Welcome to The Duality of Man, an original animanga role-play that features numerous supernatural creatures. Unfortunately, these various species have distanced themselves because of the war that occurred thousands of years ago, plaguing some with eyes that only see their dualism. While others meddle themself with their differences, two groups fight, each attempting to eliminate the other in for their definition of worldly peace. These two groups of the Terror Response Syndicate (TRS) and the Assembly of Phantoms (AP). With individuals fighting merely over their differences, it brings uncertainty to the outcome of this war.
We happily accept all role-players as long as they obey the rules and are capable of meeting our word count of 50. This does include those who are unfamiliar with this style of role-playing. The staff of The Duality of Man are willing to happily help those who are new to the role-playing world so they feel comfortable on site. Feel free to message the staff if you need help, they can be found here or in the site Discord and will gladly answer questions alongside calm concerns. If you have any suggestions we would love to hear them; guests may use the support board as a suggestion area as well. Should you decide to join, may I say welcome to the site and we all hope you enjoy your time here.
Yours Truely,
The Staff
season
Summer 2024
Heat has broken through into a glorious summer. The snow has entirely dried through the spring, leaving to the brilliance of the warmer months. Terror activity has risen as people are brought out of their homes, leaving the TRS in a position of consistent work. Each are attempting to maintain victory in the endless struggle for power.
Since the wonderful members of TDOM enjoy the site enough to play around on it, this thread is to assist with the site's tidying! Functionality is important and we want to make the site functional even if its activity will be minimal at best!
Mikaela wanted to gape at him as he chose not to let her down. Sure she'd walked to the edge of that bridge, but she hadn't expected him to let her plunge into the icy depths of her stupidity. She'd been so sure he'd drop her where he stood.
Instead, she kept up the game they'd started. No way was she going to be the one to break and back down. Despite how uncomfortable she was being carted around with zero control, she smirked up at him. "Awe, you think I'm beautiful? You're wrong, but no take backs!"
They turned the corner and when he spoke, she tensed at whatever he was about to do. Quite suddenly she was dropped and landed in a thick bush. Twigs and thorns poked into her and she hurried to straighten her dress. Laughter bubbled to the surface before she could muster a scowl. "Yeah, that tracks. You really want people to think you don't care, don't you?" She stood as gracefully as she could manage and pulled a leaf out of her hair. Crimson liquid traced it's way down her arm, but she ignored it. It would have been a lot worse if he'd dropped her on a thornier part of the bush.
Now the matter of the deal she'd foolishly made. Technically it wasn't valid. She'd specified he had to get her here safe and she was bleeding which seemed pretty not safe. Then again, they'd gotten here before he'd dropped her. She played with the idea of emphasizing the word consider, but another thought occured to her first. A thought that made the request far more appealing.
"Come on. I'll give you that kiss once we get inside." She gazed at him, biting the inside of her cheek. Once again, she was captured by those eyes. Green like an olive tree with little lines carved out in an intricate pattern like hidden branches. For a brief moment they reminded her of home.
Nostalgia, joy, and a painful sorrow all danced within her heart and she forced herself to look away. The last thing she needed to think about was the lives she'd left behind. That's why she'd been drinking to begin with. And the sooner she got inside the sooner she could go back to drowning them out again.
She dug through her purse, easily finding her keychain. A picture of Mikaela and her sister stared up at her and she rolled her eyes. She hardly needed such a sentimental trinket to keep track of her keys, but Libby had given it to her so how could she not use it?
She selected a red key and shoved it in the door, frowning when it wouldn't turn. Changing the locks. Of course. She didn't hesitate to pull out her lock picks instead, shoving them in in place of the key. With a bit of practiced twisting, she felt the tumblers click and tugged the door open.
Mikaela didn't bother waiting for him to step inside. She flipped on the switch, crossing to the other side of the room before the familiar electric hum actually flickered to a start. Suddenly the spacious break room of the casino was bathed in light. She grabbed a sticky note and a pen from within a desk and quickly scrawled a note to the bartender: "Nice try, but that stunt didn't hold me for 10 seconds ;). Next time try getting a guard dog! I'm sure you're little Snowball would be loud enough to spook me. Take triple this week. ~ML"
She grabbed something from a little bowl on the desk, then walked back to the entrance and stuck the sticky note on the back of the door. "Your kiss." she grinned, turning to him and stepping in far too close. Her hand brushed against his and she passed him a silver wrapped piece of chocolate. "As promised."
