NIGHT SHIFT / breakdown

[ROXANNE R.]

[glow=white,1,400]I LOVE YOU, CANNIBAL QUEEN ! — ｡+ﾟ.[/glow]

Time had gone by.

Everyday she had spent staring out the window at night when the cubs had finally fallen asleep, a hope lingering within her chest as she would wait with a small frown on her maw. He was coming back, she was certain of it. He was going to return and raise the cubs with her, they were going to be a family. But then time grew longer and the days went by, Roxanne spending her time with the cubs watching them open their eyes for the first time and take their first wobbly steps towards her. Every moment she spent with her cubs even if her chest ached with such a pain once the sun would set letting the moon rise in its place. Roxie continuing the nightly habit of hers, waiting by the window, and hoping to see Greed run over. He would come inside, apologize to her, kiss her, hold her in his arms and see their cubs. He'd regret ever leaving them. They'd be the happy family Roxanne had dreamt of the moment she had agreed to spend Valentine's day with her lover. Yet more time went by and Roxanne was growing exhausted, her eyes half closed as she found herself staring out the window that night. A saddened smile on her maw seeing the sun already slowly rising over the horizon, tears stinging at her eyes as they slipped down her cheeks. She left her house so she wouldn't wake up her children as she stepped out onto the beach.

Her paws sinking into the sand, her body felt heavy as she stared out to the ocean reaching the shore. Bittersweet memories racing through her mind. She had confessed her feelings for him here. They had talked and kissed here. He had told her he had loved her several times here. Now... Now, she stood there by herself with her body shaking with tears and a few hiccups erupting from her maw. Tail lashing to the sides unsure of how to feel. Was she supposed to be angry? Sad? All she felt was the shatter of her heart and these emotions of hers began to tear at it like a hungry dog. Her voice shaky as she murmured out with such a pain "G... Greed..." Oh, how he had torn her heart and she hadn't known if it had been his intent to begin with but his actions and not returning it was enough. It was enough to break Roxanne Roux. It wasn't the first time he had hurt her and she wasn't certain if it would be the last either. She closed her eyes sitting down slowly watching a few hermit crabs running to the tides, the foam lapping them up. Her face still twisted in pain, maybe it was her own fault that he was gone.

She lowered her body to the ground pathetically letting the waters lap at her paws now covered by wet sand, she mumbled out with a few hiccups "I'm... s-sorry..." Maybe she had scared him away. He had seen the other side of her, the cannibalistic side, maybe he had been disgusted to ever love her to begin with? No, no, no. Her mind swirled with these thoughts in her head each one damaging her heart, taking a chunk out of it, the warmth that she once felt in her chest slowly fading. Her heart bled out unable to find some form of healing. She had her children and family, they would be there for her. She loved them for that. Yet it still bothered her recalling the time she had been stupid enough to sleep with Greed in the past and it only felt like it was reoccurring once more, history repeating itself. He had left. Left a cold spot on the other side of her bed, his scent faint and mingling with her own. Even ice cream and movies didn't soothe her rather they brought her a great pain, remembering how they'd laid with one another eating at the frozen treat.

Roxanne continued to lay there drawing things in the wet sand only to watch them be swept away and erased.  "J... Just like us," Her voice croaked out, ears pressed against her cranium. Now, she had accepted being alone and unloved by her own lover. Wherever he was, she hoped he was hurting just the same or at least felt remotely guilty. Five cubs having been created from their love... A single cub having a similar appearance to the father, her heartaches at the small memories of how she would always look pained or sad whenever she looked at Trygve. She knew that Ry noticed since he always frowned at her asking if she was okay. She always told him that she was fine, she was just thinking. Then there was Natyli, half of herself and Greed, yet his half was missing from the family. Her chest ached. Both Ry and Natyli would remind her of the man whom she loved so dearly, of the man who loved her, of the man who left her... Heartbroken. Lost. And alone. Her body shook with sobs as plump tears rolled down her cheeks, hiccups causing her body to quake further.

