echo in my mind ,

[Celia Giovanni]

so far, valkyrie had been a bore for celia giovanni. then again, she was the kind of girl that needed something new often; the kind that needed change and didn't like routines. she wanted excitement and variety, but her wants didn't really matter. celia would have to be careful about everything and anything, despite how insignificant a task may be. she wanted to be known in high school, yet she hated the idea of a hierarchy, and apparently all the girls here became known by being bitchy and scandelous, and she was not willing to fall in the category. celia giovanni had more dignity than that, which may have been another reason why she didn't really fit in with most of valkyrie, california. everyone that was anyone seemed so messed up, yet they were loved and worshipped. they were the ones who became homecoming and prom kings and queens. it didn't make any sense to her, but celia knew that she had more important things to worry about than popularity. she didn't give a damn if she didn't fit in as long as she had friends and didn't turn into another clone. there were more significant problems in her life than whether that prada bag some girl had was real or not, or if that boy liked her back. only a few more years and she would be able to escape this californian version of hell, and go to college where things might actually be less annoying. after all, most of the people in the university had to want to be there; it wasn't required.

celia giovanni was sure that she wanted to go to college and graduate, but the thing was, she had no clue what she wanted to do. actually, that was a lie. celia knew exactly what she wanted to do, and that was get involved with the italian mafia. sure, the idea of putting her life at risk worried her a bit, but at the same time, that's what she wanted. she wanted that rush, along with the thrill that her life would contain if she had participated in the activities of the italian mafia. the boredom of her life would be gone, and maybe she'd finally make her father proud. the only problem was that she needed to make her father proud before she could join the mafia, not after. just because she was a girl, her mother didn't want her to get involved, and her father would surely laugh in her face if she were to mention the idea. why did he need her when he had her two older brothers to fill the roles he needed in the mafia? she could just get married and become a housewife, right? hah, yeah right. why couldn't her father see her potential? why did he always leave her out when he was educating her older brothers on everything? she hated it. she hated how just because she was a female, people didn't think she was capable of so many things, but celia was determined to prove all of those people who thought girls were the inferior gender wrong. most importantly, however, she was determined to make her father proud of her.

just not at this very moment.

she may have had her dreams and goals, but celia was still a teenager, and as previously mentioned, one that gets bored easily. the traditional trip to las vegas sounded perfect to her. despite looking down on everyone going with the "what happens in vegas, stays in vegas" motto and thinking that everything really would stay in vegas, celia still needed to get away. she wasn't going to be at home watching television while practically everyone was off in las vegas, and even if she was too young to do anything, celia was going to make sure that she had a good time. she wanted to be carefree for a few days, but even she knew she would have to be careful, for if she wasn't, one trip to the police station could spoil her family's secret, and she'd most likely be hated by everyone - that was not a way to make her father proud. yes, that meant that she wasn't very willing to sneak into clubs and play at the casinos, which meant to many, she was going to be boring, but celia knew there were other forms of entertainment. plus, she was still the new girl around not only valkyrie, but the united states, so she wasn't sure what to expect. celia would have much rathered explore the sights than drink into she puked on other people. plus, after settling into the hotel, she didn't feel like doing too much work. her first day wasn't going to be too wild and crazy, and thanks to some research she had done before the trip, celia knew exactly where to go.

the girl had stopped by the bellagio hotel to see the fountains. the water show was simple and would have gotten boring for some people, but celia enjoyed it. she needed something to keep her interest, even if it was just for a few minutes, after just arriving in vegas and still being tired from being in the car for what seemed like forever. it was funny how water could keep her entertained, but then again, it was beautiful. oh, how celia loved nature. sights like these would just have to keep her interest until she really started meeting people and started opening up a bit. it wasn't that she was shy, but more like celia had trouble trusting people, especially with her family secret. people would turn on you in an instant, even if something was just a misunderstanding, and if they were to know something about you and were filled with rage, what would hold them back from spreading your secrets to the world? nothing. it's not that she had trouble making friends; more like she had trouble finding ones that weren't followers. ones that had dignity. and those ones were exactly the ones she needed to find before she became a loner in high school, and that would definitely make things even more boring than they already were.