"Trust me when I say nobody is watching." Mikaela frowned. If only she could agree. No one would care as long as she kept walking the straight and narrow, but as soon as she stepped off it she had the feeling there would still be plenty of people interested in keeping an eye on her. That reaction in combination with the knife threat might give him a bit too much of the truth to play with, though, so she kept quiet.
Realizing she'd grabbed onto him, Mikaela prepared to be thrown aside. He didn't seem like the type that cared for clinginess. Instead, she let out a startled yelp as suddenly her legs were swept out from under her and her small semblance of balance was destroyed.
"I thought you said your rescuing days were dead." she half growled. Would trying to get a good angle to kick him in the shin or pulling out her knife again be more satisfying?
But they were playing a game of pushing buttons, not causing pain. She took a moment to evaluate what would bother him the most. He had said he was done rescuing people, so he was obviously trying to make her squirm. Well she could do the same. "Fine." she said haughtily, half expecting him to drop her at any moment. She wasn't sure whether she'd be able to get away with this. "I'm hardly a princess anymore, but seeing as you fancy the role of knight in shining armour, I think I probably hurt my ankle. We're almost there anyway, just take that next left turn." She motioned to another small alley. It wouldn't look like much, but it was the back entrance.
She offered a teasing smile. If he didn't have the urge to drop her already, this next line should seal the deal. "And maybe if you get me there safe I'll consider that kiss you're obviously dying for."
Tension filled her as he went on speaking. What the hell was this reaction supposed to be? Who was he? Certainly no one safe. She'd met a lot of crazy people, but the ones so secure with death were always the worst.
"Of course I'm going somewhere." she scowled. She wasn't done drinking and in her experience it was pretty hard to find good alcohol in abandoned alleys. Besides, she still wasn't comfortable under the blanket of night. She wanted to be inside as soon as possible. "And I-I..." her voice trailed off and she could feel blood rushing to her face. "I'm not interested in that! You can't even pretend to be serious for five seconds." She wrinkled her nose. How could he go from teasing her tail to that?
"You know, my life is gonna be a mess no matter what." she rushed to change the subject. It was true. Her childhood had only set her up to a long chain of messes with no end in sight. "I'm pretty sure that's written somewhere in the bible... Yeah! I remember it from one of the sermons my aunt made me sit through. God promises to make the storms that bring devastation to your life." She shrugged and glanced at him. "I might as well keep someone else along for the ride."
Finally they turned a corner off the spoopy street and some tension in Mikaela faded. She hopped up on a bench at the side of the road, balancing along the outer edge of it. "Your mess isn't my type, though. Suicidal? Wanting me to believe you learned to wield a knife like that working a desk job? Nope. Not interested." she smirked playfully.
At the end of the bench she hopped down, gasping as her heel caught on a bump and twisted underneath her. As she sensed herself loosing her balance, she instinctively grabbed onto the closest thing, which happened to be Touri's arm. A string of Italian curses fell from her lips, closed off with: "Damn heels."
Mikaela smirked at his words. Too messy. If she wasn't actively pretending to be dating a jerk face, she would have agreed. She could never get involved with the right people, and even if she did she'd never be able to be honest with them. That tended to make dating too tedious. Touri seemed to be at some sort of in between point though. She studied his face intentfully. He obviously had something darker going on, but she couldn't tell what. It couldn't be anything that bad. He didn't have the right temperament for her sort of drama.
When he began speaking loudly, she realized she'd been staring. It took her a moment to comprehend that he hadn't raised his voice to distract her from her thoughts. By the time she did realize what he was saying, it was too late. The proclamation echoed across the alley and Mikaela glared daggers at him.
So he wanted to be killed, did he? Well that wouldn't happen today. Not on her watch. She scanned for any new movement, but didn't see any. She couldn't quite decide if that was good or bad.
"Stai zitto!"* she hissed, producing her knife with a well trained flick of her wrist. With her increased speed and practiced accuracy, the blade was hovering over his throat in no time, but she didn't let it close enough to actually touch the skin. No need to really hurt him, this was just a display.
"If I was going to kill you you'd be dead already. Not that I'd dirty my own hands with the matter." Her voice was cool and any trace of mercy was gone. A threat like this wasn't something she took lightly, but if he kept blabbering on he could get them both killed. Tough as he acted, he'd have to see she was serious. "Your death isn't worth my time, no matter how much you want it. My life, on the other hand, is something I have to preserve right now, so I suggest you keep your voice down."
