I'm Good, I'm Gone //open//

[Adelle Konstanze]

^{say what you want but you're not gonna win this time}

^{take what you want, but just leave me alive}

As busy as the midday bustle of the streets of Elysium were, it was nothing compared to the spirited sounds of a very loud and heated "debate". The small apartment was shabby, poorly maintained, but all anyone just starting out on their own could afford. All the money either of them had, had been used to get them this far. Two years of scraping money up from nothing and working menial little jobs. It all amounted to nothing. The crescendo of something shattering against a wall was enough to signify that. Plate? Probably. Doubtful they had anything else that could shatter like that. Granted, it could have hit the man it was aimed for, but in her rage, her aim had suffered. Only man in the entire 'Verse that could ever provoke her to anger. Yet he'd never provoked her this much. 'Must've done somethin' real bad this time.' The neighbours mused. Always listening in and waiting for a gunshot. There never was one. A few of them scurried out of the way as the apartment doors were thrown open, the female ruffled with a bag on her back. A slew of swears in two different languages left cracked lips as she barged her way through the narrow street. From the balcony, a man appeared, shirtless and adjusting the belt of his slacks. He was shouting '_DELLE!' towards the retreating woman. Over and over, and then stopped. She was gone.

Though, in reality, she had dipped into an open market, weaving through the stalls and heading towards one of the buildings. It said in faded white letters over the door, '^GARCIA'S'. A little bell rang overhead as she shouldered her way inside. A few patrons sat about inside eating various health-problem-inducing meals. A large man in an apron sat in the far corner, reading the latest news with his feet propped on another chair. Adelle stormed passed him as he peered over the interactive sheet.

"Garcia don' want to be disturbed, ángel."

The chef's warning went ignored, and Adelle continued her silent stomp up the stairs. She threw open the office door, catching the owner in some kind of passionate clinch with one of the local ladies. Konstanze grunted and waited as they reassembled themselves. Garcia was a young man-- Garcia Jr, if you wanted to get technical. He'd inherited this place from his old man. Of course, he was always far too busy dealing with the public relations side of his job. Very hands-on with it.

Adelle, though, she'd seen enough of people in passionate clinches to last her a long gorram time. Garcia laughed it off, and smacked the woman on her backside as she sauntered out with a cigarette in hand. A kiss was blown towards Garcia and he caught it, pretending to drop it down his pants. When he met Adelle's stare, he just tried to charming-smile his way through her foul mood. Nothing to do with him, after all.

"Adelle! Sweet-thing! What are you doing back here? Your shift ended twenty minutes ago, chica."

"Need a little advance on my pay. About... three weeks?"

His grin faltered a little at the last part, and he perked up a brow. Good thing was, he liked her, and enjoyed how reliable a worker she was. Plus.. well.. he liked the ladies, yeah? Soft spot for the pretty women. After a moment, he clapped his hands and held them out.

"Sure thing, ángel!"

"Thanks, Garcia. Oh. I won't be in tomorrow. Well, I won't be in the next day either-- or the rest of the week."

The man's face became more and more confused by her words as he took them in, the woman already turning towards the stairs, her bag heavy with the few clothes she grabbed, some personal items and quite a number of things that had belonged to Rhett-- compensation. As she disappeared down the stairs, the last thing Garcia heard was, "Matter of fact, I'm quitting! Thanks for the advance."

She even turned at the last minute, in pure mocking, to blow him a kiss. Dumbfounded, Garcia merely caught it in his hand, and then it all clicked in. That was one more person shouting her name down a street to add to today's tally. Adelle just kept on going. Where? She didn't really know...

As long as it was far, far away from here.

[Grayson Reid]

This shepherd was a long way from home.

Then again, maybe he had no home. He had not felt at home with his parents as a child, and had never returned after the Academy. He did not even know if his family was alive anymore, but could also not bring himself to really care. The Academy was not home; it was a prison. A place of bad memories, of pain and confusion, of fear. His place with Siobhan, his partnership...that had felt closest to a home, to somewhere he belonged. However, all that had changed when something in him had broken. Whatever the people at the Academy had done to him, they had not been able to make permanent. Although some of the alterations they had made seemed to have damaged his emotions beyond repair, he had gained back a sense of morality. That, to him, was enough for a life change, to become a fugitive.