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NOTES • tbh, i didn't like this post. i will try to do better next time xD also, have celia and robbie met before?
WORD COUNT • 1030 .
LET'S FLAUNT IT • click .
TAGGED • robbie / clare .
SETTING • thursday night at the treasure island hotel hallway (with a janitor's closet nearby ;D) in vegas !
CREDITS • lyrics to snsd; format & banner by me.

[Robbie Wallace]

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this was it. the escape from the insane and very over dramatic clutches of both valkyrie and its host state, california. the sole thing (sans pot, whiskey and cigarettes) that had kept robbie wallace functioning for the past few weeks.

vegas.

seeing as he had not spent the entirety of his existence living under some obscure rock out in the middle of nowhere, robbie had grown up hearing all about the legendary city of neon. mostly through references made in sitcoms and movies and various sleazy periodicals, of course. even during his younger days, he remembered thinking that las vegas sounded like the kind of place for him. what wasn't to love? drugs, booze, and naked girls aplenty. a paradise for the morally challenged, and a bright and shiny spectacle for everyone else.

robbie had, of course, quite a while ago heard about valkyrie academy's annual tradition of scuttling on over to vegas for drunken fun and various illicit activities through random stray gossip that one couldn't help but overhear when living in the city of valkyrie. a bit irritating, really, seeing as most of the things it proved impossible not to hear about aggravated him to no end. the existence of the annual migration to the infamous sin city was probably the only damn useful thing he had ever gleaned through valkyrie's almighty, unmatched, surely steroid-abusing grapevine. and ever since he had gleaned that little tidbit of glorious knowledge, he had decided to hate the small californian city a little less.

of course, on the record, robbie hated everything, unless he stated otherwise. and he rarely did. thus far, the list of things he did not completely hate was considerably short. it included led zeppelin, marijuana, whiskey, pie, black sabbath, sex, cool cars, and his sister. oh, and, of course, vegas.

he didn't really have any specific plans for any of the time he was scheduled to be there, but he did have several goals. one was to find a bunch of alcohol as soon as possible. another was to find some drugs as soon as possible. he also wouldn't mind having sex with some hot las vegas girl, though he wouldn't be terribly disappointed if that didn't pan out. hell, though, there was not limit on the possibilities that flourished into existence once a girl was nice and smashed. he had decided to be thoroughly prepared for such an incident, even if it might not happen; namely, he had been sure to pack a sufficient amount of condoms. the absolute last thing he wanted was a repeat of the bevin turner odyssey, thank you very muchly.

upon arrival at the treasure island hotel and casion that was to play host to the slew of miscreants from valkyrie academy, robbie had stayed only enough to drop his stuff off in his room before heading out, ignoring all of his peers. he was the lone wolf type, he was. after several minutes of exploring, he got his hands on a couple of shots of whiskey at some random bar he hadn't bothered to learn the name of. the bartender, bless his little heart - which, by the looks of him was no doubt shrivled, shrunken and black - , hadn't cared that robbie didn't have any of the proper identification on him needed for the legal purchase of alcohol. and, on a whim, he had purchased some shrooms from a random sleazy outside, on the sidewalk while on his way back to the hotel to see about mellowing out with some pot back in his hotel room. he hadn't ever done shrooms before, and he was rather curious about trying it. there, now see, robbie wallace wasn't in a complete obstinate, mentally unhealthy rut; he was perfectly willing to try new things. that counted for something in the deranged system that all those psychiatrist types had set up, didn't it?

he strode indifferently back into the hotel, his hand wrapped loosely around the plastic baggie containing his magic mushrooms in the pocket of his jeans. for the most part he ignored the people milling about all around him, except for a couple of girls scuttling about, dressed in a wonderuflly risque manner, looking like they were about ready to head out for a night on the town. after a sly, appraising stare out of the corner of his blue-gray eyes, he cast a small nod in their direction, trying to leave the meaning behind it up to interpretation. he didn't see if they reacted at all to it, for he was continuing on purposefully on his path back to his hotel room.

several floors of generic hotel carpeting later, robbie found himself not too far from his room, when he spotted a girl he vaguely recognized in the hallway... he was ninety nine percent sure that he had seen her around valkyrie academy, so she was probably here with all the students. he didn't remember seeing her on the bus at all... then again, he had pretty much simply listening to his ipod the whole way there, with minimal conversation. so, not really surprising. what was her name...? it started with an s or a c or something.... sarah? cynthia? samantha? he didn't know. she was hot, though, that he did know. she didn't really seem to have that 'badass' quality in her looks that he liked, but whatever. he didn't need that all the time.