In a smooth motion, her knife was gone. Her dress was too nice to get blood on. Besides, she really didn't want to fight with Touri. She just wanted to play. "Come on, I don't really feel like lingering here." she said, any trace of the merciless monster that could actually consider killing someone disappearing into a grin. "That ex boyfriend theory of yours was spot on. He lives in that building right there. He was a part of some sort of smuggling ring. Real boring stuff, ya know?" she motioned to one of the windows. "It's a safe bet to assume all of my real problems are caused by exes. I've had a bit of a rough time of it."
“Teach you what?” she asked, fairly distracted. The silence crawled under her skin, nursing her paranoia. Why had he chosen to hide out in an alley that so directly connected to this street? Was it a set up? The thought didn’t feel quite right. Of all the traitors and backstabbers she’d had the pleasure of playing with, Touri seemed the most uncaring. His actions almost made it seem like he’d rather be a specter observing the world than an actual part of it. Surely that kind of person wouldn’t waste their energy on such a complicated scheme.
Smoke curled into the air. Perhaps it wouldn’t have been enough to affect a human, but she could already feel her lungs tightening. As he turned and spoke to her, she took half a step away. “Well I don’t date guys I meet at bars.” she snapped back at him. “I have a lot of flaws, but I don’t need them reflected back to me in the people I care about.”
Her hand fell over her purse protectively and her gaze once again scanned the street for any lurkers. “You’re right, though. It’s a lot quieter here than it used to be.” And that wasn’t a good thing. She’d rather be under direct gunfire than surrounded by nothing. In Mikaela’s opinion, not knowing anything was the greatest weakness imaginable. She used to know everything. Now she wasn’t even certain where the major players lived.
They just had to make it through this alley, then they’d be back in the open. From there she knew exactly where she’d go. Her footsteps fell lightly on the ground, barely making a sound. It wasn’t like masking her presence mattered. Not with Touri chattering away. But being able to tell if there was an extra set of footfalls would be useful.
“Alright. If you don’t date girls with boyfriends, who do you date?” she glanced at him curiously, letting the innocent question echo across the street. Might as well make sure any observers knew their conversation wasn’t anything too secretive. “Oh! Let me guess! You like girls who are dark and broody like you. Thank god I don’t make that list.”
Mikaela’s heart pounded in her chest. He was going to say no. Or he was going to take so long deciding that by the time they got moving the police would be flooding the streets. That would make it a lot harder to move around. She watched him, eagerly awaiting his response. If he stayed behind, this was going to be a boring night.
“Oh, I wouldn’t murder him if I were you. At least, not with the cops so close. That would be a lot of blood and I’m not sure you could clean it up quickly enough.” It would probably take a couple more minutes for the sirens to register to his puny human ears, but she couldn’t wait that long, no matter how sweet that moment of realization would be. She glanced down at his hand. Why had he had to pull away? Now she’d have to actually pay attention to make sure he kept up. Then again, she was fairly certain he’d be loud enough to keep track of.
“Don’t fall too far behind.” she warned before disappearing around the corner. As expected, the side ally was narrow, but she didn’t have much trouble slipping through. Hopefully it wouldn’t be too tight for him.
A bit of walking and a right turn later, a familiar path opened up. If things were different she might have gone straight ahead, but she didn’t want to bring too much trouble to her companion… yet. Instead, she ducked back into the narrow alley, slowing her breathing and shifting all cat-like features away.
There were people on this street that might know her by reputation. She’d owed money to a man and that debt had technically transferred to his friends upon his death. She really didn’t feel like paying it back. They would be looking for a neko, and if anyone had spotted her in passing it would have been with her hair down. She swiftly tied it up, making sure two perfectly human ears were on display.
That would be good enough… probably… It wasn’t like they were definitely walking past the group anyway. They could be anywhere, even if they commonly haunted this street. “People don’t like cats here,” she offered with a quick shrug as she finally returned to the street. She glanced back at him, silently debating for a moment before asking: “Do you smoke?”
Most people wouldn’t expect a neko to hang around someone that was smoking, so that would probably be the ultimate cover. Assume Touri smoked. And would do so on command. And she didn’t go into a coughing fit…
Mikaela studied Cali’s reaction closely as she connected the dots. Surely the question would be enough to make Cali notice that if he wasn’t Japanese they couldn’t be related. She didn’t see any trace of that realization in the girl’s face, though, so Mik had to assume they were actually related and Cali was just more of a bird brain than she seemed... Which was actually a huge accomplishment.
