so many stars (OPEN)

[Deleted]

i am the
ghost in the shadows

Okay, yeah, Myka probably shouldn’t have been out that late. There had to be some kind of curfew trying to keep minors indoors after dark in a city like this, and night was fast approaching. But honestly, was anyone really going to try and stop her? It was summer, school was out, the air was humid, and Myka just wanted to enjoy some good old fashioned nature. She wasn’t that tired anyways. Besides, the New Orleans city park was nothing short of beautiful, with its shimmering lakes, pretty flowers, cool architecture, and oddly-shaped trees. When she’d first moved to the city a couple years ago, back when she learned that she’d inherited probably the most peculiar family trait, she’d spent a lot of time tucked in between the branches and watching the people down below. It was a sort of crossroads for her, a place where the solitude and rustic feel of her small hometown melded with the lively spirit of New Orleans, and she loved every second she spent out there. Getting yelled at for breaking curfew was absolutely worth the risk.

And at least it got her out of the Phalanx Home. It was better than living on the floor above Aunt Kathy’s bar, yeah, but not by that much. There were still rules and classes and people who tried to tell her where and when to do what. She just kept telling herself that it was better than Primrose.

She meandered along one of the paved paths that followed the edge of a lake, hands in her pockets and pale gray eyes watching the sky as the sunset cycled through the colors. She had an earbud plugged into her left ear, and some crappy electronic song was playing, but she wasn’t really paying any attention. To anything. Which is probably why she slammed shoulder-first into some poor unsuspecting pedestrian going the opposite way.

"Oh, my God, I am so sorry," was the first thing to slip out of her mouth.

337 // @open // outfit
notes: hello hi myka & I are shy

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[Casey Jaimison Foster]

Yea, so there were a lot of people outside trying to avoid the impending curfew. CJ was eighteen, so the curfew didn't mean much to him... but the young man had no distinguishing maturity about him that removed him from the necessity to stay inside after dark. People often forgot he had become an adult. Often, he forgot it himself. That day, though, had been filled with reminders of his approaching adulthood. Most of his time was spent in Phalanx, and while he wasn't in class he was serving coffee to grumpy, overtired city-goers in a local café. He didn't get to spend a lot of time outside, so he was eager to leave the coffee shop at the end of his shift. Normally, he turned right, involuntarily heading back to Phalanx. This time, he turned left.

He wasn't even sure why he did it, but the air felt nice and he had no regrets. In fact, he was very happy with his decision to walk around... until he was bumping into someone. CJ really should have expected it-- he could never just have a normal walk alone. Granted, he had been walking pretty quickly and not really paying attention to what was in front of him. As they collided, he immediately stopped and turned around and... okay, it could have been worse like at least no one was on the ground with a bunch of fallen paper like those romantic movie scenes.

Oh, my God, I am so sorry. "Nah-- it's fine. Totally my fault. To be honest I shouldn't be allowed to be out in public unsupervised," he rambled, his hands racing as the words rushed out. He glanced over her quickly as it clicked. "I've seen you before. Your hair's pretty cool. I thought about dying mine once but knowing me, I'd overdo it and my hair would fall out. And I refuse to be bald because my head has a weird shape." In case it wasn't made clear, Casey didn't possess a filter.

TAG: @myka | NOTES: hope this is okay!

♥︎

[Deleted]

i am the
ghost in the shadows

She glanced around to assure herself that no one died in the collision, and thankfully, nothing was on fire and no one was crying. Hallelujah. She was perfectly fine herself, if a bit jarred, and the curly-haired stranger she just shoulder rushed was certainly talking like he was uninjured, hands doing... something that she assumed meant they probably weren’t broken. All in all, it was still a good evening. She could still make it through the night without paying anyone else’s hospital bills.

Nice of Curly here to take the blame, though, in case someone did need their bills taken care of. Not that that was very likely, but still.

And then he said something about seeing her before. Which, honestly, would be kind of creepy and stalker-ish if she didn’t recognise him, too. Now that she looked at him-- actually looked at him, not just a quick scan up and down for blood or bone or bruise-- he did look familiar. She couldn’t pin down where, exactly, but she’d seen that scruffy face before. Which was weird. Myka didn’t exactly socialize all that often. She’d lived in New Orleans for, what, almost two years, and didn’t really know anyone other than the occasional fellow Phalanx student. It was doubly rare for her to meet anyone outside the school. Maybe that’s where Curly was from?

Your hair’s pretty cool. Unsurprisingly, that was not the first time she’d heard that particular phrase. Generally, it came from children, or other girls, but she couldn’t blame him. Pink hair was cool. It was part of the reason why she did it. That, and pink hair was usually pretty hard to miss, and Myka liked to leave an impression when she actually did interact with some other being. The risk of going bald had never occurred to her, though. “Now that you mention it, my hair falling out is probably my new biggest fear,” she snickered out. “I mean, no one looks good bald. Most heads are shaped weird. They’re at this strange place between a sphere and an egg, give or take a little.”

