Splash (Jay)

[Claire Eterna]

••

Claire managed to get a few side glances in. she watched those two like a hawk. She didn't know she was capable of being so paranoid. Maybe she was getting rubbed off on. Their older brother was always really protective, and Claire didn't know if she was over doing it. She was just nervous, Bella was hanging out with an older guy after all. She had a feeling Jay wasn't up to anything, but you could never be sure. Claire took a deep breath, just trust her, she thought. Bella wasn't a baby anymore, she could handle it. It wasn't like they were going out, they were just friends after all.

The older female walked with a grace. Bella catching up with her in no time. She found herself locking hands with her younger sister, then stooping down to grab an inter tube. It was a little heavy for something filled with air. It was okay though, she could handle it. Bella was trying to help Claire keep her balance, but models always had balance. The older sister didn't say a word about that though. She just smiled and sort of led the way up the long set of stairs. She said quietly, "Get that sorted out?" As if she knew what she was talking about. Bella nodded, then Claire looked at Jay. A friendly expression on her face. "Come here often?" She said with a gentle voice, it didn't get drowned out by the splish splashes of the pool though.

notes; N/A

[Jay Phelan]

POLICE CONSTANTLY BUGGIN¡® YA NONSTOP †

Jay found it rather amusing that Bella was blushing after requesting that. Often times, he found himself blushing in embarrassment around his self proclaimed biggest fan. Just for the record, he didn¡®t consider himself good enough (yet) to have a fan. He still needed to keep a humble and serving mindset, after all.

Jay watched as Bella made her way back to Claire¡®s side, in the process making eye contact with her in the intent of sending a message to each other. A sibling thing, he figured. He had a sister, of course, but she wasn¡®t much fun in such a way. Actually, as a matter of fact, when he was younger, he had tried to telepathically send messages to his sister by staring at her and repeating her name in his mind, but, obviously, it didn¡®t quite work out.

Jay followed behind, although he kept a step or two between him and the other two. He followed them up the stairs when Bella glanced around and smiled at him. That was amusing as well. Bella was just great fun, Jay mused, almost forgetting his current plight.

"Come here often? " Claire asked calmly, although, at first, Jay thought she might demand to know what he nad Bella were talking about. "E-Eh, I guess you could call it that. I've been coming every year since I moved here... " Jay answered.

[/blockquote]

STATUS; Complete
WORD COUNT; 237
NOTES; Ack, I think I'm getting worse at RPing...

[Bella Eterna]

♥♥♥

Bella was a little bit surprised that her big sister was now trying to make small talk. well actually, no. That wasn't it. Claire probably was just bored and wanted something to talk about. Her sister had just been left out of a short little conversation after all. Bella smiled, looking back at Jay as he answered. She started taking the stairs two steps at a time, a big feat for such a shortie. She was little bit tired by the time they reached the next flight of stairs.

She kind of bounced in place until they caught up. "Jay, we should come here together sometime! I'll bring a watermelon!" She was grinning at just the thought. Claire gave her this look that said stop bouncing. Bella smiled back at her sister. Claire must be worried that she would slip or something. Bella stopped bouncing so her sister wouldn't worry to much. Bella didn't want to stop, but she did.

"I like watermelons." she added as they started up the next flight of stairs. This was a really long stair case. Then she remembered something about what Jay just said. She looked at him, still smiling. "Where did you move here from?" She expected him to say somewhere else on Threa or from Earth. those were the only places besides here with humans after all. She payed attention to her feet again as she started climbing the stairs one step at a time like a normal person. Still listening for his answer.

notes; Nah! Ur probably just short on muse.

[Claire Eterna]

••

Claire nodded at Jay's answer. This place was a fun. She came here every year too, she usually did something with Bella every chance they got. Claire liked ice skating too. All the Eterna siblings could skate well, but their older brother usually sat on the side lines for a while. It was cute how Bella was bouncing around and trying to get ahead by taking two stairs at a time, but it was dangerous. Claire gave her the "knock it off" look. Bella certainly knocked it off, but smiled back at Claire. Who gave that smile back out. Claire wouldn't call it telepathic communication, they just spent so much time together, it wasn't anything amazingly spectacular. They just understood each others body language and personalities.