His name was not even his own. His past, a secret he wished he did not have to bear. The abbey had brought him peace and helped him to understand things in a different way...but he had never felt right even there. So, he had jettisoned himself away from that moon, away from Persephone, and to a place he had never been. Athens. It was a start.

He thanked the captain once again for the ride, after the exchange of the coin Grayson had promised, and slung his bag over his shoulder. Reid was a man of few belongings, and they could all fit into this single bag. He dressed simply, as with most shepherds, in dark pants and a blue button-up. His facial hair was clipped neatly, though it appeared grizzled, and his eyes appeared almost unnaturally blue beneath dark brown and gray-peppered hair.

As he descended from the ship, his only love in life came shuffling after him. It was a three-legged dog, still young enough that he was stumbling over his overly-large paws at times. Grayson waited for the dog to catch up to his side, having to bend low to pat his head. Grayson was a few inches over six feet in height, while the dark brown and black dog's pointed ears barely reached his upper thigh. "Well, Bump," Grayson mused, attaching the dog's lead to his collar before straightening back up. "Where shall we go first?" The pup wagged his tail as if he could understand, staring up at Grayson with some adoration. Then he took off in one direction, towards an open-air marking, the man following his dog at a leisurely pace.

A pretty woman crossed his path, though he did not notice that she was attractive. What he did notice was that she was angry and on a mission. He could not shake the training that had been drilled into him for years; from the way she carried herself, Grayson knew immediately that she was quite an adept fighter. After his four years of pacifism and with the youth she had on him, she could probably even give him, a man that the Academy had hard-wired into a fighting, killing machine, a run for his money.

He let her go, but watched her curiously as she disappeared into a building. Lingering in the market, he picked through some of the selection at a meat stand. He found a medium-sized leg of some kind of unfortunate farm animal. Though he did not eat meat, Bump surely did, and Grayson purchased it, giving it to the little dog to gnaw on.

When she came back out, a man following her to yell at her, Grayson moved casually out into the street to fall in beside her. "Something the matter, mèi-mèi?" he asked in a grating but friendly voice. Bump trotted along behind, tail wagging furiously. He had picked the bone clean of any meat, but he held it proudly in his mouth as he followed politely at his master's heels.

_________________________________

Mèi-mèi: little sister

[Adelle Konstanze]

^outfit
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Fingers still gripped onto the handles of the long bag she had slung over her shoulder, Miss Konstanze pulling down a pair of aviators over her eyes as she continued to weave through the people in the market. Garcia's shouts had given up and faded after a few minutes, but that wasn't before Adelle was almost jolted from her anger-trip by the sudden sound of a soft, yet gravelly voice. She staggered a step to the side, blinking in confusion. For a moment, Adelle assumed he was going to be the next male in line to feel her wrath, and had even opened her mouth to berate him. The man was a stranger, after all, and sticking his nose in her business. One of the things she disliked. Not to mention the slight term of 'endearment' he'd used. Looking at him, midway through another slew of curses, Adelle stopped herself. She trailed off, cleared her throat, and buttoned up her lips.

It wasn't that she'd realised he was a Shepard-- sometimes it was hard to tell-- but there was something inside her that told her to stop and think about what she was saying. An ingrained politeness that stemmed from her mother. So Adelle had stopped short, and decided to afford the stranger with an answer instead of a raised fist or more foul language.

"Uh-- I'm fine. Really. It's fine, sir." She wasn't completely uneducated-- unlike her earlier words had shown-- and her accent held the fading edge of someone from the Core.

Adelle moved to pace ahead of him, and continue on that heavy trail she was setting herself. Although she had stopped and staggered once again. Easily managing to avoid tripping over the dog, but instead just made herself realise the path of destruction she might leave if she didn't pay attention. Lim had told her many times. Focus. Inwardly, she was embarrassed for not doing him the proper justice in teaching her. Outwardly, she was staring down at the young dog as he peered up at her. Blissfully happy. Not a care in the world. Part of her started to envy the hound, but then she tucked some wayward dark hair behind her ear and turned back towards the stranger.