353 // Casey Jaimison Foster // notes: of course it's fine!

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[Casey Jaimison Foster]

It definitely could have gone a lot worse. The girl seemed to be really chill. He almost expected her to go off on some tangent about how he was irresponsible and disrespectful and all that before she even opened her mouth. It had been a quick assumption he'd made, out of his head as quickly as it had gone in. From the second the girl spoke, he could tell that he was happy it had happened.

They're at this strange place between a sphere and an egg, give or take a little. "Yanno, that's a good description-- I've been trying to come up with the right terminology." Because, obviously, that was how Casey Foster spent his free time. Now that she solved the mystery, he was going to have to come up with a new hobby. If this went well, maybe he could take up bumping into people in the park. "My father's bald. I'm too chicken to ask him if it runs in the family. I hope you don't go bald-- I mean, I feel like the odds are in your favor. Girls are less likely to develop conditions that cause hair loss... I think," CJ rambled, running a hand through his own hair. "Well-- you probably know way more about my head than you needed to," he added, scoffing. "I'm CJ," he introduced. "Most people I meet start to walk away after the first fourteen seconds of talking." So, to his standards, he was doing pretty well.

And then he was having a revelation. "You go to Phalanx!" That was it that was totally it. He remembered a specific incident. "One time I was charging my phone in the common room and that one electric kid set the cord on fire. The sprinklers went off and I handed you a gift certificate to the coffee shop on Laetare Avenue because I felt bad." He recalled it pretty well. He handed out a bunch of those gift certificates (his boss was going to kill him) but again, her hair made her a little more memorable than everyone else.

TAG: @myka | NOTES: so sorry for the wait! so busy during the week

♥︎

[Deleted]

i am the
ghost in the shadows

Oh, how she loved meeting people she fit well with. Myka wasn’t exactly a social butterfly, but more like a social moth, smaller wings and less colors and more oddball humor, like comparing human craniums to egg-like spherical shapes. A lot of people would probably have forced out a nervous laugh and backed away at that, but Curly here just kind of went with it. It was... Refreshing, almost, like a gulp of cold lemonade on a humid summer day. But for the soul. Or... something.

My father’s bald. I’m too chicken to ask if it runs in the family. And what a shame it would be for him to go bald. What else would she call him if he didn’t have his hair? She doesn’t know enough about him to give him any other nickname. Park-boy, maybe? Face-I-Know-I’ve-Seen-Before-But-I-Can’t-Place? Neither had much appeal.

Thankfully, he gave his name. No more nickname issues, then. “Well, thank you, Cj, and I hope that you don’t go bald either. To our glorious hair. May it never leave us.” If she had a goblet, or any other drink container, for that matter, she’d have raised it up for a mock toast. Unfortunately, she did not, so she just kinda halfheartedly raised an arm and shrugged. “Oh, yeah. I’m Myka,” she added quickly. “Every time. I always forget that.”

And then he spoke so quickly Myka half expected him to drop down and grab some part of him that maybe had been injured in their collision earlier. Thankfully, he was still fine. And Myka had been right about Curly-- erm, CJ-- being from Phalanx, apparently. “Oh yeah! I remember that! The sprinklers ruined the book I was reading.” It’d been some crappy romance novel with poorly-written characters and plot holes so big they almost swallowed the whole story, so it hadn’t been a major loss, but she’d had fun laughing at all the cliches. And that had most definitely been CJ that handed her the gift certificate. “I still have that thing, by the way. I don’t actually like coffee all that much. I could probably get, like, a cookie, or something, though.” Maybe they’d have muffins. Myka really liked muffins.

367 // Casey Jaimison Foster // notes: sooo sorry for the wait! >.<

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[Casey Jaimison Foster]

Well, thank you, CJ, and I hope that you don't go bald either.To our glorious hair. May it never leave us. He jumped right in with his own imaginary goblet, raising it eagerly. "I appreciate that," he said matter-of-factly. No one had ever wished his hair well before. She was a keeper, evidently. Oh, yeah. I'm Myka, Every time. I always forget that. "Cool-- Myka, is that M-I, or 'Y'?" he asked thoughtfully. He would need to know if his parents were going to assign her a sign name. Not too shockingly, the lone initial 'M' was already taken.

Oh yeah! I remember that! The sprinklers ruined the book I was reading. "Mine, too! I was so pissed-- I usually carry a couple comic books on me in my bag and those two were special editions. Took me forever to replace them." He had definitely been inconvenienced that day. "Do you like to read? I heard there's a new bookstore coming in around the corner... should be there by next year. It's supposed to be really impressive... like two stories or something." On slow days in the coffee shop, there wasn't much else to do but read the local paper, so he was generally 'in the know'. That particular story had stood out in his memory.

