[OPEN] The things I do for.....

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=width,375,true][atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, background: url(http://i51.tinypic.com/f0uus9.jpg); border-radius: 0px 0px 0px 0px; border: 5px solid #101010; padding: 10px;] [style=width:360px; height:185px; background-color:#101010; border-top:5px solid #101010;][/style][style=line-height:3px; width:360px; border-bottom:10px solid #101010; height:6px; font-size:35px; font-family:georgia; text-align:center; color:#F83E3F; text-shadow:#000000 2px 1px 1px; letter-spacing:-2px]❧ Look![/style][style=width:360px; border-top:1px dotted #F83E3F; border-bottom: 1px dotted #F83E3F; font-family:terminal; font-size:10px; color:#69644f; background-color:#202020; letter-spacing: 1]The sun that rose from the west is setting[/style][style=width: 350px;background-color: 101010; color: 4d4a3d; font-family: tahoma; font-size: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px; padding-right: 5px; padding-left: 5px; text-indent: 50px; text-align: justify;]Those damn, accused food. It all started in a goodwill, probably because she got a bit too high yesternight with drinking out with some of her own people, for a change, and bought a basket of Balut to share with friends. She didn't realized that it would escalate like that with all the past pains and sufferings, and all of which because of feeding him with that damn, fermented duck egg. It's no wonder that kid's not fond of Balut. Luckily, if she didn't intervene, things would have gone a lot worse- say, a World War III, perhaps?- and it was one of those fortunate days that she was thankful at a side of her, totting a gun and producing a warning shot (that ended her shooting someone's ceiling and, sadly, someone' tacos) and... Well... the thing's history. Which is why this story started in a bar, with the brunette female who unconsciously started it all, drinking on her 5th keg of beer and was so much ready to move on to something's stronger. "Knew I should have cut on Lambanog last night..." She mumbled to herself, one hand on her forehead combing her bangs while the other holding at the keg of an almost-empty beer. Hey, as much as possible, it would be a bit more helpful if she drink until she pass out, something England manage to do a darn good job with one time. "Uh... miss...? Do you thi-" "Quiet! I need to forget something! Talk to me after an hour!" The bartender only looked at her before she added, "Also, I want some more chicharon. And probably another glass of beer." Nobody really told her that drinking more beer to forget won't actually work the way she planned, but she was getting there. [/style] [style=line-height:3px; width:360px; border-bottom:10px solid #101010; height:6px; font-size:30px; font-family:georgia; text-align:center; color:#F83E3F; text-shadow:#000000 2px 1px 1px; letter-spacing:-2px]❧ Run! It’s already dinnertime[/style][style=width:360px; border-top:1px dotted #F83E3F; border-bottom: 1px dotted #F83E3F; font-family:terminal; font-size:10px; color:#69644f; background-color:#202020; letter-spacing: 1]TEMPLATE BY TSU BEAR OF OTE. BAKA GO HOME BY MILKTUB.[/style][style=width: 335px;background-color: 101010; color: 4d4a3d; font-family: tahoma; font-size: 10px; padding-left: 25px; text-align: left; padding-justify:40px;]TAGS: Basically anyone (*glares at the people involved in the ICC*) TIMELINE: Present LOCATION: In a random pub NOTES: As Al said, WWIII courtesy of Balut. *snorts* Also, a subtle point at the Rper and how she does not like Balut for specific reasons. *cough*[/style]