"I'm lost..." [glow=COLOR,1,400] ━ ✧*:･ﾟ[/glow]

[Grimm]

[align=center][div style="font-family: arial; font-size: 11px; width: 60%; text-align: justify; line-height:120%"]A soft notion arising from the edges of brine encased horizon, ever shifting yet stagnant. There is nothing to halt the twining of rose and plum, delicate hints of orange lacing the other edges of wisps pulled along by slow breeze. Brief the shroud of darkness, hidden behind the softness of ivory lids depths grown weary as exhaustion tugged with an increasing insistence. Yet aside it all pushed once more, small the paw arising to rub at aching eyes.

In a manner this time of slow rousing, when the soft hues of dawn touched the dwindling boundaries of fading night, belonged to Eulia as no other might.

Cool the glass upon which forehead pressed, light the tink of rounded edges making contact their own, sleepy the murmur parting their lips. Had not it been for the fresh divets pressed into the accumulated grains it may well have been stolen were they by the teasing lull of pleasant dreams, confusion alighting within the turbulent tumble of quickened thoughts. Early the hour of rise for many of them, it seemed of limitless potential the energy singing with a bright tune through new nerves, haste present within stumbling steps.

Unsure proved the child, for a moment framed within the minimal opening of door. Poor the vision permitted by washed out depths of lilac, narrowed in an effort to discern what adorned the stretch of beach laid before them. It was the quiet presence of worry encircling the edges of their thoughts that finally pushed them forth, among the small prints left in their wake a more shallow groove apparent where the length of their tail lay atop the grains. Familiar the sweetness of preciously crafted baked goods, underlying the note of dying milk for unneeded its production, yet of strength something merely her own.

"Mama…" Quiet the squeaky call falling from trembling lips, aching with a building pressure their heart as the odd noise produced by solitary figure registered. Unimpeded their further approach, though some hesitance prevailed their attempt to insert themself between the forelegs of the draconid jaguar, leaning closer to press their muzzle against her chest. "Mama not meant be sad."

[michael t.]

Michael honestly didn't know all that much about Greed. Oh, he certainly knew of the other large feline, considering the stories that Roxie had recounted for him in the past, but as for a personal meeting? None had really happened. His sister had continued promising him over and over that he would eventually get to meet the father of her cubs after some time had passed, because surely he was going to be back soon. It had honestly kind of broken the bobcat's heart, seeing his sister, who was usually so smart and confident, clinging to a notion that very much didn't seem to be true. The thief wanted to believe that people could change, but... ultimately he knew that they often didn't, instead just manipulating and hurting those in their way. Hell, he knew it was a bit hypocritical of him to be making such judgements, considering he had stolen, murdered, and kidnapped in the past, but at least he had never left the mother of his children behind without another word. That was a cardinal sin in his mind, leaving behind someone that you loved, along with all the responsibility that you had heaped upon them. At least when he had "died" he hadn't been leaving Trevor with five kits, and he had ultimately done it for the other's safety.

Now that the cubs had come along, Michael had definitely been able to see the edges of his sister's facade cracking slightly. She had been overjoyed at first, so caught up in the bliss of having her new babies with her and having them all be safe, but as the days had continued to go by with the cubs gradually growing and opening their eyes... there was no Greed in sight. Michael had spent most of his time after the cubs had been born with Roxie, helping her out in whatever small ways he could manage while also often grappling with exhaustion and his own responsibilities back home. Thankfully there were plenty within the Typhoon that wanted to offer their services, which meant he didn't constantly have to be around, but when he was... he could always notice that gleam. That faint shine of sorrow and hesitation that was hidden in Roxie's gaze as she looked down at her and Greed's cubs, clearly filled with emotion. In those moments, he had always just wanted to go over to her and hug her until that gleam faded, slipping away from her eyes in a wash of relieving tears. However, most of the time Roxie would just look at him and smile, giving him some task or pointing attention to the cubs when she noticed him catching on.