I still have that thing, by the way. I don't actually like coffee all that much. He chuckled, waving a hand. "It's cool-- not everybody does. I just always happen to have a few in my pocket. I work in Curtis's place down the block from Phalanx," he explained. It'd be kind of weird for him to carry around those things, otherwise. I could probably get, like, a cookie, or something. "Oh, yea, you totally could. We also have pastries and smoothies. Or, you could just hold onto it and I could autograph it. I'll be famous one day, so it'll be worth a lot," he joked. "Okay, I'm not actually that cocky," he quickly corrected, "But I keep forgetting to restring my guitar. Just popped back into my head. I'll have to run by that music store tomorrow. Now I'm rambling... a lot. Hey-- you're from Phalanx-- what's your... thing?" he asked, glancing around to make sure no one was within earshot.

TAG: @myka | NOTES: don't worry about it:D you're worth the wait

♥︎

[Deleted]

i am the
ghost in the shadows

“That would be a Myka with a Y, thankfully,” she said, one brow raised. It was admittedly a bit of a strange question-- people don’t generally worry about the spelling of other people’s names unless they need to write it down. “I feel like if it were an I instead it’d be pronounced like pikachu. Uhm, why do you ask? If you don’t mind me asking? About... you asking... I’m sorry, I’m confusing myself.” So many questions in such a small set of sentences. Really, just went to prove how Myka was a master wordsmith with absolute control over the English language. (Actually, English was among her best subjects, she was just a hell of a lot better at written words than speaking.)

That said, reading was definitely somewhere on her long list of hobbies. Back when she was a kid, before she had her shadows, her dad had read her to sleep every night. It wasn’t necessarily near the top of the list, but when it was late and she didn’t want to wake up others or she was stuck on a plane headed back home for the holidays, she usually had a book of some sort to keep her occupied. So she nodded when CJ asked her if she liked to read. “Two stories? Damn, I’ve gotta get a job. I can’t keep rereading stuff from the Phalanx library. It’s getting boring.” Two whole stories of fresh reading material for those desperate times, and Myka was damn near broke. Fishing around through the top level of dumpsters for junk she could sell off to pawn shops wasn’t exactly the most reliable source of income, she’d learned. Maybe she could serve food at her aunt’s place. As much as she’d hate it, it would still be a job. Or she could ask if that coffee shop that CJ just said he’d worked at was hiring, but a) she’d just met him, and that would be kind of creepy, and she didn’t like coffee, much less know anything about it. Maybe she could do what CJ suggested and sell that gift certificate once he was famous. Maybe they’d grow close enough that when he was famous he’d just buy everything for her with his incredible fortune. It was nice to dream, wasn’t it?

“My thing?” The sun was lowering, and there weren’t many people around the park anymore, but it still wasn’t wise to give a demonstration out in public. “I’m the Queen of Darkness,” she joked, her voice low. “The shadows bow to my every whim. Because genetics, and stuff. And you?”

450 // Casey Jaimison Foster // notes: you're too kind

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[Casey Jaimison Foster]

That would be a Myka with a Y, thankfully, "Right, got it," he said sheepishly, nodding with a grin. I feel like if it were an I instead it'd be pronounced like pikachu. He laughed-- but hey he didn't know. Some people gave their kids the most obnoxious spelling possible. Uhm, why do you ask? If you don't mind me asking? CJ shook his head quickly. "Oh, no, I don't mind. Uh-- my parents are deaf, so if I ever want to bring you up to them, I'll need to spell your name," he explained. "Not... that... I would talk about you to my parents. Or... not that I wouldn't either... now this is awkward," he muttered, rubbing the back of his neck with a chuckle. "I don't know if you know anything about signing, but there aren't, like, set signs for names. A deaf person makes up a sign for you, and then, that's your name." So, if they ever did see each other again, it was important that her name was established. "Oh! Uh, yea, I'm signing. All the time. I forget to explain that to people," he admitted as his hands flew. People probably just looked at him and thought he was crazy. He was okay with that, but now she knew and he'd only actually known her for a few minutes.

I can't keep rereading stuff from the Phalanx library. It's getting boring. "Yeaa, their selection isn't the best," he agreed with a smirk. "I mean, hey, it looks great for the first year or so." But... then you started taking out the same few titles and you realized how little it actually had. Unfortunately, books didn't seem to be everyone's highest priority. CJ would fix that his very first day as King of the world.

My thing? He nodded eagerly, very curious, though if that was information she didn't want to share, he wasn't going to push. For some people, the question was a little sensitive. The shadows bow to my every whim. Because genetics, and stuff. "No way," he said incredulously. "I've never heard of anything like that... must be really cool." It wasn't your average 'oh I can read minds' crap, so that was awesome. "I'm a skinwalker," he shared, awkwardly glancing around again. "It's cool, I guess. I'm really good at stalking people," he said in jest. Other than that, he didn't see much use for it but it definitely got him into some interesting situations.

TAG: @myka | NOTES: n/a

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