「 ONLY THE GOOD DIE YOUNG : VISITING 」

[JERSEYBOY]

JERSEY
BOY

Small paws, practically socks that reached just above the tom's ankles, planted upon the familiar border. Huh — after months and months, this place was still the same as it had always been. He could not say the same for Sunhaven, whose territory had been reduced to miles of mud and debris. He didn't even know what was left of the seaside town anymore — he hadn't stuck around for the aftermath. When the waters started to rise? That was when the former Hearthkeeper had quietly dipped from the streets. He wasn't going to stick around until he was washed up in a flash flood and drowned. Jersey was smarter than that. Perhaps one could call it desertion, as well as an act of disloyalty, but he had never truly pledged his allegiance to Sunhaven in the first place. Jerseyboy never did, not with this place nor with Snowbound or Tanglewood or wherever he roamed. He was a loner at heart, traveling to his heart's content and reveling in the f r e e d o m of boundaries ( or lack of ).

And, perhaps, it had been a truly selfish thing for him to do... but who ever said that he wasn't?

He had found himself at the border of the Ascendants once more. Jerseyboy hadn't been here for a long while, not since before the whole drama between the two clans started. The tuxedo cat still smelled faintly of the stench, although most of it had been washed off by rain as well as the natural aromas of pine and earth and cigarette smoke. All of his prized belongings — whiskey and smokes — were tucked securely into a small sack that he carried around in between his teeth. Jerseyboy hadn't needed anything else; he hadn't valued anything else. The bed he slept in had been pretty cushy, but it wasn't like he could lug it around with him ( unfortunately for him. He had to get used to sleeping on the cold, hard ground once more ).

What to do, what to do. He could have alerted people to his presence instead of waiting around like a sitting duck. Or, on the other hand, he could take a break from all of that walking and have a smoke. That was exactly what he did; the feline set the sack onto the ground and undid the knot, nosing around the contents for a cigarette and his lighter. Jerseyboy took the stick into his maw and produced a flicker of a flame, which in turn lit the end and sent a flitting trail of toxicity into the air. The tuxedo tom sat back on his haunches and exhaled through his parted jaws, letting the chemicals ease his whelmed mind.

© MADI

[ATTICUS]

▹▹▹▹ Atticus had grown used to this routine, quietly patrolling the borders, finding some lone soul upon it that had some business with the Clan. Did it get dull? Well, not necessarily. Of course the repetitiveness of it was something that he was both familiar with and unused to. He had wandered for most of his life, and his original home, where his family had been, had been more structured than this place was. Perhaps, in some ways, the Ascendants was  a happy medium between the two sides of his life, but nonetheless, he was always intrigued by the faces that crossed their paths every now and then. That didn't mean all of them stayed or even had good intentions, but they at least brought Kit some level of amusement when he encountered them.

Jerseyboy, thusly, was just another amusement.

The smell of cigarette smoke hit him like a wall as he made his way across the invisible lines that made up the Ascendants territory, his nostrils flaring slightly to clear the scent from his nose as best he could as he then made an effort to breathe shallowly. Ugh. Despite growing up around the smell, he hated the stench. It would be hypocritical to say he hadn't tried one or two of them in his youthful days, but the detriment on it to his physical health had been the sole reason he had shunned them into a pit and swore never to touch them again. But, he sucked it up and kept moving forward, the lithe jaguar's paws softly touching the ground as he glided across the familiar treks of territory to the small tom-cat waiting at the border. His golden eyes locked on to the figure, staring intently for some while as he finished crossing the last several feet of distance to be in front of him, exhaling softly in some level of thought for a moment before he sat himself back on his haunches.

The stranger at least didn't seem like he was going to pick a fight in this present moment, though Atticus had little doubts he had picked a few prior in his life. The smell of cigarettes that surrounded him did well to cover the rest of his pelt, though the lingering traces of Sunhaven were not ignored; but, at this point, they were faded enough that Atticus had little concern. "Welcome to the Ascendants," he rumbled softly. "Name and business?" There was no real use in dragging this out.

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[JERSEYBOY]

JERSEY
BOY

Christ, that was a giant-ass kitty cat. Of course it was nothing that the tuxedo tom hadn't witnessed before, so he simply sat still, cigarette still hanging from his maw. His green eyes followed the jaguar, although he remained silent until he addressed him directly.

Name and business. Oh boy, here it goes. If Jersey took a shot for every time he heard that whole drawl then he'd probably be a blackout drunk by now. Didn't it get boring to repeat that same thing over and over again to every stranger you saw? Nonetheless, he supposed he now had to answer. The tuxedo cat removed the cigarette from his maw and ashed it into the ground before stretching a w i d e yawn. "Name's Jerseyboy. I wanna stay here for a while; is that a problem?" He cocked a brow at the Ascendant. Hopefully it wouldn't be; after all, he had long left Sunhaven and was just looking to travel once more.

© MADI

[ATTICUS]

▹▹▹▹ Oh, so he was one of those types, huh? Atticus rolled his shoulders faintly as he watched Jersey put out his cigarette, idly glad that the lingering smoke that clung to the man's pelt would soon disappate from the air, so long as there was a breeze to shove the toxins away from the area. Perhaps the usual drawl of Name and Business was a little dull, but much the same reasons that Jersey had summarized, it was often necessary depending on who you were dealing with. With Jersey, and at least for Kit's sake, it was no more than figuring out what this ex-Sunhavener was doing on their borders. Yet, he could at least appreciate his swift answer, but it was the attitude behind it that made Kit's brows raise ever so faintly. He would not scold the man for the words, but there was a faint glint of amusement that dotted across his face as his expression seemed to simply read: "Should it be?"