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[atrb=style,width: 390px; border: 3px solid #87b8bb; background-color: #eae8e4;]❝[STYLE=font-family: helvetica neue; font-weight: 200; color: bdbdbd; text-transform: lowercase; letter-spacing: -2; font-size: 30px; margin-top: -54px; margin-left: 20px;]so shall we speak then[/style][STYLE=font-family: helvetica; font-size: 30px; text-transform: lowercase; font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: #87b8bb; letter-spacing: -2; text-shadow: -3px 0px 0px #f4f2ee; text-align: right; margin-top: -20px; margin-right: 10px;]keep it between friends[/style][STYLE=font-family: helvetica neue; font-weight: 200; color: bdbdbd; text-transform: lowercase; letter-spacing: -2; font-size: 18px; margin-top: -10px; margin-right: 35px; text-align: right;]though i know you'll never love me like you used to[/style][STYLE=margin-top: -26px; text-align: right;]❞[/style] [STYLE=width: 85%; font-family: helvetica; font-size: 11px; line-height: 13px; text-align: justify; color: #3c3c3c; padding: 10; background-color: #f4f2ee; margin-top: -15px;]Linh was never one for 'interesting evenings' but that was what she had found her self in the clutches of. Interesting had to have simply been an understatement. There were flurries of emotions from every party involved, people said words that never should've been said and wounds that had long since healed had all been reopened. Linh cursed herself for not having fled the scene when she had the chance. But, she went back to help Alfred, feeling much better after doing so... even though things had only gone down hill after that. Needless to say, she hurried to leave once the opportunity arose once more. It wasn't until she had arrived home that she remembered a little mishap from early in the evening. She cringed, looking at the back of her clothes, for some reason, finally picking up on the stench of the dried vomit on her back. She changed into a tank top as she began to meaninglessly try and clean her clothes. Linh stopped, catching a glimpse of herself in the mirror wearing a particular color that she had been told, just days before, didn't suit her at all. Linh never wore red--in fact the last time she wore red was the day Saigon fell. But, Alfred would never know that the color set her off as well. Stupidly, she made the decision to leave once more in desperate need of some alcohol. Linh was never one to drink away her worries but it was all for the sake of clearing a head that was far too clouded for her own good. She stopped herself again in front of the mirror, her and Mei's conversation of her scars still ringing in her ears. She hurried and snatched a jacket to cover her shoulders with before leaving. She couldn't believe she had almost walked out in public without any sleeves on. She hadn't done that in forty years. Linh stopped yards away from the door of the bar, watching Gabriella walk in first. "Great..." she muttered to herself. Linh stood outside the bar for a few minutes before deciding to walk in anyway. She walked straight past Gabi, acting as if she didn't even notice her, and sat down at the other end of the bar. With a heavy sigh, she ordered the cheapest thing they had, learning from slight experience that it was usually the most awful but the strongest, and she welcomed the drink with a hollowed expression, not knowing what else to make out of the evening. notes:: music:: drunk - ed sheeran credit:: konya[/style][STYLE=background-color: #f4f2ee; text-align: center; margin-top: 5px; padding: 10px; width: 85%;] [/style]

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Mei just wanted to stay home. She felt awful; about everything. She had let her temper get the best of her, something she normally didn’t do. Linh was her sister, even if they were raised differently. Not only that, but she was also the closest thing Mei had to a best friend. Gabi and Hourai were great, but it had always been Linh had already considered her best friend. She had gone straight home after that fight, horrified at what she had done. She had put her camera on her dresser, and sat down on her bed. She had contemplated calling Hong Kong or Korea, but that brushed that aside. It wouldn’t be fair to drag them into the problem, especially when she wasn’t sure that they would understand where she was coming from. Her room was generally filled with a slight breezing coming from outside; she always left her window partially opened. She had had put enough herbs and flowers on her window that the wind came in smelling somewhat like flowers and perfume; always calming her down.

That night, even with her window open, her room smelled like blood. She understood that it came from her cuts that had reopened. The smell had brought upon nightmares that Mei would have liked nothing more than to forget. She had woken up crying, and the blood that had been on her stomach had leaked through the bandages she had wrapped around herself, staining her bed. So, the first thing she did was get up and shower. The scars were slowly beginning to close again. No doubt, they would look be just scars again that afternoon. Reminding herself to place a call to Kiku later, she stepped out and dried herself off, ignoring the small red stains in her towel. She wrapped herself up again in a brand new set of bandages, reminding herself to take them off later. Her phone, like her camera, had been left on her dresser. Dressed, she walked towards it slowly, not really expecting anything.

As usual, the picture on her background left her with a wince. It was an old one of her and Yao, where both of them were smiling. She ignored it and moved on with her life, realizing that she had a new message. Of course, this brought a strike of fear rushing through her veins. It could be from anyone, but she begged that it not come from Linh or Gabriella or Hourai or, worse of all, Alfred. She wasn’t sure how she would feel if her self-adopted ‘big brother’ had sent her a text. She had never told the American that she appreciated everything he did for her, even if it did screw a lot of relationships up. He was only helping her reach her goal. Even though it didn’t always help, he tried which was more than he could say about a lot of people. Mei was relatively young; she had been around for a long time, but she was still easily influenced. She looked up to the American because he had always been so good.

He had protected her; saved her, even. Not only her, but also the rest of her family during World War II. Not only that, but he had also helped Im Yong Soo. Even though there was tension still between the two Korean brothers, Alfred had helped…some. Still, the way Mei tore into him made her feel guilty. He didn’t deserve that. Alfred was a nice guy. He was so happy that she had found it disheartening that she had treated him with such little respect. He had asked her to stop…and she hadn’t. Shaking her head, the Taiwanese nation forced herself to look at the text she had gotten. And blink. She should have recognized the number, but she had no clue who it was from. The bar, though? There was only one that she knew of where to go, and she hoped that was it. She quickly put a flower in her pair, pulling some of it back. She purposefully left it down without doing much to it. She also didn’t feel like being too fancy today; just a simple beige turtleneck and some nice black slacks. Mei honestly didn’t feel like putting on much make up, either, but she made the exception and slid on just a little pink eye shadow.