Claire ignored the comments about Bella and Jay going here together, Bella bringing a watermelon. It seemed like Bella and Jay really got along well though. It was kind of cute, but she still had to be cautious. The whole big protective sister thing required it. Claire took the stairs easily, even with the inter tube. It was mostly because Bella had let go though, she wasn't going to say that out loud. Claire could handle it on her own, easily, now that she was used to it.

Claire glanced over at Jay, wondering where he came from now that it was mentioned. Learning a little about Bella's friend was a good thing after all. She would be more comfortable with Bella hanging out with people that she knew as well. Also, it was just interesting to hear about other places. Claire didn't plan on traveling much though.

notes; N/A

[Jay Phelan]

I WALK UP ON YA, " WELL, HELLO, TONYA" †

Jay stayed behind Bella and Claire at a good pace. He lingered on the last step of the first flight of stairs. This short height even seemed daunting to the blue-haired boy. In the meant time, Bella suggested, as she bounced up and down, that they should come back again some other time with a watermelon. Her older sister shot her a sort of glare and the young blonde stopped jumping. Surprising (or maybe not), Jay had found himself about to do the same before Claire, albeit in a verbal, gentle way, but he stopped himself, thinking that it may seem weird in front of Claire.

" I like watermelons, too.

[/color]" Jay smiled and began their ascent again, amused at how happy and aspiring Bella was. He liked honest people like that. Ones that would speak their mind passionately without a hesitation. So much unlike himself, he mused.

By now, the height was getting to him a little bit. The wet ground made for a slippery surface. The metallic railing didn't seem too reliable. And, Jay peeked over the edge and nearly threw up, the ground looked extremely lethal.

"Where did you move here from?" Bella asked, momentarily taking Jay away from his fear. Did Jay say that he had moved to Utopia? He didn't mean to, at least. He didn't need to bother other people with his personal life, but nevertheless, he answered.

"I, uh, moved from Earth... Nothing special, really...[/color]" Jay said a little quietly, maybe a bit ashamedly, too. His past wasn't so, well, happy or normal in the least. Being the son of a wanted convict wasn't something you'd like to brag to your classmates, after all.

As he climbed the stairs, Jay caught Claire¡®s glance toward him. Perhaps she was interested in his past as well? This stacked a bit more pressure on him. Would she judge? Would she laugh? Would she look at him differently now? Unlike Bella who was young and sweet and innocent, Claire was more mature and knowing of the ways of the world. [/size][/blockquote]

STATUS; Complete
WORD COUNT; 357
NOTES; Heh, let's hope so.

[Bella Eterna]

♥♥♥

Bella smiled, happy to hear she had something in common with Jay. It would really be fun to sit down just her, a watermelon, and her celebrity crush. Actually she was really going tot have to figure out what she would call Jay. It was way to embarrassing to call him a celebrity crush. She rarely even talked to her crushes. She would hide her face from their view at any cost! Otherwise she just got all flushed, and started giggling hysterically as young teenage girls do.

The younger female was starting to feel a little uncomfortable with height. Claire just kept going like it was no big deal, she was brave, graceful and beautiful. Bella really had someone to look up to. Not that their mother wasn't also someone very astounding, it was just that they never really saw their mother. Workaholics, their mother and big brother both. Bella kept glancing at her "celebrity crush". She couldn't help it, wanting to have eye contact during a conversation was just so normal for her.

Earth? How cool! Bella sensed a bit of curiosity for Claire too. "Oh wow. That is really cool! Is it pretty there? Are there lots of giraffes?" Bella was grinning, oh she wanted to know how many giraffes lived on earth very badly now. She liked the giraffes at the zoo because they were blond just like her. Not only did they have yellow fur, they also had spots! That was just too amazing.