"No," Kit answered at length, pausing for a moment as if that in it of itself was his answer, but instead rising calmly back to his paws. "I do not need to lay it out that Sunhaven and the Ascendants are still enemies. So long as you no longer have allegiance with them, I have no reason to deny you," his answer was swift and simple as he dipped his head. He wouldn't loiter long, and so long as Agathe found no problem with it (though he still figured she would find some quip to knick him for), there was no reason that Jersey would be turned away. This seemed to be the silently spoken thought as Kit turned as if he were to step away with that. "Tour?" the question came next, the end of his syllables clipped with a faint hint of sarcasm as he glanced at the feline before him, expecting some quick, hard-headed answer.

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[JERSEYBOY]

JERSEY
BOY

That was easier than he thought it would be, considering that a Sunhaven patrol had attacked theirs. Hell, he had even heard that Clove had started the whole thing. It came as a surprise that he wasn't turned away immediately, but then again, he had never truly considered himself apart of the commune. He had been given a promotion, sure, but he only kept it for the fancy title and his minimal authority over other people. It had turned out to be a drag in the long run, and he had ditched and left. "I don't have allegiance wid' anyone." Corrected the male; he had produced a snort and began to tie the sack in a knot once more. "I come 'n go wheneva' I feel like it. I don't wanna tie myself down to one place." Why do so when there was a whole entire world to discover?

The tuxedo tom finally tied the knot ( to the best of his ability ) and picked up the bag into his jaws. He flicked an ear and responded through muffled teeth, "No thanks. If this place is how I rememba' it, then I can find my way around." Actually, on the other hand... "Actually, you know someplace I can get a drink?" Hopefully this guy would catch on to the fact that he didn't necessarily mean water.

© MADI

[melody]

[div style="margin: 0 auto; width: 55%; font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; text-align: justify;"]Melody had been inactive recently due to an angsty bout of ignoring and avoiding people, but she was irritated to hear her uncle's shitty voice. "Figlio di puttana! If it isn't il mio schifoso zio!" The little calico hissed at her uncle, stamping a small paw. "How dare you crawl back here, you lousy, no-good, abandoning-" She worked herself up so quickly the cat hissed and spluttered at Jerseyboy, hackles raised. "You left me here when I was a kid and now you come back 'cause you got nowhere else? You're not even here for me! Bet you forgot about me, you irresponsible lousy excuse for a relative!" It all came out at once, red-hot lava pouring from a speech bubble. She wasn't as small and afraid as she had been when Jerseyboy had left her, but her anger had built over the moons. She didn't want her lousy uncle here at all, but frighteningly, there was still a little voice in her head that was desperate for his approval still.

[JERSEYBOY]

JERSEY
BOY

A whirlwind of insults from a foreign tongue were hurled in his direction, and Jerseyboy couldn't help but be taken aback by it. They registered in his mind as Italian curse words, and he only knew a few people that would dare to yell at him in such a way - his own family. More specifically, his fireball of a niece. He furrowed his figurative brows at her and growled, "Ey, watch your damn mouth, will ya'?" Sheesh, where did she even get such a potty mouth from? Probably her granddad, or whoever the hell his step-father was to her. He certainly never considered him a real father. "'n calm down, alright? I'm not your personal babysitta'." Jersey twitched his tail. He really wasn't. He didn't like being responsible for children, not even his own niece. He could stand to watch her for a few hours, but for the rest of her life? No, it wasn't going to work that way.

"Besides, you gotta' learn how to take care a' yourself." Hell, he had been out on the streets around her age. She had survived this long without him, so why was she getting so fussy about him not being around? It wasn't like she cared about him or anything.

© MADI

[melody]

[div style="margin: 0 auto; width: 55%; font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; text-align: justify;"]Melody hissed indignantly at him, refusing to take orders from this lousy idiot. Personal babysitter? "You're damn right you're not, you're just some stupid drunk who can't take responsibility when it's handed to him!" Immediately the calico feared she'd stepped too far. Her ears flickered back, her angry posture softening. "You shouldn't'a left me." She muttered, a spark of anger still in there, but forcibly squashed in case she actually angered him. All of a sudden her anger flared back, though, at Jerseyboy's excuse. "Take care o' myself? I was two moons!" With that, the girl hissed at her uncle and backed off at last, glaring viciously.

[ATTICUS]

▹▹▹▹ Atticus, through the course of this argument, had been dead silent, his brows raised faintly when Melody had first approached, but now had simply taken to sitting back on his haunches to let the two of them duke it out, curses and all. It wasn't his business, frankly, to get involved in familial matters, especially given what Melody seemed to be saying- Jersey hadn't really won the 'Uncle of the Year' award, had he? It was only when it seemed to be starting to escalate again that he took in a slow breath, "Enough," his voice would rumble finally. "Just because he is family by blood, or by title, does not mean you have an obligation to him. The Ascendants are your family. We have been your family. His mistake is not being there for that." He rose back to his paws calmly, giving Jerseyboy an even look for a moment before he inclined his head softly. "Drinks are in the Observatory. But I would re-consider what your priorities are, sir." Perhaps the title was sarcastic, his words far from necessary, but this was a fact he was well aware of, his gaze dropping to Melody for a moment as he turned once more. "Come, we will return and show you where it is."

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