Once she arrived, she looked around. Instantly, her eyes landed on Gabi, and she let out a small sigh of relief. “Nǐ hǎo, Gabi." She greeted, taking the seat next to her quietly. “I’ll have Kaoliang if you have any.”


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_{Word Count 770
Inspiration Louder Than Thunder - The Devil Wears Prada
Tags Gabi&Linh&Mei (so far)
Status Complete~
Template By Arro @ Caution 2.0}
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[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,bTable][atrb=style,background-image: url(http://i.imgur.com/TSw4U.png); width: 380px; border: 10px solid #111111; padding: 10px; border-radius: 0 30 0 30;][STYLE=width: 100px; height: 100px; padding: 5px; border: 1px dashed #111111; float: left; margin: 0 5 5 0;][/style][STYLE=font-family: tahoma; font-size: 8.5px; text-align: justify; color: #111111;]Going out for drinks was usually something that Alfred only did for fun. On such occasions, he usually took the drinking easy as well. He had a pretty good understanding of what he could handle and what he couldn't. He'd learned that during Prohibition, ironically the time where he probably experimented the most with alcohol. The Roaring Twenties were some good times. Since then, actively seeking to get drunk was a hint that Alfred was in some sort of distress, though not many knew this. Today, he was pretty sure that he wanted to drink like Arthur on the 4th of July. He took a seat at the bar, not even noticing that two familiar faces were already there. "I'll have some Jack Daniels." He told the bartender, flashing his passport. Fortunately they were in an area where his physical age was higher than the drinking age, or else he'd face a different sort of issue. Most times, he wouldn't mind screwing around with the bartender a bit, but he just wanted some of that alcohol in his system before he did anything else. While he waited, he chanced a glance at Gabi and Linh. At least it was the two of them and not Mei or Hourai. Especially Hourai. He did not want to see her again any time soon. With that thought, he wished that he had his Jack in his hand already. What was taking the bartender so long? In reality, it was only taking slightly longer than usual as a result of the crowd, but Alfred was an extra sort of impatient tonight. He drummed his fingers on the counter of the bar in an attempt to work his frustrations out. As it turned out, it didn't produce much success. Alfred let out a sigh of relief as he drink was placed in front of him. He took several gulps, not even wanting to take it slowly. He didn't want to puke it back up, but he didn't want to wait for the buzz to take it's effect. Alfred knew that he hadn't been entirely in the right either. Rarely did Alfred let his temper get the better of him, but when he did, it wasn't good for anyone around him. He still didn't know why he behaved the way that he did. Sure, he was embarrassed about the prank, but why had he aimed a punch at Mei? Why had he taken it so far for something so little? What was wrong with him? The answer might have eluded him, but an observant outsider might be able to make sense of it. Alfred was always a little on edge when Linh was around, but he rarely acknowledged just how much her presence actually ate at him. Forty years of bottled up emotions bubbled to the surface every time that he saw her, and that infused with a nasty prank that they happened to pull Linh into apparently made for a volatile mixture. And it all spiraled out of control from there. No one was completely free from blame, no one was left unscathed. Alfred took another sip of his Jack and looked up when he heard a familiar voice. He tensed when he saw that it was Mei. He had yet to acknowledge any of the others at the bar, which was odd considering that he was usually talkative as could be. Even in this state, though, he found himself getting antsy at the lack of conversation. Deciding that the appearance of Mei was a good enough catalyst, Alfred decided to speak up. "Hey, looks like we all had the same idea!" Alfred let loose a chuckle, though if one looked closely, they'd see that he was keeping a tight grip (though not too tight, for obvious reasons) on his whisky glass. He wanted to be ready to guzzle it down at once if need be.[/style]