"Sorry. Uh. Could you hold this a sec?"

A small realisation, maybe? Something about how little that small dog cared for anything other than what made him and his master happy? The bag over her shoulder was held out towards the Shepard, and provided he took the burden off her, Adelle would be working hard at unscrewing something from around her finger. She twisted away at a ring, two hearts bent around on a silver band until they met. One blackish in colour, the other silver-white. She glanced one way, and then the other, regardless of how odd this seemed, and then gave the object an expert throw. It flew up high, and arced a long, long way into the distance. Unseen to her, a few people had seen the ring fall, and scrambled to snatch it up. A small fight ensued.

"That's better." A tiny, diamond-encrusted weight off her shoulder. Or hand in this case, and then she'd turn to take the bag back.

"Thanks. Uh. My boyfriend's a ta ma de hun dan. Or not my boyfriend..."

An awkward pause, Adelle peering down to the dog, and then back up to him.

"Nevermind."

[Grayson Reid]

Her reaction upon seeing him was noticeable, and he cocked his head with a slight smile. It was amusing how quickly her mouth had gone from yelling back at the man to attempting to save face and be polite with Grayson. "If you say so," he said quietly.

She pulled ahead of him and he unconsciously reached out when she staggered, but she caught herself. Bump hopped out of her way and he narrowed his eyes in concern. But she was giving his little dog all of her attention, and little Bump was giving her his best puppy dog eyes over the bone he still clung to, his tail swishing excitedly as his head tilted ever so slightly.

Grayson met her eyes with his dulling hazel ones as she spoke, holding out her bag. His grip on the strap was firm as he tugged it from her grasp. He watched her take off a ring, with some difficulty it seemed, and he noted the band of discolored skin beneath it. Something she wore often, and for a long time he was sure.

She tossed it away and he watched it soar, glancing back at her when it was lost. He held out the bag, cocking his head much like the little dog as she gave him a vague explanation to her actions. He let the silence spin out for a moment, then cleared his throat. "If I may...one so young as you shouldn't be making such rash decisions." He dropped his eyes suddenly in an almost embarrassed manner as an apologetic, yet amused smile creased his lips. "Apologies, miss. Can take the Shepherd out of the Abbey, but you can't take the Abbey out of the Shepherd."

He held out a hand, strong and calloused to the touch when she gripped it. "Grayson Reid. What can I call you?"

[Adelle Konstanze]

Oh, Shepherd? Maybe that was why she'd subconsciously tried to quell some of her cursing. Her religious leanings were more towards Buddhism, but even then she was rather lazy in that area. Still, she always had that built-in reflex to be polite to Shepherds and authority figures-- even though sometimes the latter didn't warrant such respect. Depended on the person, right? At his attempt to give her advice on the rash decision, Adelle had cast her gaze in the direction the ring had flown. She gave a shrug. It may have seemed rather rash out of context.

"Trust me, Shepherd, this has been a long time coming." She noted in a weary tone, but didn't want to pour out all the problems she'd had over the last year or so onto this man. Even if he was a Shepherd, and by default good at listening. Adelle would rather it just be left alone for now.

"Appreciate the concern, though." She followed it up with a smile, albeit it not that bright or sunny, but it was a smile nonetheless.

With the hand held out towards her, and his name up in the air for her to take or leave, her own hand reached out in kind. Adelle had a firm grip, naturally, but it was a subtle kind of strength. Was this all some kind of sign? Bumping into a Shepherd in her time of being lost and without a clue what to do with herself or where to go next... Well, maybe not a sign, but it was like a lucky little addition. While she didn't share his beliefs, a holy man wasn't just there to teach about his religion. Sometimes guidance came in the form of friendly advice. Not that Adelle was one to ask for help. She liked to struggle to find her way first, and then when all the failures rank up, she'll cave and seek out help. Stubborn people in this here 'Verse. Oh yeah, name?

"Adelle Konstanze. Adelle's fine, though." A pause, and she'd direct her gaze downwards at the pup. "An' who's your friend?"