It was probably true that Bella actually was a bit young, naive, and innocent. Bella wasn't completely ignorant to the pains of life though. She lost her father, and she was a schizophrenic. Just those two things could probably destroy someone. They messed up Claire a little bit after all. Bella was innocent and naive and young. However, she had a strong spirit, and was able to smile even though lots of unhappy things took place in her life. Hallucinations, her sister's minor depression, her father's death, her mother's constant business trips. All of that, but she was okay. Everything was alright for her. Young, naive, innocent, and strong. That was Bella for you.

Bella was thinking of her blond hair and all things yellow. "Did you ever see a lion? Or a lioness? Which do you like more the boy lions or the girl lions? I can't chose!" She smiled over her shoulder at him. Celebrity crush popped into her head though, and she couldn't help blushing. Oh boy, she really needed to come up with something different. Hero, didn't really make the cut. Idol sounded way to worship~y. Fetish sounded clingy... Oh, this was going to be a hard one.

notes; lol

[Claire Eterna]

Claire was starting to really notice how chummy these two were. Maybe they were better friends then she had originally thought. It was strange, Bella hanging out with an older guy, but she definitely was starting to see he wasn't any sort of threat. He was an alright guy, who seemed to also enjoy the consumption of watermelons. Watermelons... Green, pink and black juicy wonders. Speaking of pink, Bella sure was turning pink. Claire was picking up on something from her younger sister but wasn't sure what it was.

The height didn't really bother Claire at all. She had done photo shoots on top of skyscrapers for Pete's sake. Who is Pete anyway? She was not worried about the stairs at all. She took them on with perfect posture, balance and pace. She easily kept an easy pace that was perfect for Bella to keep up with comfortably. The two siblings had a very big difference in height. Claire was six feet tall, and well... Little Bella was in fact, a little bell, standing at five foot one. Although, Claire was starting to think Bella was finally getting that growth spurt. She could swear Bella was a bit taller then she remembered. Claire had grown tall very quickly not to long ago. She had been short like Bella, and then one day just started growing.

Claire wasn't going to be very judgmental. She had many of her own problems, and was fully aware that every one had problems. No one was problem-free. Life wasn't that easy. She would be understanding. There were some things you just didn't want to talk about, as her mother once said. "Don't hang your dirty laundry in your front yard." She wouldn't ask Jay to say anything he wasn't comfortable with sharing with the rest of the world. She had things like that too. Claire didn't exactly want everyone knowing her sister was a little crazy. It wasn't anything to be ashamed of, but it just wasn't something she was going to flaunt.

Claire laughed at Bella's questions. They were just too funny. Claire grinned over her shoulder at Jay, waiting for his reply to her silly question. Then added in, "Are their any flying pigs?" she was just teasing but the new found sparkle in Bella's eyes said she hadn't caught on to that as a joke. Oh yes, naive Bella, she could believe any story you gave her as long as you swore up and down it was true. Claire loved Bella anyways. Maybe she could make her believe that Jackal-opes were real. That would be cute, it was if Bella was still a child sometimes. But really the younger sister was fourteen, it was still hard to believe. Before Claire's eyes the little girl was growing up.

[Jay Phelan]

"I THINK YOU GOT THE ONSTAR BUTTON INSIDE YOUR CAR STUCK" †

As they continued their ascent, Jay noticed Claire's grace while climbing the steps and Bella's need to hold eye contact during a conversation. He had learned in school while he was younger that in different cultures, eye contact could mean different things. In Asia back on earth, a lack of eye contact showed respect, but in the United States and Europe, it showed interest and was considered polite. In Jay's little own culture, it was his role to play to maintain eye contact, and he couldn't care less if his conversation partner was looking back. It was rather awkward to be on a lower level than Bella and Claire and having Bella constantly looking back toward him, though.