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[Yes, awkward silences bug Al so much that he'd rather have awkward conversation than no conversation. XD Plus SOMEONE had to get them all talking.]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=width,375,true][atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, background: url(http://i51.tinypic.com/f0uus9.jpg); border-radius: 0px 0px 0px 0px; border: 5px solid #101010; padding: 10px;] [style=width:360px; height:185px; background-color:#101010; border-top:5px solid #101010;][/style][style=line-height:3px; width:360px; border-bottom:10px solid #101010; height:6px; font-size:35px; font-family:georgia; text-align:center; color:#F83E3F; text-shadow:#000000 2px 1px 1px; letter-spacing:-2px]❧ Look![/style][style=width:360px; border-top:1px dotted #F83E3F; border-bottom: 1px dotted #F83E3F; font-family:terminal; font-size:10px; color:#69644f; background-color:#202020; letter-spacing: 1]The sun that rose from the west is setting[/style][style=width: 350px;background-color: 101010; color: 4d4a3d; font-family: tahoma; font-size: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px; padding-right: 5px; padding-left: 5px; text-indent: 50px; text-align: justify;]She looked at the empty mug in her hand. Still nothing. Another sigh before she gave another order, her eight for the night, and probably should stop at the tenth since the place is becoming a bit hazier and her head's getting a tad lighter. However, as much beer as she would have drink, the theory of forgetting seems to not work on her (curse this tolerance for alcohol) as she slumped her head on the counter while waiting for her drink, unaware of the first of the reason her wish of forgetfulness would come (Vietnam) appeared. Since she haven't seen her wear anything red for a long, long time, she didn't realize it was her until Mei arrived and her mental self gave a facepalm for forgetting that part; right, she got a bit lonely halflway through her 3rd mug and decided to just go a random text to anyone she could get her hands on. Peachy-keen great. "G'evening." Thankfully, her speech wasn't slurred from the drink (she was on her ninth, surprisingly) as she didn't even dare turn her head to face the female Taiwanese, hoping (and praying to God... or to any ethnic deities she might know and missed somewhere across her timeline of a nation) that not looking at their faces might boost the possibility of the forgetful spell. "Glad to know you received my text." Gabriella said, waving one hand. "D'you know that 'Gabi'- the nickname you people keep giving to me for how long- actually means 'night' in Tagalog?" The bartender wasn't too sure if she was talking gibberish because of the beer or otherwise, but he decided that he should just leave her shifting sanity and attend to another newcomer as he ordered some Jack Daniels to drink. And look what the cat dragged in- it's Alfred, after all. Without looking at him as well, the embodiment of Philippines gave another wave, lifting her head as she began to sip her beer, looking only at the wooden counter and nowhere else, as she made a small sigh. "Already told Kiku about her." She was talking about Hourai, Okinawa, but she's not going to mention names. "He said he'll do something about her. Pretty sure he seems less than happy with it. Not really." The Bartender couldn't help but find the hilarity at the shifting sanity between making any darn sense to not making any shitting sense, but it was rare to see one of the frequent customers of his to be in that state. Usually, she would either shout about work, or just joke around with most of the drunkard alcohol-fan of countries, but this one certainly take the cake. Just too bad she's still recalling everything like a clear picture on a bright morning. "I don't know why I tolerate you, actually." Her voice was a bit cold, probably from the 'being ignored until she pulls out something to shoot' episode of a while ago. "I'm pretty sure I was doing a pretty darn job and very happy with what I have till Antonio came around... and then you, and you, and you and I'm pretty sure you are involved, big time." She wasn't pointing fingers to anyone or naming names, but it was evident that her tone was rising a bit by an octave. Pretty much still questionable if she knows what she's talking about or not. "But did you see me complain? I don't think so. Pretty sure I decided to just live and not get nuked because I try not to get myself and my people involve in another useless death like last time." Gabriella stopped, taking a deep breath as she took a good, long chug on her beer. "But it's alright, I'm sure things will be fine, right? I mean, you guys ARE better than me!" Sadly, the still-higher tone of her voice wasn't helping her stay calm as she rubbed the water welling in the corner of her eye with the sleeves of her clothes. Darn, she better hope it's not what she thinks it is. [/style] [style=line-height:3px; width:360px; border-bottom:10px solid #101010; height:6px; font-size:30px; font-family:georgia; text-align:center; color:#F83E3F; text-shadow:#000000 2px 1px 1px; letter-spacing:-2px]❧ Run! It’s already dinnertime[/style][style=width:360px; border-top:1px dotted #F83E3F; border-bottom: 1px dotted #F83E3F; font-family:terminal; font-size:10px; color:#69644f; background-color:#202020; letter-spacing: 1]TEMPLATE BY TSU BEAR OF OTE. BAKA GO HOME BY MILKTUB.[/style][style=width: 335px;background-color: 101010; color: 4d4a3d; font-family: tahoma; font-size: 10px; padding-left: 25px; text-align: left; padding-justify:40px;]TAGS: Basically anyone (*glares at the people involved in the ICC*) TIMELINE: Present LOCATION: In a random pub NOTES: BAM! Gabi's about to rant to everyone![/style]

