Courtyard

[The Exodus]

Need a bit of fresh air? No worries Partygoers can excuse themselves to the Jardin des Tuileries for a smoke, a private chat, or a moment to collect in the chilly night air. Usual Rules Apply Party End Date Will Be Announced Have Fun!

[blueeyeddevil]

Reese Cordova

Reese was doing a lot better with her image problems and about eating properly. She wasn't going without eating anymore and had actually been eating three meals a day ever since she had gotten back from the rehab center. But there were still times when simply the smell of food made her feel sick to her stomach. She could only handle so much at a time and the vast amount of foods here at the party was starting to make her feel a little woozy. She decided it would be a good idea if she stepped out for a few minutes.

She started feeling better as soon as she was outside, breathing air that wasn't filled the smells of cheeses and spices. She sighed with relief and went into the courtyard which was quiet and peaceful. She was a bit crazy and manic at times, but she did have times when quiet was nice. She pulled her coat around her further and she found a bench and closed her eyes as she lay out across it, giggling a little as snow drifted down on to her face, tickling her face and sticking in her spiky black hair.

[The Exodus]

Santiago Ortiz

Perhaps his judgment had been impaired by the whisky, but Santiago Ortiz had actually agreed to help Catalina Reyes find her missing man. Her brother, Lorenzo, was Santiago’s former gang leader, former mentor, and former friend. Perhaps his decision had been motivated by sappy, sentimentality. Or, perhaps it had been the alluring promise of payment for his services. Or perhaps it had been the way Catalina said, “I need you, Diego” that had something usually dormant in his chest and abdomen thrumming. This young widow, almost as dangerous as he, needed him. Not some prim, proper chorus girl or something. Santiago wondered if the idea turned him on or if Catalina herself did. Most men would say the latter. But Santiago was the sort of adrenaline junkie who burned for a challenge. And maybe, at the end of the day, it was the thrill of the chase Santiago had said yes to. He couldn’t say. He didn’t want to over-analyze.

Here were the facts. A man was missing. Santiago was going to find him. Catalina would pay him. Business as usual for the ex-gangster.

Well, it used to be business as usual. And now, standing outside with a cigarette and trying to clear his head, Santiago realized he hadn’t taken anyone but himself into consideration with this deal. He hadn’t cared what it meant to freelance for a gang where his career, his friends, his co-workers were concerned.

Why should you? he thought lazily, perhaps bitterly. No one bothers with your feelings. People disappear from your life at whim. Good riddance. This isn’t any different. Who do you want to keep anyways? Nobody’s worth sh*t to you anymore.

But that wasn’t entirely true. For the last few moments, Santiago had been watching Reese Cordova in the snowy courtyard with the eyes of a predator. He watched her every move. She was cold; she drew her jacket round herself tighter. She laid on a bench. Each of her breaths were marked by white fog. She was laughing or breathing too quickly; probably the former, as her chest rose and fell and little puffs issued out. Santiago took a drag of his cigarette.

Damn Reese. She was the only person in all of Paris who cared about Santiago. Really cared. As far as he was concerned, she was something whole and wonderful and practically perfect. Her only flaw, like a hairline crack in a Ming vase, was that she trusted so easily. Loved easily. It would be the downfall of her entire character if she wasn’t careful.

If Santiago wasn’t careful.

Twice she’d come too close to his past. The first, she’d been mistaken for his girlfriend (ex-girlfriend now) and been beaten half to death. Santiago repaired her on his kitchen table with street surgeon’s hands. The second, she’d seen him caught in a turf war with Bennot trash. She’d been lucky both times. What if there was a third time? Only cats had nine lives.

Santiago didn’t like the implications of the three-strikes rule. Now, by taking Catalina’s offer, he’d managed to put Reese in the periphery of a crime scene. He wasn’t a licensed Private Investigator, which may have rendered his pact with Catalina illegal. But even if it didn’t, Santiago wasn’t above breaking—bending—the law for his version of the greater good. In this case, finding Lorenzo. What if he went to jail? Reese would be the one betrayed. What if he died? Reese really would be his chief mourner. What if the Netas or Gardunas came for Reese to get to Santiago? Three strikes, you’re out.