As Jay's words left his mouth, he almost instantly regretted it. He should have learned how curious Bella could be. He could sense the excitement emanating off of her. " Oh wow. That is really cool!" she exclaimed. But then came the questions. "Is it pretty there? Are there lots of giraffes?" Don't get him wrong. Bella's questions didn't bother Jay in the least. Quite contrary, he felt honored. It was just that he didn't want to bother her with his information. Rather than using her brain cells on that, she should use it for more worthwhile things.

"Did you ever see a lion? Or a lioness? Which do you like more the boy lions or the girl lions? I cant¡® choose!" She continued. Jay found it cute how she chose these exotic animals. He also found it rather adorable how she turned to flash a smile at him and blushed. He couldn¡®t help but compare her to a little mouse. Small, cute, and innocent.

"Are there any flying pigs?" Claire added with a laugh and looked at Jay. He laughed as well, catching on to the joke, but apparently Bella didn't. He could picture her being led out to go snipe hunting (as he had many times).

"I lived in, uh, New York City, so it's kinda, y¡®know, urban, a lot like Utopia. Not alotta giraffes or lions romping around

[/color]." Jay admitted, hoping that he hadn't crushed Bella's hope. " Although there is a really big zoo where there are giraffes and lions and other animals, too. Oh, but no flying pigs.[/color] He winked at Claire and smiled. He didn't mention that, because his family was rather poor (and his parents were wanted convicts) he had only gone once on a class field trip.[/size][/blockquote]

STATUS; Complete
WORD COUNT; 426
NOTES; Wrote this while I was half dead...

[Bella Eterna]

♥♥♥

Bella liked trying to look at Jay from above on the stairs. She found it a nice thing, to be able to keep eye contact. Also it was sort of a challenge. Bella was careful not to trip or anything. It would be an embarrassing blunder if she did such a thing. She grinned at his reply. Lions and giraffes and other animals too! He came from an urban area, New York he had said. She had heard of New York before. Her mother sometimes went there to do business. It was interesting to hear about other places, like Earth. She would never go there, though.

Bella thought that Jay was just great! He had interesting things to say, and was really nice. They had things in common, and got along well. It was funny how the first day they met, they both tried holding the door open. Oh,yes, Bella remembered silly things like that easily. She also thought of something that she just had to say! "Lions and tigers and bears!" she then giggled. Hopefully everyone else understood that this was a movie quote and she wasn't sugar high or anything. Everyone had seen The Wizard of Oz. At least that was what Bella thought.

Bella barely noticed the wink Jay gave Claire. Flying pigs? It was now a silly thought in the little blond's head. "But... I thought flying pugs are fake!" She looked at her big sister, who now had a mischievous smile on her face. "Of course they are silly!" Claire said. Bella tilted her head at the tone her sister had used. Claire was teasing her! Now she understood! She smiled, "OH! I get it now!" she then laughed. Then turned to look at Jay again. "It's pretty cool you used to live in a big city over on Earth. At night, were the lights pretty? I like the lights at night here." She was really just completely curious about New York now.


notes; lolz

[/center]

[Claire Eterna]

Claire smiled, not really bothering to look back at Jay much. She was sort of busy, being graceful, and carrying their inter tube. Claire wasn't trying to disrespect Jay or anything. He was a nice guy, and she was slowly becoming more comfortable with his presence. She thought it was okay for Bella to have nice friends like him. The older sister listened to the conversation. Her only interruption so far being the flying pigs comment. That didn't mean she was paying attention though. She also found it interesting. Bella's Wizard of Oz comment made her giggle.

Bella finally caught on to to the joke. Then asked a very amusing question. Claire answered promptly. "Of course they are silly!" she said calmly. Her tone was a teasing one, and now Bella seriously understood. Claire laughed with Bella. Then glanced back at Jay as Bella asked another question. Poor guy, she thought. Bella was going to be hounding him for answers to silly questions for the majority of the rest of their time together. Claire loved Bella, but the younger girl really needed to learn a little bit more self control. Claire knew her sister didn't mean any harm, she wasn't trying to pry either. She was just really interested in Earth it seemed.