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[atrb=style,width: 390px; border: 3px solid #87b8bb; background-color: #eae8e4;]❝[STYLE=font-family: helvetica neue; font-weight: 200; color: bdbdbd; text-transform: lowercase; letter-spacing: -2; font-size: 30px; margin-top: -54px; margin-left: 20px;]so shall we speak then[/style][STYLE=font-family: helvetica; font-size: 30px; text-transform: lowercase; font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: #87b8bb; letter-spacing: -2; text-shadow: -3px 0px 0px #f4f2ee; text-align: right; margin-top: -20px; margin-right: 10px;]keep it between friends[/style][STYLE=font-family: helvetica neue; font-weight: 200; color: bdbdbd; text-transform: lowercase; letter-spacing: -2; font-size: 18px; margin-top: -10px; margin-right: 35px; text-align: right;]though i know you'll never love me like you used to[/style][STYLE=margin-top: -26px; text-align: right;]❞[/style] [STYLE=width: 85%; font-family: helvetica; font-size: 11px; line-height: 13px; text-align: justify; color: #3c3c3c; padding: 10; background-color: #f4f2ee; margin-top: -15px;]Linh kept her eyes down on her drink as the people began to file in. She observed the bottle contemplating whether or not drinking herself into a stupor would be smart with everyone she was trying to forget about sitting around her. Especially him. Linh honestly wouldn’t have showed up had she known Alfred would be there too. She gave him a quick sideways glance as she brought the bottle to her lips and took a small sip, trying to carefully preserve what was left. Her eyes turned away again and locked themselves on the top of bar as she began to busy herself with her thoughts. She heard Mei’s voice, followed by a greeting directed at Gabi. Perhaps she had set off Mei more than she had realized. Still, Linh sat in her own confined world, grasping to her bottle, pretending no one was even around her. She couldn’t help but cringe as she heard Alfred speak. It wasn’t the exact reaction she would’ve like to had but his predictable attempt to fill up the silence of a room full of distraught Asian women set her that way. She thought back to him following her as she stormed off and how she told him to go away because she could take care of herself. Linh closed her eyes, hating herself for trying to push him away, and took a rather hardy drink from the bottle. “You won’t have any chance of fixing this mess if you don’t confront him.” There were very few things Linh was afraid of and confronting Alfred about her feelings and their relationship was one of them. What if it only made things a bigger mess? What if it didn’t turn out like she hoped and they ended up not ever speaking to each other again? Linh knew very well that if the afternoon hadn’t taken such a quick detour, they might could have gotten close to at least bringing up the importance of the conversation that needed to take place. And there he was again, sitting right beside her. Perhaps being wasted wouldn’t be so terrible after all, Linh thought to herself as she ungracefully finished off the rest of the bottle and ordered another one. Linh remained silent as Gabi began to verbally point fingers. Taking in a sharp breath, Linh moved her eyes up and to the wall, trying to keep her frustrations intact. Really, Linh didn’t need to say anything at all because opening her mouth was what always got her in trouble. She glanced over at Alfred again, tuning out Gabi’s rant, wondering if she should remain silent all together. notes:: awkward linh is awkward music:: drunk - ed sheeran credit:: konya[/style][STYLE=background-color: #f4f2ee; text-align: center; margin-top: 5px; padding: 10px; width: 85%;] [/style]

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Yes, well, Mei winced. If Kiku knew about Hourai, then he knew that she had a part of it, too. She felt weird not having her camera, especially since now would be a good time – for her, at least – to go through it and make sure that she was still happy. She wasn’t a hundred percent sure, but she was pretty sure she could expect a visit from her old caretaker. She knew how fiercely protective of Alfred he was, and she had still gone on about that. It just meant that the young country was going to have to do her best to avoid both her home and his. Except, that Mei knew she was going to have to go home eventually, and Kiku was like a ninja. He could probably sneak into her house without any problem. Her shoulders slumped, and she laid her head on the bar before her, muttering quickly in Chinese under her breath.

“What’s better to drown you sorrow than downing a lot of alcohol?” She asked, loudly, even though her specific drink had, so far, remained untouched. It would probably stay that way, too, especially considering Mei now had to worry about her very life at stake. “Rìběn probably isn’t happy with the lot of us, but at least you don’t have to worry about him getting onto you Gabi. We all know you two get along.” She lifted her head enough to give her a knowing look before slamming it back down on the table. She hadn’t even had a sip of her drink, and already she felt lightheaded. She wanted to get up and go and hug Linh – whom she had noticed in the corner only seconds before putting her head down for the first time. She wanted to continue to apologize, but she couldn’t do it right then. Not when Alfred was sitting right there. A single part of her was afraid to go near Linh solely for that purpose.