The girl opened her mouth in what Mik suspected would be confirmation of her theory, but oh was she misguided. How could it be so simple? ”That’s alright, deer pup, I-“ But Cali was already going on with her endless blabbering. Soon enough she disappeared and returned with boundless energy. How could Mikaela say no to that? Especially over something so menial.
”Alright. But for every possession of mine you touch without permission you get one slice less.” she was sure it wasn’t a necessary precaution, but it was better safe than sorry and with the way Cali was trying to blackmail her, she couldn’t feel bad for returning the favor.
Mikaela sighed and turned the key. It would be good to have something to keep her awake for the time being. As the door swung opening, she instinctively leaned down to catch an escaping fox. She held the fox in one arm and grabbed her bags with the other, motioning Cali ahead.
”I have to put away these before we can start the pizzas. If you wanna help it would go a lot faster and you could be eating sooner.” She carelessly tossed the bags on the counter and waited for Cali to shut the door so she could release Thief, who was struggling against her hold in an eager attempt to investigate the stranger.
Touri really thought she was dating that dirtbag, didn't he? "I'm asking myself the same thing." she muttered. Even the thought was ridiculous. She wouldn't last an hour pretending she was interested in him. But if Touri wanted to believe her story she couldn't just tell the truth and clear things up. That would be so boring.
She leaned her head against the building, no doubt getting unmentionable dirt and germs in her hair, and answered his next few questions with a moment of silence. It was the idea of him thinking she needed rescuing that made her answer the first questions. She needed a moment for the thought to settle.
When she spoke, her voice was soft enough that she wasn't sure whether he'd be able to pick up on it. "I never let a target escape." That was the truth, right? Out of her two targets in setting up that bar fight, Touri was by far the more interesting one. That was the only reasonable explanation for her wanting to follow him out.
Now for the other bit... The idea that she was the one who needed rescuing was laughable. Soon enough she was sure he'd see it was the other way around. "That's a sweet offer, but my knight in shining armour is already six feet under. I didn't need her and I don't need you either. I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself." Her voice hardened. She didn't need anyone saving her. Her situation wasn't that bad, and even if it was she'd be content to dig her way out of her own hell. Other people just got in the way and she had enough tricky waters to navigate without being indebted to anyone else.
Suddenly, her ears picked up on sirens, just out of a normal human's range of hearing. Her grim expression turned into a playful smile as she ducked around the corner and grabbed Touri's hand. Hopefully this time he wouldn't immediately pull away. "Let me rescue you instead."
She peaked around the corner as the door to the bar slammed, catching sight of the brute that had graduated from being her target to a blockade. He was closing off the main escape and Mikaela really didn't feel like sullying herself with his presence anymore. Her gaze trailed to the end of the ally where there was a narrow turn. Once upon a time she'd known these streets like the back of her hand. Now she could only guess where that turn would take them. But once they were out of the ally she'd be able to navigate fine.
"Think you can trust me for five minutes?" She asked, eyes sparkling. "And if not think you can ignore the fact that I could be leading you to your death and follow me anyway? You were looking for bad luck."
All at once, the soothing familiarity of someone that wasn't a stranger on a potential mission to kill her collapsed into utter dread. Maybe a serial killer looking for his next mark would have been better. Then there would be some foreseeable bit of rest in her near future. But she plaster a content expression on her face, not quite smiling but not being openly hostile either. The last thing she needed was to have this type of energy transformed into tears. She was usually fine with people crying, but this girl would definitely be loud enough about it that Mikaela wouldn't be able to ignore her.
Cali prattled on and on, spinning a tale of misfortune and idiocy. Mikaela wasn't sure she could pity the girl. It had been her own fault, after all. In fact, she felt bad for the stranger in the story. There was a brief pause as the conversation shifted to more questions about Mikaela, but before she could answer any the topic had shifted back.
Mikaela froze at the mention of a cousin that seemed to come out of nowhere. If that wasn't suspicious, what was? If he was someone undercover meant to target her through her neighbor she'd have to find another apartment and make another fresh start. She couldn't risk others being pulled into the twisted plots of those around her. But she was being paranoid. She doubted this girl could keep track of left from right, much less someone's name after a traumatic event that involved going to the hospital.