"hello there," he said to her, whoever she was, his tone rather indifferent. as he came nearer and nearer to the girl, half absent mindedly, half rather purposefully, he lazily pulled the bag of shrooms out of his pocket and projectiled them a few inches into the air, where they languidly turned over once before landing back into his outstretched hand. just as they did, he spotted a security guard coming around a corner. not twenty five feet away. and him, with illegal drugs in plain sight. well, fuck. there was the chance that the gaurd wouldn't care in a true vegas fashion... but robbie really did not want to risk it.

fortunately, the guy seemed distracted with something he was holding, probably his cell phone. so robbie had a few seconds to act.

and, frankly; he panicked.

instead of just quickly stashing the shrooms back into his pocket like a sensible person, he yanked open the slightly ajar door of a convenient janitor's closet on the wall directly to his right as quietly as he could, grabbed the arm of whatshername, and yanked her inside with him before quickly but quietly shutting the door once again. he couldn't risk her making him a fuss and getting him caught, that was his logic behind that particular move.

shoving the mushrooms back into the pockets of his jeans, he glanced toward whatshername and put a finger to his lips and tried to send a 'be quiet or else' message with his eyes. he craned his head right up next to the door and listened. giving the approximate pace the gaurd had been going at, robbie would guess that he would pass the closet in a few seconds... sure enough, he could make out his foot steps as he walked by. phew.

he wasn't in any particular hurry to leave, seeing as he had whatshername relatively trapped, hehe. leaning back against he door of the closet, he crossed his arms over his chest. "sorry about that," he lied. "what was your name, again, love?"

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STATUS finished.
TAGGED celiaaa.
WHEN & WHERE november '07, hallway of treasure island hotel, vegas baby!
THREADS right here.
CREDITS lyrics: wild light. formatting: me.
NOTES my first post in foreverrrr! i hope this is all okay. let me know if you want me to change anything.

[Celia Giovanni]

here she was, in the city of sin, and yet celia was unsure of how she would be able to enjoy herself. no doubt the italian female had an idea of what vegas was like, despite not being sure of whether what she knew was all stereotypes or facts; most likely, they were a mix of both. at least, that's what she had assumed before arriving in the city, but when she had arrived at the destination, which was the treasure island hotel, celia couldn't help but believe that maybe what she had heard had been pure facts. after all, each time she turned her head, there would be some sort of poster and advertisement that featured half naked women. each time the girl took a step in the hotel, there was at least one female individual dressed in skimpy clothing. didn't they realize how degrading that 'barely there' clothing was? didn't they have an ounce of pride or dignity? from what celia's brown eyes could see, the answer was an obvious no. these bimbos, excuse the rare use of informal vocabulary, were exactly the reasons why women are still being seen as inferior to men, despite the actions of feminists in the past. fortunately, more people feel as if both genders are equal these days, but there are still many who disagree; vegas held one of the reasons as to why that fact was true.

putting all that aside, celia would have to admit that she had some hopes for vegas. honestly, i couldn't be as bad as what she had seen so far, and considering how she had see the luxor, a hotel built in the shape of a pyramid, as well as of course the bellagio water show, there was artistic qualities of vegas that celia would probably learn to appreciate, despite only being in vegas for a few days. being the organized person that she was, celia had of course researched vegas a bit previous to the trip, and had already some ideas as to what she was going to do; none of it involving drinking, partying, or making a completely fool of herself by doing something careless. dignity, remember? to be completely honest, celia did want some sort of attention and recognition for her achievements or maybe just some people knowing of her existance, but she didn't care enough to put herself in a position that made her notorious. unless it were because her father had finally understood that his daughter had potential and gave her a role in the italian mafia, but if he were actually to do so, that was a story for another time. from what celia had learned from her life, her father had no interest in her and would probably be content with celia just being a trophy wife, but unlike him, she had bigger dreams and goals for herself; ones that he would never understand. even as she told her parents that the academy went to las vegas yearly as a tradition, only her mother cared enough to make sure she went with a mind full of morals. her father just nodded and said, "just don't get arrested."; a comment half filled with seriousness and the other half with sarcasm.