She snapped up, however, just in time to hear Gabi’s rants. Her eyebrows shot up, and her mouth fell down slightly. Surely, Gabi couldn’t mean her? Even though she had been aware of her existence before 1975, Mei had had little to do with her. Besides, out of the two of them, she was the one that had the right to be mildly offended. After all, even though the two of them had excellent trade and a (usually, anyway) excellent conversation between the two of them, Gabi was the one who recognized the ‘One-China Policy’. When she had first heard that, she had cried bitterly for several hours, but she had moved past it. Clenching her teeth slightly, the girl faced her friends with a blank expression forced upon her face. It felt weird to be this bitter and cold; these were feelings usually reserved for Yao or Kiku. And, it was only ever reserved for Kiku when they were talking about World War II. Her eyes softened, and she reached out to hold onto Gabi’s wrist. “I am not better than you, wǒ péngyǒu. What gave you that ridiculous idea?”


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_{Word Count 521
Inspiration When Your Evil - Voltaire
Tags Gabi&Linh&Mei&Alfred (so far)
Status Complete~
Template By Arro @ Caution 2.0}
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[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,bTable][atrb=style,background-image: url(http://i.imgur.com/TSw4U.png); width: 380px; border: 10px solid #111111; padding: 10px; border-radius: 0 30 0 30;][STYLE=width: 100px; height: 100px; padding: 5px; border: 1px dashed #111111; float: left; margin: 0 5 5 0;][/style][STYLE=font-family: tahoma; font-size: 8.5px; text-align: justify; color: #111111;]Alfred wasn't sure how he felt about Kiku being informed about what happened. He was glad that Hourai was being held responsible. Like the others, though, he wasn't so sure that he liked Kiku knowing in the first place. "Thanks Gabs," Alfred responded nevertheless. He was quite angry with Hourai at that point in time, and he couldn't help but hope that she was facing some repercussions like the rest of them were. The blond took another drink from his glass, taking a quick glance to where Linh sat. He registered what she was wearing with a sudden heavy feeling. She was wearing red of all things ? He couldn't help but suspect that she'd done this on purpose. A few days before, it could have been easily chalked up as just a coincidence, but then Alfred told her as a wry joke that she 'always looked terrible in red'. Her choice of outfit made Alfred wonder if she'd done it deliberately as a message to him. Whatever it was, it certainly struck a chord with him, and he proceeded to drink the remainder of the contents of his glass. He slammed his glass on the counter, alerting the bartender that his glass was empty. "I'll have another," he told the bartender, and watched as the bartender nodded and got to it. Judging by how he felt, though, he clearly hadn't had enough alcohol to reach the full effects yet. That would take a while longer. He chuckled at Mei's commentary. The bartender placed his next glass in front of him, and Alfred raised it to his mouth. He was pretty sure that all of them could agree with that. They were all here, after all, and they hadn't intentionally come as a group. He was slightly irked at the fact that Linh had yet to say a word to him. Part of him wanted an explanation for her wardrobe choice. Part of him wanted to go over there and demand to know why she was wearing that color. It wasn't the color, though, it was what that color represented. It wasn't what she was wearing that he had a problem with, but rather the path that she'd chosen. What he really wanted to ask was 'why communism?'. Why communism when she knew it would drive them apart? Why even lead him on for all of those years? The young nation let out a sigh, eyes darting over to Gabi when she started to rant. With the rest of them snapping, it was only a matter of time before Gabi did. Still, Alfred gazed at Gabi in surprise. He wondered if her tirade came as a result of the alcohol or something else. Though given the general environment, it could very well be a mixture of both. He ran a hand through his hair. Great, last thing they needed was for the incident at the conference hall to start up all over again with this rant. Maybe he should have ordered two glasses at once. "You haven't said much," he commented to Linh, unable to take the silence between them any longer.[/style]