No, she should be sure the story didn't line up before jumping to any conclusions. "You're from Japan, right?" she asked, ignoring all of the girl's questions. They didn't really matter, after all. "Did he seem Japanese too?" It was a basic question the girl might not have stopped to think about and if he was Japanese it would be too much of a coincidence to really deny. At least, not without having met him to judge if he seemed suspicious in any other way.
A stream of words momentarily soothed her nerves. It was just the annoying child of her neighbors. She'd been concerned when she first met the over-eager fawn, but she was pretty sure the human was incapable of harm. She was more like a gnat that occasionally liked buzzing around. She usually tried to keep their interactions short. In small doses, that naive energy could be refreshing.
The building was collapsing? The words struck her as odd. She'd made a bit of noise, but not that much. She cast Cali a suspicious glance, but let it go. She was probably just over-dramatizing things. It was what kids did.
Mikaela's tired mind struggled to slow down the girl's words, and the first question she really comprehended was about groceries. "Uh... Yeah." she nodded, glancing down at her bags. She knew she'd be grateful she'd gone shopping later, but for now she didn't want to deal with putting everything away. "The food store I shop at is pretty much always open. It's a bit of a walk though, it just happens to be on my way home from work."
The other answer was more complicated. She hadn't known fear since she was a child. At least, not of mundane things like being attacked. If someone were to try to mug her she'd be more worried about their health than her own. She couldn't explain how she was raised though, so she instead looked for a way to change the subject. "Your hands." she said, noting their state. "What's the story there?"
She immediately regretted asking the question. She may have been slightly concerned, but she had no doubt this would only trigger a long story and she really wanted to sleep. Pausing to eat was already enough of a stretch.
His voice rang from somewhere in the shadows, creating what should have been an intimidating effect. She knew he was a risk she shouldn't take. He had wielded his blade with the type of precision that could only come from practice. Still, she forced herself to clear her mind enough for her heightened senses to locate where he was speaking from.
"Follow a man with a knife into a dead end ally?" she asked, tilting her head. "I dunno about that. You could get hurt." Danger traced her tone, but she was sure she scared herself more than she would scare him. A life and a half ago, this would have been her default mode. She'd really thought things had changed. But in a situation like this? How could they? She was the same old person she'd always been, no matter how much she denied it, and there was no escape. There was no changing the monster her father had created, no matter how hard she tried.
She shook off the feeling, letting her hand fall to the familiar weight of a hidden blade in an obvious tell of paranoia. She didn't think Touri would really kill anyone without good reason. She could usually identify that kind of person by the look in their eye and she made a point to give them a wide birth. She understood blood lust and the physical need for the adrenaline rush that chaos brought, but people that didn't have enough self control to wait for a good reason to maim were no better than the rats skittering across an abandoned street. She had nothing to offer them friendship wise. Not that she had much to offer most people friendship wise. Even if she wanted friends, she'd be bad at it. She had enough trouble supporting herself, much less anyone else.
The dour thoughts set her on a more weary path and she took her time approaching the ally she was pretty sure his voice had come from. She didn't enter the darkness, though. Instead she leaned against the wall of the building at the corner. "Why're you still here? I thought you'd have moved on." While she'd for some reason expected him to hang back and wait for her, she'd given no indication she'd be following him and he certainly hadn't seemed that keen on spending extra time with her. The fact that he was still here was nothing but suspicious.
It was a late night working at the casino and all Mikaela wanted was to collapse on her couch with a good book and block out the world. Or… Sleep. Sleep sounded great, but she wasn't sure she could keep her mind still just yet.
Besides, she needed to eat first. She’d missed lunch and she could feel her stomach complaining. A quick stop at a local grocery store that never seemed to close had been fruitful. She carried two bags containing enough food to replenish her stock for a week and a few microwavable pizzas. She was a mess in the kitchen, but this seemed simple enough and premade sandwiches hadn’t been very appealing. What was the worst that could happen? She'd seen her sister make things in the microwave enough times to know how simple it was.
Finally, she came to her door. The sound of her bags dropping echoed down the empty hallway and she cringed. It was late enough that she should be keeping things quiet. She didn't know her neighbors very well, but she doubted making a ruckus when most people would be asleep would make a very good impression. She didn't intend to go around making friends, but it would be terrible to have enemies so close to home. Walking on eggshells when she was out and about was hard enough. Especially for her.
