the day? I'd advise against any outdoor activities." that much was obvious but she was just being sarcastic now.
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Post by CALLEN MICHAEL O'CONNOR on Jul 23, 2012 17:27:40 GMT -5
I'M ONLY HUMAN I'VE GOT A SKELETON IN ME BUT I'M NOT THE VILLAIN DESPITE WHATYOU'RE ALWAYS PREACHING CALL ME A TRAITOR I'M JUST If they were anywhere else, he'd fight her on it. Instead, he took his card back and shoved it into his wallet, shoving that back into his back pocket. He didn't deserve any special treatment, he hadn't done something huge. He did what he had to do, what he wanted to. The ex-CIA was a responsibility, of course, but he needed to help out. He needed to do what he could for others. They all had the same goal, what was the point in not working together? Not only that, but Callen was the type of person that always needed to help people. He did whenever he could, in whatever the situation. That just made him a decent person, that didn't really mean anything. "Fine, if you insist," he said, once his wallet was away, giving her a look that said that he didn't exactly appreciate what she must've thought of as a kind gesture. "It wasn't," he said, which basically gave her the idea that yes, it was ex-CIA business, which they both knew they couldn't talk about in the open air. They couldn't talk about things like that anywhere but in their own little headquarters, and sometimes, he wished they had a code just in case. He wasn't paranoid, per se, but Dmitri had rubbed off on him quite a bit over the years, and now he was just a bit more cautious than the average person living in the city.
He nodded when she said that she had been working, and took another sip of his coffee. Anything to keep busy, he understood that. He raised an eyebrow, however, when she needed a ride. Callen didn't have his license, and had no want or need to get one. He was fine using public transportation, something that he'd done since he was a kid. Growing up in New York when you didn't have parents, and you needed to get around on your own, meant you either rode a bicycle or you learned how to get around using buses and trains. Therefore, he had never seen the need in getting a license and getting a car, as most adults did. Then again, neither did Dmitri, so he couldn't have been too weird, right? "A bike is cooler, but a car is more practical. True. I say get what'd make you happier. Who cares about practicality? Carpe diem and all that." He shrugged. He snorted when she pointed outside. "It's called an umbrella? I don't have a ride and I get around just fine," he said. When she asked about his plans for the day, he took another sip of his coffee and then answered. "Nothing much. I have a date with my couch and whatever's on TV," he said. "I think there's an episode of the Real Housewives waiting for me on my DVR," he said with a wink, completely joking. "What about you? Obviously, you can't follow through with Plan A."
T A G G E D ? ! harley~
W O R D C O U N T ? ! five fifteen
M U S E ? ! needs to stay and focus a bit more
N O T E S ? ! is it me or are they just as bad as each other
C R E D I T ? ! graphic credit goes to bittersweetworldxo of caution two point oh. lyric credit goes to paramore with their song monster.
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