[STYLE=font-size: 8px; font-family: tahoma; color: #111111; text-align: center;]TEMPLATE BY PEBBLE OF BTN[/style]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=width,375,true][atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, background: url(http://i51.tinypic.com/f0uus9.jpg); border-radius: 0px 0px 0px 0px; border: 5px solid #101010; padding: 10px;] [style=width:360px; height:185px; background-color:#101010; border-top:5px solid #101010;][/style][style=line-height:3px; width:360px; border-bottom:10px solid #101010; height:6px; font-size:35px; font-family:georgia; text-align:center; color:#F83E3F; text-shadow:#000000 2px 1px 1px; letter-spacing:-2px]❧ Look![/style][style=width:360px; border-top:1px dotted #F83E3F; border-bottom: 1px dotted #F83E3F; font-family:terminal; font-size:10px; color:#69644f; background-color:#202020; letter-spacing: 1]The sun that rose from the west is setting[/style][style=width: 350px;background-color: 101010; color: 4d4a3d; font-family: tahoma; font-size: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px; padding-right: 5px; padding-left: 5px; text-indent: 50px; text-align: justify;]There was a hollow laugh escaping from her mouth, nothing funny with what everyone said or what she said, but it was lacking any emotions whatsoever. Part of her was goading them, mocking their statements, mocking herself, and that laugh was a proof of it. Part of her, however, was still regretful that she still remembers it, that she was holding grudges and showing her vulnerable side. It wasn't suppose to be like this, she only wanted to forget and hope things would smoothen out. It wasn't going as well as she hoped for. Fortunately, she's the type who easily sobers up as long as she pause for a while from her drinking spree, giving a mild hiccup as she looked at the nations accompany her. Still, Vietnam's not talking, America's trying to do something about it, and Taiwan is trying her best ot calm her down. Well, it figures. "I'm.... I'm questioning it." She said, the first coherent word she pulled out from her mouth after sobering up. "I.... we're not doing well... thought that it would be everybody else's fault. Forgot I'm just being a brat." Straightening herself up, the brunette wiped her mouth with her sleeves, not looking at thme after realizing that she was pointing fingers at them and not to herself, and took a deep breath. The notion of barfing was there, but at least she manage to clear her head a bit before she took another round and get back to the hazy world of blame-the-nation-for-petty-reasons. They can't blame her; she might be the same age as Alfred (somewhat), but she have been fighting battles as well (both physically and internally) so she may- or may not- have a delegate reason for that. Still would have call it the beer, but girls tend to be a bit sentimental by nature so it could be either. "I'm sure he'll do something about it." Gabriella was talking about Kiku, but she didn't told everyone that he told him to leave everyone out and not blame them. Besides, it seems it was her responsibility (so far) to keep him under wraps and asking him a few favors here and there is not entirely as hard as it should been. Still, it was a favor nevertheless, she have to ask him if he might need something from her anytime soon. "He's already having troubles with her as of late, but I'm sure he said his apologies over it." She paused, took another inhale before staring at her mug. "As for me.... I'm not too sure." Well, the urge to drink it out is coming back and she finally gave in to it as the nation took another swig of her mug, asking for another refill. It was worrying her, but she'll have to move on, suppose. She doesn't care if America address her or not- there's Vietnam and she was sure Linh is anything better compared to her, a mere, lowly nation- but she was (mildly) glad the beer is doing its work so far. "I envy all of you sometimes... you know that?" [/style] [style=line-height:3px; width:360px; border-bottom:10px solid #101010; height:6px; font-size:30px; font-family:georgia; text-align:center; color:#F83E3F; text-shadow:#000000 2px 1px 1px; letter-spacing:-2px]❧ Run! It’s already dinnertime[/style][style=width:360px; border-top:1px dotted #F83E3F; border-bottom: 1px dotted #F83E3F; font-family:terminal; font-size:10px; color:#69644f; background-color:#202020; letter-spacing: 1]TEMPLATE BY TSU BEAR OF OTE. BAKA GO HOME BY MILKTUB.[/style][style=width: 335px;background-color: 101010; color: 4d4a3d; font-family: tahoma; font-size: 10px; padding-left: 25px; text-align: left; padding-justify:40px;]TAGS: Basically anyone (*glares at the people involved in the ICC*) TIMELINE: Present LOCATION: In a random pub NOTES: From drunk to sober and drunk again. Her liver has problems.[/style]

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[atrb=style,background: url(http://i.imgur.com/wVY9b.jpg);,bTable][atrb=cellPadding,0,true][atrb=style,box-shadow: 0px 0px 5px #989898; -moz-box-shadow: 0px 0px 5px #989898; -webkit-box-shadow: 0px 0px 5px #989898; width: 420px;,bTable][atrb=cellSpacing,0,bTable][atrb=border,0,bTable]