Santiago had caused deaths before. Of loved ones. Gisele, for instance. He’d spent much of his time with Rachel obsessing over preventing her from being the next Gisele of his life. But he could hear so many people’s words in his head: Gisele was never yours. Therein lied all the difference. Reese was not Santiago’s and it was being his loved one without being his that marked a girl for death. In his mind, the logic was sound. Sound and terrifying.

A man with more tact would know how to broach this topic with a friend as dear as Reese. But Santiago never was one for speeches. He sucked on his cigarette until it was little more than a nub. He considered using it to light a second, but if he did that, Santiago would chain smoke the night away and lose Reese in the crowd. He threw the cigarette to the ground and shuffled to her.

“Got a minute, chica?” he asked, standing over her with his hands balled up in his pockets. “Walk with me.”

[blueeyeddevil]

Reese Cordova

Laying there was peaceful and calmin. She was rather enjoying the moment. Suddenly she picked up the familiar scent of cigarettes and body wash and she opened her eyes with a smile. Sure enough, there was Santiago. She beamed at him, leaping up and throwing her arms around him as she always did. Reese had a lot of people she knew and got along with but Santiago was one of her few true friends. He was someone she could rely on and feel close to. It felt like an enternity since she had last seen him.

"Hey there!! How have you been?!" she cried out happily.

“Got a minute, chica?” he asked and almost immediately she felt her smile slip just a bit. She had a bad feeling. Usually whenever Santiago called her by an affectionate nickname in Spanish, she didn't really know what it meant, but this time she did...little girl. Still she nodded in agreement “Walk with me.” he requested.

She slipped her arm through his as they found the path that went along the Courtyard. There was a a few moments of silence now but this silence wasn't like anything that had existed between them previously. Usually if there was silence it was light and comfortable...the kind of silence that existed between two close friends. This time it was heavy and suffocating, the unknown subject of what Santiago wanted to talk about still handing in the air. "Is everything all right," she asked softly, fingers curling around his arm as if to keep him here. "What was it you wanted to talk about?"

[The Exodus]

OOC: Sorry for the delay!! School is a madhouse! BIC:

Santiago Ortiz

The phrase “for her own good” kept rolling around in Santiago’s head, but it brought him no comfort. He would admit it: he was a selfish man. Selfishly, he didn’t want to sacrifice his one friend because the idea of being alone once you got used to being around people again was terrifying. He half-wished for his ignorant, safe solitude. No one to look out for but number one. Not anymore. That fact was only augmented by Reese’s arm twined around his.

Jesus, it was cold out here.

The familiar urge to bolt tingled through him. Running away solved the problem of caring and being cared for. But he’d been trained not to disappear without a goodbye. He owed Reese courtesy, if not a proper explanation.

"Is everything all right?" Reese asked. She held him tighter. "What was it you wanted to talk about?"

He exhaled. Puffs of steam issued from his mouth and nose, making him all dark and draconian against the lights and snow. How did he used to do this? Drop a bomb without destroying everything? A smarter man—Santiago sober, at any rate—would have already devised a proper plan. He didn’t have one. He couldn’t think of one. Nothing but the phrase “for her own good”.

“Some things came up,” he said. “Family issues.”

He didn’t have to say it wasn’t his family. He didn’t have to explain that the Gardunas were as good as brothers and sisters to him when he’d needed a family. Gang loyalty was hard to explain. Blood was thicker than water, even if it was blood you spilled with someone or for them. He’d taken an oath of blood once. There’d never been a proper blood-out for him. He was still alive. For now, anyways. And as long as he breathed, Santiago Ortiz owed a debt to those who’d helped to make him. Otherwise, he was as good as dead. And he didn’t think for a second they wouldn’t go after Reese if he failed. Kill his loved ones first, let him watch, then put him out of his misery. He knew how the system worked. Some people he’d loved were lucky; others dead. For her own good.

Santiago pried his arm from Reese’s grasp and stopped walking.

“I don’t want anything from you,” he told her. “Not pity, not help. Definitely not tears. Just, do yourself a favor and let me take care of this. Alone. You know, by myself. Don’t call me, I’ll call you sort of thing.”

Bad jokes were not his strong suit. Not appropriate, either, come to think of it. It sounded like a bad break up line in his head.

I need some time alone, to clear my head. How many times had he said that? To lovers? Friends? His family?

The big difference was he meant that this time. He’d be back. He really would. Because if he didn’t die, he wasn’t going anywhere.