Claire thought about the night lights out around Utopia. It was pretty spectacular for first timers she had heard. Being born here, it was just something she was used to. Claire hadn't been out at night lately. There were quite a few clubs in Utopia. She could go dancing with her friends or something sometime. It sounded like a decent idea to her. Bella should come with her sometime. Claire glanced at Bella... Or maybe not. Bella dancing in a club just didn't seem right. Claire knew her sister was fourteen, and past the official teenager age. It was just that Bella was so adorable, so cute, so innocent, so naive, there was just no way that she could see Bella dancing with a bunch of people with loud music. It would probably offset Bella anyways. Bella's reaction to something like that would be unpredictable, Claire didn't want to see her little sister freaking out or having hallucinations or something. They could just go out and look at the pretty night lights instead.

[Jay Phelan]

YOU OUTTA GAS? DO YOU GOTTA FLAT? †

Jay, in the back of his head, absent-mindedly wondered about Bella's home life. His past mental note about his rather unsatisfying childhood prompted this thought. He remembered in their first encounter that she had already mentioned that she had an older sister. Did Claire have a boyfriend? Did she have any other siblings? He could see her with another older siblings (or soon-to-be step-sibling), definitely. They were a wealthy family, he also knew. Money, physical objects, and anything else they could buy cushioned their lives. Jay was mature enough to understand that money did not equal happiness, but, in Bella's and Claire's case, he naturally assumed that they had a perfect, happy life. Many wealthy people were just stereotypically stiff and unfriendly, so he presumed that they couldn't have a true happiness. But Bella and Claire were so warm and giving. They deserved nothing but a long joyful life in return for their wonderful disposition, in Jay's opinion.

He laughed along with the others at Bella's The Wizard of Oz reference. That movie was so old, he was slightly surprised that the young teenager knew about it. In fact, it was so old that it had been one of Jay's favorite movies. A movie that teaches youngsters valuable traits like courage, intelligence, and emotion and that good will always triumph of evil. All of this were things he regarded important. Not that he particularly embodied any of these virtues. He wasn't very brave. He was a below-average student. And he wasn't the type of person to be very soulful or passionate about things.

In reality, though, that was just his humbleness (or self-hate, depending on how you look at it) talking. If someone Jay treasures is in jeopardy, you can be sure Jay will use any and all resources for one's welfare. Even if he's a slow learner, he works hard and, eventually, learns his school material. And, most of all, he is extremely emotional for things like his friends, his ideals, and his dreams.

Jay laughed again when Bella caught on to the flying pigs joke. That was interesting. Flying pigs and The Wizard of Oz (in which there are flying monkeys). Things he couldn't help but notice. "At night, were the lights pretty? I like the lights at night here." Bella asked, still on the subject of New York.

"Yeah, they were really pretty. It was really loud, too. You never really felt alone in New York City.

[/color] " He spoke slowly in remembrance of his birth place."I like the lights here better, though. They're a lot... softer[/color]" The Utopian lights were a source of comfort for Jay. When he had first moved to Threa, the major change of environment had been a lot of trouble. Fevers plagued him during the day and fits of nightmare woke him during the night. Each time he would wake up, he would often look outside his apartment towards the oodles of bright lights, reminding him that he wasn't alone. That he had his sister. And millions of new people to meet out in the world. giving him the determination to meet a new day.[/size][/blockquote]

STATUS; Complete
WORD COUNT; 521
NOTES; I'm sorry it's so late.

[Bella Eterna]

♥♥♥

Bella smiled at Jay. Looking up and discovering that they were finally at the top of the stairs. It seemed like they had been climbing forever, and yet not very long at all. She felt like jumping in excitement but knew better. "I sort of want to see New York, it sounds like fun..." she then shrugged it off like it was some crazy thought. Like going to the moon to play with unicorns. It sounded like fun, but it was hopeless and a waste of time. There was no way she would ever go to Earth, she barely ever even left Utopia...