As the days dragged on, and Roxie grew to have more and more little signs of her inner sorrow emerging, Michael felt the signs of his anger bubbling beneath the surface. He had never been a particularly calm male, but generally he had been mellowing out more as of late, and hadn't been prone to the bursts of anger that had come often as a younger bobcat. Now, however? That anger had returned with a vengeance, growing and twisting within him like a wicked thing whenever he saw Roxie glancing out the window. If he ever saw Greed... he was going to rip that bastard limb from limb, and feed him to Kal. Greed was making his sister miserable, and that was an unforgivable offense to Michael. The fugitive had spent so long in his life without a family that gave a single shit about him, and now that he had others who he cared about and vice versa? There wasn't a chance in hell that he was going to let anybody hurt them, intentionally or not. And as far as Michael was concerned, this had to be intentional. What kind of guy just disappeared off of the face of the Earth when his kids were about to be born? A deadbeat, not somebody who had something urgent to attend to, or somebody who was in danger. Greed was just another selfish bastard that hadn't wanted to deal with what would've been a good life.

Usually whenever Michael got up early, it was because he was searching for something to steal, rather than any sort of pure motivations. However, this morning was different. It wasn't exactly uncommon for him to have the occasional bout of insomnia, brought on not by any particular thing, but generally just a plague of anxiety that trapped him inside his own mind, unable to properly get any rest. He'd been having one of those unfortunate nights when he emerged from his home, stretching his short limbs out and carefully closing the door behind him as he exited. He moved down the shoreline slowly, still a little stuck in his own thoughts as he focused his half blind gaze downwards, at the grains of sand. He finally rose his head, however, when the scent of his sister came to him. His heart sank when he saw Roxie and Eulia together, an unpleasant twist striking his insides as he watched the tears slipping down Roxie's cheeks. Moving over after a moment of hesitation, the oddly naked bobcat pressed gently into his sister's side, without any of the usual metal of his jewelry between them. As their pelts brushed together, he mumbled softly, a heavy sigh leaving him as he kneaded at the sand, "Roxie... Rox, I'm sorry. You know we're here for you. Everyone here is... things are gonna be okay." He technically didn't know what she was crying about, but it hardly took a hardened detective to catch on after how things had been going for weeks now.

[glow=#75603C,1,000]" oh, it's a setup, no, no, we won't fall. "[/glow]

[APHRA CIPHER .]

perhaps if aphra had been raised right, she wouldn't feel like she had to be distant from her own children. they didn't appear to be around the typhoon anymore - neither did pincher - but in all honesty, aphra was quite content with that. their children were a mistake; they should have never been born. so aphra could not relate to roxanne wanting to have a happy, loving family. to her, that 'happy, loving family' was one who never associated with each other. if they never saw each other, there would be no fighting, and as such, everyone was happy. not loving per say, but happy.

aphra heard that roxanne had bore cubs, though the oriental longhair didn't care in the slightest. she somewhat sympathized the other female in the sense of falling in love and the other disappearing, but the kids themselves? aphra didn't care. roxanne decided to let herself conceive, she would have to deal with the consequences. the cipher heiress came up to roxanne, having been alerted by the sound of her hiccups. "you're not helping." aphra mumbled to michael, rolling her icy eyes at his words. that's not how you help a grieving woman. maybe she really did care, but that wasn't something she was going to admit out loud.

fighting the urge to recoil away from the wet sand clinging and dirtying up her fur, aphra decided to sit close to roxanne - but didn't quite touch the other girl yet. after all, that would be invading valuable space. and when a woman was upset, she didn't want attention - she wanted to be left alone. if one must comfort her, they better have their space - that was, at least, how aphra felt. aphra took a deep breath and forced a small smile on her face. "hey, why don't we go get a drink or something?" she asked, casting a glance at eulia. "i'm sure michael or someone wouldn't mind watching your kids for a while." a girl's night out, so to speak. that would be aphra's way of coping, at least.

★ open your eyes up, step in the ring ━