it may have been a facetious remark, but celia had such a strong desire to make her father proud that she was determined to follow his every word. she was obedient, but he wouldn't ever notice. even if she did go out and do everything the students of valkyrie academy were illegally doing, jumping on the bandwagon and following their footsteps, her father wouldn't give a damn... so why did she still have such innocent plans? going to the mandalay bay aquariam was on her agenda for tomorrow. originally, watching the "sirens of treasure island" show was on her schedule as well, until she realized it was a show of girls dancing around with sparkly corsets and showing lots of skin while they captured some pirates. although that most likely wasn't a completely accurate description, the general concept did not appeal to her. there was also some buffet at rio that apparently everyone in vegas had to go to, but of course, celia would have to find someone that wouldn't be partying to go with. in addition, she'd probably go around taking pictures of things that didn't seemed interesting; maybe the architecture of some hotels or the fishes, sharks, turtles, and whatever other creatures she'd see tomorrow. celia was more interested in art and nature than most things, but she'd probably have to spend her time seeking it out, for they were probably hidden by the flashy lights and casinos. however, the girl wasn't going to complain; it seemed like an adventure that dora the explorer would envy.

her plans may have been quite flexible, but they definitely didn't include seeing a familiar face that she didn't really want to converse with. the idea of interacting with someone who was tossing a bag of something in the air that had an eighty percent chance of being drugs; actually, more like ninety percent. this was las vegas, after all. although celia wanted to escape to her hotel room and just spend the night on her bed, flipping through channels and snacking, she wasn't going to be rude. who was she to judge this boy before she really knew him? maybe he was some sort of sweetheart that was just putting on an image of rebellion due to his insecurity. the thought of that made her want to scoff, but before celia could do so, and before she could even introduce herself, she was suddenly pulled into some room, which put her in a state of confusion. as celia analyzed her surrounds, she soon recognized it to be a closet, but what she didn't understand was why she was in it with a person she didn't even know the name of; oh dear, that sounded terribly wrong. as he put his finger over her lips, she took her hand and moved his away. obviously, celia giovanni did not enjoy being pulled into a closet and being told to be quiet. as she glared at the boy, her thoughts of 'not being rude' flew out the window, yet she still stayed quiet until he spoke. why? she was unsure.

celia felt the need to roll her eyes as he apologized; that is, if that qualified as an apology at all. her self control stopped her, and just looked at him, unsure of how to respond. she felt the need to yell at this boy, but once again, her self control was strong and her conscience reminded her that it was unnecessary. she just needed to get away. "what was your name, again, love?" if celia had not been so annoyed, she would have laughed at his question, which seemed out of place in this strange situation. "is this how you begin conversations? pulling people into a closet and asking for their names?" her tone filled with curiosity and disbelief. "but then again, who am i to judge your charming ways of breaking the ice?" her comment was filled with sarcasm, and immediately she turned around and reached for the handle. as she tried to turn the doorknob, it only moved slightly, but not enough to open the door. she tried a few more times, only to have the door remain close. her eyes widened and she muttered, "...it won't open." some people would have panicked, and some would have tried to break down the door. celia, however, groaned; she was stuck in a closet with a guy who wanted to know her name, and that same guy was someone she didn't want to associate herself with. what a wonderful world.

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NOTES • omg, sorry for the lateness. when i got back from the vacation, i got lazy, haha.
WORD COUNT • 1295 .
LET'S FLAUNT IT • click .
TAGGED • robbie / clare .
SETTING • thursday night at the treasure island hotel hallway (with a janitor's closet nearby ;D) in vegas !
CREDITS • lyrics to snsd; format & banner by me.