[atrb=style,width: 390px; border: 3px solid #87b8bb; background-color: #eae8e4;]❝[STYLE=font-family: helvetica neue; font-weight: 200; color: bdbdbd; text-transform: lowercase; letter-spacing: -2; font-size: 30px; margin-top: -54px; margin-left: 20px;]so shall we speak then[/style][STYLE=font-family: helvetica; font-size: 30px; text-transform: lowercase; font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: #87b8bb; letter-spacing: -2; text-shadow: -3px 0px 0px #f4f2ee; text-align: right; margin-top: -20px; margin-right: 10px;]keep it between friends[/style][STYLE=font-family: helvetica neue; font-weight: 200; color: bdbdbd; text-transform: lowercase; letter-spacing: -2; font-size: 18px; margin-top: -10px; margin-right: 35px; text-align: right;]though i know you'll never love me like you used to[/style][STYLE=margin-top: -26px; text-align: right;]❞[/style] [STYLE=width: 85%; font-family: helvetica; font-size: 11px; line-height: 13px; text-align: justify; color: #3c3c3c; padding: 10; background-color: #f4f2ee; margin-top: -15px;]Linh couldn’t help but cringe, feeling a pair of eyes looking her over. She didn’t even have to look over at Alfred to tell that he was eyeing her up and down with frustration. Really, it made her nervous and that only caused her to drink faster to occupy her mind. Linh really couldn’t help her outfit selection for the evening; she had literally grabbed the first thing she found lying around as a change of clothes because frankly she hadn’t expected to need an extra outfit. Of course, she would’ve never guessed that she would’ve been lying with her back in a pool of vomit either. So, the two were just going to have to buckle down and accept the fact that this was just another happenstance of the night that was linked to painful memories. She really didn’t want to make eye contact with anyone in the room for fear that the animosity rising within her might take hold. She especially didn’t want to make any sort of effort to associate with Alfred… and then he forced her to. Linh gripped her bottle tightly, trying to hold her frustrations down, and gave Alfred a sideways glance—only turning her head slightly to look at him. “I didn’t exactly come here to talk…” she retorted, feeling terribly awful for the comment but assured that it was nothing but a true statement. She looked away and down at her now half-empty bottle, hating herself for trying to push him away. That was really the last thing she wanted at the moment, but Linh never really did have control over her own emotions and she could barely keep a grip on her own actions. Hearing Gabi down the bar was not helping. In fact, it was only enticing her frustrations. At first, she tried everything: biting her lips, grinding her teeth, downing the rest of her bottle and ordering another one, but all of this was unsuccessful. Linh clenched her fists together, her shoulders rolling forward slightly as she forced herself not to look at Gabriella. Still, she had no power in fighting back the words that followed. “Why the hell would you be envious of any of us? Do you honestly think we lead happy lives or are we just that good of actors?” Linh couldn’t help but blame the alcohol but there was a new hostility bubbling with in her, something which she hadn’t faced in decades. notes:: there's an angry linh on the loose, beware music:: drunk - ed sheeran credit:: konya[/style][STYLE=background-color: #f4f2ee; text-align: center; margin-top: 5px; padding: 10px; width: 85%;] [/style]

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America was already on his second drink. Mei couldn't even really take a gulp from her first one. She wasn't much of a drinker – she never was. Sure, she loved to go out. She loved to have a party and be with her friends, but she wasn't a drinker. She wasn't really out all that much to begin with. And, when she was, it was to take pictures and to be with her friends. She tried not to have any problems with people. She had tried, and then she had gone and failed. She had ruined it all at the conference hall, and she knew that she was going to have to pay for it in the upcoming years.

No amount of words would ever be created for her to be able to apologize to Linh. She didn't see how they would get back to the way they once were. Mei loved Gabi and Hourai, but she had a bigger history with Linh. She considered the Vietnamese nation to be her best friend, her sister...almost. “Everyone's a brat – at least, we've all been a brat. I'm still one, kind of.” She trailed off, patting her friend on the back. She wasn't very good at the comforting business, not when she was still so upset herself. If she weren't so afraid of what he would do – how he would react to know that she had just as much horrible things to say as Hourai had to say to her friends. Now that she realized it, Linh had drank all of her bottle, too...and she hadn't. She stared down at hers with a look on her face before pushing it away. After seeing Gabi freak out, she figured that alcohol really wasn't a good idea. Her top teeth chewed on her bottom lip indignantly before she shook her head. “I'm...kind of happy?” She tried, shooting Linh a look and patting Gabi on the back awkwardly. “I'd be happier if you guys quit drinking...” The last part, of course, was muttered.

In her experience, not many things had come out correctly as a result of drinking. She was still considered young among the nations, even though she had been around for a long time. She was always working – and, when she wasn't, she didn't do this types of things on her break. The only reason she had come here was because she had felt bad this morning. Everything seemed to be falling apart, and it seemed like it was only getting worse. The only good thing she had to look forward to was the fact that Linh and Alfred would probably knock some sense into Gabi before she would. Without a second thought, Mei frowned and downed her entire drink. It stunk her throat, and she was almost completely certain that she was going to have to drink a lot of medicine and take off of work tomorrow due to the headache that she would be given, but she didn't care. “This happened because you shot the tacos – I swear it did.”


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_{Word Count 514
Inspiration some weird movie with Amanda B. X3
Tags Gabi&Linh&Mei&Alfred (so far)
Status Complete~
Template By Arro @ Caution 2.0}
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