I know why the caged bird sings...

[CLEO EVERETT]

The more she walked, the less angry she became, and the more paranoid she got. Awesome. She was totally lost. She had completely gone astray. There was still some anger somewhere that kept her going, her pace not slowing, even as she found less recognizable landmarks along the way. (TREES EVERYWHERE, THERE WASN’T ANYTHING RECOGNIZEABLE IN THE FIRST PLACE). Finally, Cleo stopped, so suddenly that it threw her off a bit. Cleo pulled a hand through her hair and let out a frustrated scream through her teeth. “I hate this place,” she snapped, turning back to look the way she’d come. Mitch was sitting in the middle of the sidewalk, giving her this look that would’ve made her feel bad any other day except for right now because she was lost and frustrated. For some reason, this only annoyed her further and so she turned right back around and continued down the path. Being lost wasn’t that big a deal. She could find somebody to get her out of here. It was Central Park for goodness sake; there were people ev—

Cleo was brought to yet another sudden stop, this time by a hand on her arm. She spun around to glare at whoever it was (she knew who it was). Cleo narrowed her eyes a little, trying to figure out just how earnest his apology was. She’d gotten her fair share of fake, sarcastic, or mocking apologies so it was pretty easy to tell the difference by now. When he looked down, Cleo could feel the anger melting away. Okay… maybe she’d overreacted a little bit (not that she was going to take all the blame; pft, as if) but it wasn’t her fault. Overreacting could sometimes be part of her daily routine. Cleo sighed and rolled her eyes, managing a tiny smile. Cleo jabbed him in the chest with her finger, hoping it would get him to look at her. “I accept your apology, and I missed you too.” Cleo shrugged out from under his hands and looked around. “Now, get me out of this stupid park.”


notes; nyannyannyannyannyannyannyan
words; 349
outfit minus the bag & ear cuff,
plus her promise ring

[mrbrightside]

I'M LOOKING AT YOU THROUGH THE GLASS
don't know how much time has passed
OH GOD IT FEELS LIKE FOREVER

Mitch grinned, giving Cleo a big and probably unnecessary hug. "Let's get you out of here and to a cab, I guess, and to wherever you're going," He turned her around and took her to the edge of Central Park they'd been nearby where the vendor was still sitting. "Then, I have to go find Marnie, or else she's going to kill me."

Mitch was glad things were kinda okay with Cleo, but he was a little worried about what Marnie would do. She was known for being particularly strange about her reactions. Sometimes, something small would set her off or put her into tears, but Marnie would be more likely to beat Mitch over the head with something first.

He hailed a cab. After it pulled over, Mitch reluctantly handed Cleo his lamp. "Cleo, keep that safe, please." He was worried about the lamp. If it got into somebody else's hands, Mitch could potentially be screwed. "You've seen Aladdin. You know what could happen." With that dismal message in mind, Mitch helped Cleo into the cab, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek before closing the door.

Hopefully, the lamp would stay safe.

(TAG) anyone who cares
(WORDS) 229
(NOTES) Genie's Lamp, Cuffs, Under the Cuffs
(LYRICS) stone sour - through glass
(CREDIT) SELF RIGHTEOUS SUICIDE.. at caution.

[CLEO EVERETT]

The hug caught Cleo off-guard, leaving her a bit winded. She wrapped her arms around him and returned the hug, enjoying it while she could. She had missed his hugs. After a minute or so, they were headed out of the park. Unlike last time, Cleo didn’t try to remember any noticeable things because, it was official, she was never coming back here again. “To home!” she exclaimed, pointing forward fake-heroically. “Wait ‘til Mom hears that you’re back.” Cleo said absent-mindedly, a skip in her step. Out of the park, yay! Cleo had never been so happy to see tall concrete buildings and street vendors and traffic. “Tell Marnie I said hi,” Cleo told him as he hailed the cab. “Maybe she’ll go a bit easy on you.” Cleo doubted it but it was at least nice of her to say something.

Cleo had been ready to get in the cab and go (home where she would make a two dozen of cookies) when Mitch gave her the lamp. She looked at him, confused, and suddenly really worried. Please don’t ask me to keep this safe, please don’t ask me to keep this safe, please oh pleaseeee don’t— Cleo let out a quiet groan, her gaze dropping. It was not a good idea to give Cleo important things to keep safe. Secrets were different because she forgot secrets ten minutes later, so she was technically a good secret-keeper. What if the lamp was like a secret? Oh God, what if she lost this in, like, ten minutes? Cleo’s grip on the lamp suddenly tightened and she clung to it as if it were life itself. GREAT. Because she already wasn’t nervous enough. Cleo forced a smile and nodded meekly. “I’ll take care of it.”

He helped her into the cab (much like the hug, the kiss on her cheek threw her off) and closed the door. She gently placed her fingertips against her cheek, a bit dazed. Cleo peeked at him from behind the window before telling the cabbie where they were headed. The last thing she wanted was an angry cab driver when she had something really important with her.

notes; kind of in love with this post
words; 362
outfit minus the bag & ear cuff,
plus her promise ring