[Robbie Wallace]

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well. this was certainly an interesting turn of events. it was definitely not something he would have foreseen back when he had been imagining what a well needed and long overdue escape the voyage to vegas would be from valkyrie. did anyone really plan on things like this? flinging both yourself and some poor innocent bystander into a janitor's closet to avoid being caught in possession of some thoroughly unsanctioned substances? no, not, when you said it like that, at least. because robbie could definitely imagine someone planning to create certain things about the situation he was currently finding himself in; mostly the 'alone with a girl in a closet' factor.

a hot girl, no less.

however, robbie's action that had brought the two of them into this closet together had not been premeditated and born out of unscrupulous intentions... it hadn't even really been performed in a state of full awareness of what he was doing, for that matter. it had been a kind of reflex type deal, prompted by the panic that had been instilled in him at the sight of that god damned security guard. nonetheless, he couldn't imagine that this girl, whatever the fuck her name turned out to be, would be very happy about the whole thing. she was kind of giving him 'i don't have a very good sense of humor' sort of vibe, along with one along the lines of 'i'm not some random vegas skank'. which meant that she was not the type of girl who would count being pulled into some random janitor's closet by some random guy as any sort of good experience. luckily for her, however, all she had to do to end the entire encounter and being to put it behind her was open the closet door and walk away.

"is this how you begin conversations? pulling people into a closet and asking for their names?" hm. it appeared she wasn't aware of robbie's relatively innocent reason for what had gone down, because the tone she was using was one that robbie would not have been surprised to hear someone using while leafing through the national enquirer. "but then again, who am i to judge your charming ways of breaking the ice?" wanted to be difficult did she? robbie smirked, shifted himself over a foot or two to the left so that he was no longer immediately in front of the door and leaned back against the wall of the closet. presumably right over the light switch, because he could feel it poking at him a bit. "yes, actually, it's really amusing to start conversations this way. i pulled five or six other girls into five or six other closets on my way up here," he said, his tone somewhere between bitingly sarcastic and smoothly charismatic. "but i'm glad you've realized you shouldn't question my charmingness. we'll save a lot of time this way." the charisma was now gone, replaced simply with a healthy dose of monotony. he didn't mean anything particularly sinister by what he had just said, it was just him being a kind of smart ass. one of the things he did best, you know. but it wasn't as it he was going to try and seduce her in here or anything, because, ass hat or not, he wasn't that much of a creeper. nor a rapist, for that matter. because he was about one hundred and four percent sure that it would take physical force to keep her in the closet, anyway.

she reached out with clear purpose for the door handle. robbie took a step forward and turned so that he was facing her profile, crossing his arms over his chest. however, the simple task of turning the door knob was apparently proving somewhat arduous. it would jerk, but it wouldn't turn enough to actually fulfill its purpose and open the door. she seemed rather alarmed. "...it won't open." the words came with a groan.

well. now this was another most interesting turn of events.

robbie stepped forward and shoved her gently over so that he had clear access to the door knob. he gave it his best try, but it didn't yield. there was a possibility that he would be able to break the door open... but honestly, at the moment he didn't feel quite like putting forth all that extra effort. "well. this is pretty fucking peachy, isn't it?" he said casually, turning back to face her again for a moment. hmm. this dim lighting thing was beginning to irk him, so he reached over and flicked the light switch he had sort of been leaning against just a few moments earlier. there. much better. he took a quick moment to actually survey the surroundings now that he could see them better and was struck by how resoundingly unremarkable they were. just your run of the mill janitor's closet, brooms, mops, buckets, a shelf on the wall to his left that populated with some cleaning products here and there. he grabbed one of the larger, sturdier looking buckets from the floor, flipped it upside down and placed it on the floor along the wall opposite from the stubborn door. lovely. he now he had himself a nice little makeshift seat. he lowered himself down onto it and cast his gaze over to whatshername. she was no doubt quite peeved at the way her evening was apparently shaping out. for all he knew, she had been on her way to have dinner with some of her friends or something... but instead she got to spend some quality time with him, trapped inside an oh so glamorous janitor's closet. heh. "you know, seeing as we are apparently, for all intents and purposes, stuck in here," he began, "you might as well tell me your name." he then remembered the bag of goodies in his pocket, so he pulled it out and held it up in her general direction. "shroom?"

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STATUS finished.
TAGGED celiaaa.
WHEN & WHERE november '07, hallway of treasure island hotel, vegas baby!
THREADS right here.
CREDITS lyrics: wild light. formatting: me.
NOTES sorry about the delay, my sweetheart muse has been more dominant lately, haha.