When the hall was finally silent, she let out a relieved breath and began rooting through her purse for her keys. She knew they were in there somewhere, but for the life of her she could never find them. It was about time she reorganized the bag, but that took so much effort and she'd much rather just be lazy.
As she finally found them and pulled them out, a noise from down the hall froze her in place. Her hand fell towards a blade carefully concealed at her hip and she cringed against the instinct. How was she supposed to get anywhere if her mind always jumped to danger when she heard the slightest noise? Odds were it was just one of her neighbors disturbed by the noise.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake anyone up." she said in a hushed tone.
Finally the first move was actually made. Mikaela finished off her drink and withdrew a small piece of paper and pencil from her bag. She didn't know how long she'd have to make this move and she'd much rather have all the pieces in place. 'Next time, stand up for yourself. You deserve better.' She folded it in half a couple times, hoping that made it too much effort to peek at - or tear in half. He seemed like the lazy type anyway.
Her gaze darted back to the fight when someone in the crowd gasped. It appeared Touri had pulled out a knife. Of course he'd be boring about this. She listened to his last threat and watched him saunter out before approaching the defeated man.
"And by that he means the blondie over there. She may not say anything, but it's not polite to take someone out when you're not actually interested in spending time with them." she warned. If she were him she'd be thanking herself for the advice. He didn't seem to take the information so kindly.
"Oh yeah?" A hand clamped down on her wrist, freezing her in her spot. She resisted the urge to recoil as he leaned in. "Just because I was focused on your friend earlier doesn't mean I'm any less pissed at you. So keep your mouth shut, kitty-cat."
It was meant to be threatening, of course. And people that had less experience being threatened may have cowered. She, on the other hand, was more focused on wiping away the spit that accompanied his words. "Kitty-cat? You're thinking of my sister. Now, I don't have a knife, but I have a mean front kick and as a rule I don't bluff, so I suggest you let go of me." she said in a hushed tone. Things had calmed down a little and it seemed no one was looking at the two of them, so she could still escape being banned here for life if she played her cards right.
The lamb had other plans. "If you won't shut up, I'll make you!" Rage echoed across the bar and once again people fell silent. She was about to open her mouth to ask how he planned to do that when a fist collided with her cheek. Of course, he couldn't have just backed down. Not from a girl like her after he'd just been threatened with a knife. What was she compared to that? Sighing like a disappointed parent, she jammed her heel on his foot and twisted out of his grasp. He stumbled back in surprise and her hand reached up to her face, gently testing the damaged skin. How bothersome. But she wasn't interested in dealing with the brute any longer so it was time to wrap things up.
"That was my bad." she addressed the entirety of the bar. As much as she wanted him to get in trouble, she really didn't want to deal with him following her out. "Pay him no mind, I was out of line and now I'm on my way out. Things should settle down in a couple minutes here." There was a bit of mumbling, but she made eye contact with the bartender. In the woman's eyes she saw the recognition that Mikaela was the one who started all the drama and if she left things should go back to normal.
"Give this to your girl." she muttered only loud enough for him to hear, handing him the slip of paper she'd been clutching. He offered a displeased grunt, but it wasn't a denial and she figured she'd overstayed her welcome. She left some cash on the bar to cover her tab and slipped out into the night.
As a chill that had little to do with the cold danced across her skin, she instinctively pulled shadows closer. She was ok with darkness when it was under her control, but shadows, like everything else, would betray her just as easily as they helped her. Nonetheless, she took a few steps onto the dark street before pausing to re-orientate herself.
A quick look in the camera of her phone told her her cheek was a bit red but nothing too noticeable. She didn't really care if it bruised later, she just didn't want to be called out on it yet. It wasn't worth fussing over though; there was nothing she could do just here.
"Hey Touri! You still hanging around?" Her voice echoed, bouncing back at her in a barrage of noise. She cringed back slightly. If Touri was still here she wanted his attention, but who knew what other unsavory figures might be hiding out on a street like this so late at night? She wasn't really interested in picking fights tonight.
Was Touri... Supporting her quest for a handbag? She was sure it was meant to be mocking, but it was still more consideration than she's been expecting. Or, at least it was until he told the man to dump her. Her ear flicked in irritation. Her? Work? What gave him that impression? He didn’t know her well enough to make that claim.
"To be fair, 90% of the people in this bar are better than you. I mean, I don't see any of them trying to throw someone across the room over a mere drink." she pointed out. Touri had understandably been caught off guard by a stranger's unbridled rage, and Mikaela felt a trace of guilt for that. A short distraction should put them back on even ground. Fortunately, her interjection had been enough to cause that distraction.