She smiled waiting for everyone to get ready to go. There was a small line, as if nobody really wanted to try this scary ride, or climb the monstrous stairs. Bella couldn't wait though! "We're gonna make a big splash at the end I bet!" She was probably stating the obvious but she couldn't contain her enthusiasm. She glanced at Claire who was also grinning. This would be so much fun... she could feel it in her toes!

Bella raised her hand. "I want to sit in the middle!" she proclaimed grinning. Quickly putting hand back down and blushing. It was sort of embarrassing for some reason. Probably because she just did that in front of two people she admired so much.

notes; I'll post with Claire soon! It's okay Jay, I wasn't here anyways! lolz

[/center]

[Claire Eterna]

There would be no husbands anytime soon. Claire was too busy with high school, her sister, modeling, and everything else going on in her life. There was no way she would have time to plan a wedding and all. In fact, she didn't even have a boyfriend for the moment. She hadn't really had many, one or two. She didn't even think about them really. Bella would only have one sister and one brother for a while. As long as Axel didn't run off and marry a model, which she could see him doing somehow. Their older brother was in his early twenties, and nothing could hold him back. The only problem was, he wasn't dating anyone either. It seemed like Claire and her brother had the same problem with their love lives, they didn't have one.

Claire glanced at Jay, he was a nice guy. Probably around her own age. She wondered what really went through his head when he was hanging out with Bella. She couldn't help being just a little suspicious, it was her sister after all. Claire had somewhat warmed up to Jay already. The older girl really wished she could read minds, so she could keep all the bad guys away from her precious Bells, and stop her nagging curiousity.

It occurred to Claire that Bella was doing it again. The older sister knew her little sister was shaking off her dreams of going someplace. She could just tell by the way she had shrugged and the tone of her voice. It was understandable since Bella had a fear of flying, and it seemed to be the only way to get off a planet until someone figured out how to do teleportation. It was understandable, both girls had their scars from a particular plane crash. Even if they weren't on the plane when it crashed, they had lost something important, their whole family had. Claire didn't want to think about it for very long, it always made her upset.

Claire smiled when Bella turned pink after announcing where she wanted to sit. "That's fine Bells." She looked at the lines and were glad they were short. She was ready to ride this thing!

[Jay Phelan]

I WOULD HATE FOR YOU TO BE STRANDED AT THE LAUNDROMAT †

Jay could distinctively feel his heart stop when he saw that they had arrived at the top. Even better, the line was fairly short. The small group'S chit chat had made the trip seem easier than it really was for him. But now he could plainly see how far he was from the ground. Without thinking about it, he peeked over the edge and felt his heart spasm a couple of times. He almost threw up right on the spot, but quickly turned away from his fear. " I sort of want to see New York, " He heard Bella say in a voice that he would consider not as enthusiastic as he would have thought. " It sounds like fun." He saw her shrug, and he inwardly raised an eyebrow. Was traveling such a bother for her? Or maybe it was deeper than that? He didn’t pay it much thought. Even he had been afraid of taking off in an airplane when he was younger.

Despite that slight shudder in the atmosphere, Jay could see that she was super-dee-duper excited to go down that water slide. Hah, if only he could feel the same. Why does it seem like he was born without the 'fun chromosome'? Bella quickly raised her hand, said, "I want to sit in the middle!", and blushed. Jay didn't have much to respond to that. Not because he felt that it was awkward, but because it seemed like he forgot how to open his mouth. So instead, he just nodded numbly. He swallowed a lump that had suddenly formed in his throat and briefly looked at Claire. She looked ready to go on the slide, too. Jay knew he couldn't just back out, but he was pretty sure he'd pee himself and, in being such close proximity to Claire and Bella, ultimately embarrass himself.

[/blockquote]

STATUS; Complete
WORD COUNT; 324
NOTES;... Late once again.