“I want… I need to be alone for a while. A week, two weeks, tops.” The second part was a lie. He had no idea how long this would take. He might never find Lorenzo. He might die. “You know how it is.”

He hoped she never would.

[blueeyeddevil]

Reese Cordova

She walked arm in arm with Santiago for a moment, silence surrounding them. She gazed up at him, searching his face and trying to figure out what was going through his head. Usually he at least seemed happy to see her. They had become very close and she valued his friendship very deeply. She had thought he felt the same way, but just these first few minutes had her thinking otherwise. He seemed deeply troubledand she finally provoked him to tell her what was going on.

“Some things came up. Family issues.” he explained cryptically. Reese found it odd as Santiago had never really mentioned his family before. Honestly, she hadn't known he had any living relatives. She supposed that even if he didn't talk about them, whoever was in trouble was still his family and he felt the need to help them out.

She started to opene her mouth and ask if there was anything she could do to help him, but he cut her off before she spoke. “I don’t want anything from you,” he told her as he stopped walking and pulled out of her grasp. “Not pity, not help. Definitely not tears. Just, do yourself a favor and let me take care of this. Alone. You know, by myself. Don’t call me, I’ll call you sort of thing.”

Reese looked up at him with a sad smile, blue eyes meeting his. "You know, I think we actually have to be dating for you to break up with me," she said with a weak attempt at a laugh. It wasn't the happy little sound that a laugh was suppose to be.

“I want… I need to be alone for a while. A week, two weeks, tops.” he assured her, though for whatever reason, she didn't feel very assured. Suddenly she felt like crying but Santiago had told her no tears so she refused to cry in front of him. “You know how it is.” he said and the truth was, she didn't. She didn't understand the need to whatever it was alone and she didn't understand what it was he felt he had to do alone. But she would respect his wishes.

"No, I don't. I really don't know how it is..." she admitted softly. "If something had happened in my family, I would want my friends there to help me through it." She gave a little shrug and sighed. "But you aren't me. And if time alone is what you want then I'll leave you alone. Just don't stay away too long, okay?" There was a soft pleading in her voice as she asked this. She just hoped he heard it.

[The Exodus]

OOC: I think this post will wrap us up, unless you'd like to add something? In any case, we need to pick our next location, for which I am ecstatic! BIC:


Santiago Ortiz

Goodbye was the hardest word. Someone had said that, someone smarter than Santiago. He hadn’t believed that during his youth, since he was the sort to disappear like smoke from lives. A killer, a gangster, nobody’s anything. He flitted in and out of back alleyways, seedy bars, and public plazas alike, remorseless no matter who he was leaving behind. But the older he got, the more tied to this earth he was. With Myron safely tucked away in rehab, the other man was in no danger. But Reese was in danger just talking to Santiago now and she always would be as long as he still bore Garduna insignia. Perhaps even after that. But even when it was for her own good, Reese was Santiago’s hardest goodbye yet. Rachel had left him what was surely a lifetime ago and he’d been suicidal. Now, he could feel a little part of him dying. This time, there would be no biological evidence of this miniature death, but it would feel just as real.

"No, I don't. I really don't know how it is..." she admitted softly. "If something had happened in my family, I would want my friends there to help me through it."

Santiago supposed this was where he differed from other people. When intensely personal problems arose—family or not—he wanted those he loved best as far away from the situation. Safe, protected. He wished he didn’t have to do things alone, but it worked better that way. He was more efficient alone; others need not risk their lives only to slow him down.

But you aren't me. And if time alone is what you want then I'll leave you alone. Just don't stay away too long, okay?”

“Queridita,” he said, taking her hands into his and holding them. They were chilly in his, cold and small and insubstantial. Vulnerable. He was doing the right thing. “I don’t make promises I can’t keep. I’ll do what I can. That I promise.”

He squeezed her hands and sighed, but the tightness lodged in his chest wouldn’t go away.

“Reese…” His voice broke for the first time in a long time. Santiago cleared his throat.. “I… care about you, Reese. Hermanita de mi corazon.”

He’d never really told her—or anyone—how he felt and saying the words cemented them, weighing his chest down tighter. But he really did love her, the sister he would have picked for himself. Sister of his heart.

He released her then because anything else would be too much, too far outside of himself, too hard to live with later. And without another word, Santiago Ortiz slunk away and didn’t look back. He had a Garduna to find.