Suddenly, the full force of his glare was focused on her once more. He still held Touri in his grasp, but he wasn't paying attention. "You--"She held up a hand to silence him at that one word. The disregard seemed to offend him further, but she didn't care. She didn't need a stream of hot, alcohol scented breath shot at her.
"Yeah, yeah, this is none of my business, I've already done enough, yada yada yada." She waved him off.
She settled for making eye contact with the blonde across the bar. Her eyes had gone wide and she looked frozen in her seat. Playing to the role of an innocent bystander, Mikaela offered a pleading look. This girl, his actual girlfriend, was the only one that could really stop the impending fight. While that wasn't what Mik wanted, her desire to see if there was any drop of courage in the woman won out. She could see the two choices fighting within the blonde, but hesitation was just as bad as doing nothing at all.
Mikaela instead tuned back into the fight. The guy seemed angrier than before her interjection, if that was possible, and she was pretty sure she wasn't imagining the irritation in Touri's features. But was it enough? Maybe she should have done something to hold this off until he'd had more to drink. For all she knew, he could be some sort of pacifist that didn't fight willingly. That sort of behaviour would just ruin her fun.
"There there Touri, I'm not gonna try to make you jump." she drawled, rolling her eyes. What good would a jumping dog do her? They had sharp teeth for a reason. She'd much rather see him rip out someone's throat.
He stared at her for a few moments and as she counted the seconds she wished she could get inside his brain and figure out what he was thinking. What did anyone think when they saw her? Surely nothing accurate. No way was he thinking she'd destroy his word if he stuck around, right?
She swirled the liquid in the glass, studying it closely. She hadn't really thought it would be poisoned, but being prudent never hurt anyone. After all, she'd had people try to drug her drink before. It did not turn out well for them. Unfortunately, this was not one of those situations. By all indications of her brief examination, the only toxic substance in this drink was alcohol.
Hearing angry footsteps amidst the din of the bar, she figured the time had finally come. "Meow." she purred, then took the first sip of her drink and waited for chaos to ensue. She'd given him plenty of warning and he'd shrugged it all off, so she really couldn't offer the slightest bit of pity when a large man ambled up and shouted in his face.
"Oi! Who the hell do you think you are?!" A ruddy face loomed over them, and Mikaela was glad she wasn't the target of that rage. Not that she thought he'd be a semi-worthy competitor, but she desperately wanted to shrink back in disgust. From an outside perspective he probably seemed fairly normal, but she'd observed his behaviour all night and she absolutely hated him. She really hoped her new 'friend' would put up a good fight.
"Last I asked, he says he's a dog." Mikaela piped in before Touri could respond to the question, resisting the laughter bubbling beneath the surface. She'd expected more than a bit of yelling for the initial collision, but he seemed mad enough to start a fight and that's what really mattered. The man offered her an unamused glare before fixing his threatening stare back on Touri. "Ooooh, scary." she pouted, taking another sip of the drink.
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The skin is created by Wolf of Adoxography and Gangnam Style. The thread and conversation remodels are by Kagney. The Strange Reality board list, Heal My Soul info center, I Remember Now mini profile and Electric Requiem profile remodel is made by Pharoah Leap. The Who's That Member member list remodel was made by Tictactoe. The Cbox.ws Shoutbox remodel was made by Trinity Blair. All templates used for claims, information sheets, applications, etc are credited to their owners; credits for these can be found in the threads the templates are use on. Images that are used on The Duality of Man are credited to their owners, however, they have been edited by Zac with a few being edited by Chibi Magician. The plot, rules and various other information pieces for The Duality of Man are written by Chibi Magician with the assistence of her co-admins, Finnegan and Dremulf, alongside other unlisted people who were kind enough to give their input. The TRS, AP and face claim were all created by Fleur for specifically the use of TDOM. All plugins used on The Duality of Man are credited to their owners. The templates my members use are credited to their maker, if you find a template that belongs to you, but is uncredited, please speak to Chibi Magician or the member themself. Characters created on The Duality of Man are credited to their owners and should not be used elsewhere without the creator's permission.
Special thanks for the members of TDOM who make suggestions to help make this site better. Even though we can not accept all suggestions, we immensely appreciate it. Thus, we give credit to any additions that you thought of and were later implimented by the staff, because we are glad you give us these excellent ideas.
