Magic Tricks • •

[taiden lachlan daniels]

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Missed calls were never something Taiden liked to see when he pulled his phone out of his pocket. It was never a number he wanted to see, never a name he missed or that brought a smile to his lips. No, it was always Bath. If there wouldn’t be such grief from blocking that hoard of numbers he would have done it a long time ago, but Taiden wasn’t a complete asshole. He might be on the other side of the planet, but he wouldn’t leave Bryony to handle their completely screwed up family alone. His big sister did quite enough in his absence; she always had done. He had left plenty of times and she had dealt with the disdain that followed from their mother and step-father. Their dad, of course, was pleased as punch to see his kids living their lives as they pleased. He didn’t care if they took their time to find their dreams, or travelled the globe until they were penniless. He just wanted them to live.

He knew what this would be about though. Taiden wasn’t coming home for the summer. He had known as much for months, but had only just chosen to let his mother know. His dad and sister had known well enough, and they weren’t going to make a fuss over it. They were fine with letting him live his life. He had missed birthdays and special occasions without them caring. His mother, however, along with his step-father, always made it personal. He’d gone far away to put distance between himself and their fucked up family ideals, but now every little choice he made had to be to upset them. That was how they saw it. Taiden couldn’t just do something because it made him happy. It had to make them mad, too.

The phone returned to his pocket with those missed calls still present on the lock screen. He would ignore them for a while longer. Instead, he opted to continue with his day, and that meant getting a drink since it was his night off from Six Feet Under. He would consider it celebrating, since he had just booked in with Carter at Three Kings to have some more work done on his already ink covered body. Feeling like making a night of it, he went to Hard Rock first since it was too early for most of the city’s nightclubs. Taiden took a seat at the bar and ordered a Jack and Coke. He didn’t always head out with friends, just because he was used to his own company after the years he spent travelling. Sometimes he liked being in his own space, even around other people. He put it down as being ‘a creative quirk’ and left it at that, rather than try to explain it to people. Sipping at his drink when it came to him, he put the glass back on the bar top and stretched, hearing his back crack loudly all the way up his spine, one pop after enough. He let out a sigh of contentment at the feeling and rolled his neck. Playing sports for so long also left him with some quirks; old injuries and tense muscles.

• • •

TAGGED! Kanoa Baxter Kennedy
WORDS! 537!
OUTFIT! Inked Hottie!
LYRICS! Fool’s Gold - - - Passenger
NOTES! <3

[Kanoa Baxter Kennedy]

Kennedy knew she probably looked really sketchy whenever she was with her friends. She was constantly taking convoluted routes to places just around the corner and whenever someone was behind her for just a little too long, she made moves to lose them; just in case. It wasn't just because she was raised by a cop, though that probably would have been enough but it was because she'd been kidnapped not once but twice in her lifetime. That was, as far as Kennedy was concerned, two times too many. It didn't make her wary of meeting new people exactly, she still lived her life, but she wasn't as open when she first met people as she'd been once upon a time. It took a lot to even get her to open up about simple things. She lied about her name whenever someone gave her an odd vibe and she faked a phone call to get away. Living her life was like being a spy, always on alert, waiting for the other shoe to drop. And it wasn't fun like the movies.

She wanted to live a life not cower and hide, waiting for someone to grab her because they had an vendetta against her father. New York was a pretty safe place for her because she was able to slip into a crowd and blend in. Kennedy probably shouldn't have taken on the job she did have but she was surprisingly enough, an extrovert and loved to make a scene. Around her friends, and at work, she was loud and boisterous. She was fun and wanted to keep the energy up constantly. When she was home alone, she danced around the apartment with the music just loud enough to drown out the city sounds, singing along without a care. She was a hyper person, which was probably why she was able to keep up the life she was leading. Or it was just that she was so used to it at this point, it was ingrained.

Her friends didn't mind too much, thought she was quirky and let her do her thing. She hadn't told anyone in New York about her childhood. It wasn't something she wanted to really talk about simply because it brought up questions Kennedy didn't want to answer; most of them she couldn't answer. She didn't have answers to all the questions because, despite being kidnapped, she wasn't allowed to know all the answers. The group she was supposed to be meeting on her night off didn't care that she was quirky, often they even enjoyed her little game of spy network as they called it. She loved them fiercely and knew without a doubt if she were to tell anyone about what she'd gone through as a child and teenager, it would be these two women and the Queen that kept them fierce. Surprisingly, Kennedy was early so she hit the bar, ordered herself a Twelve Mile Limit and waited for the lot of mischief makers to show up. Hearing the cracks and pops beside though, she couldn't help herself and glanced over with wide eyes. "Jesus Christ, did you just break something." She said, glancing down at the barstool between them and back up to him again as if looking at all the space between them would bring her point home.

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Tag || taiden lachlan daniels
Words || 557
Clothes || Hot Hostess
Music || She'll Leave You With A Smile --George Strait
Notes || <3

[taiden lachlan daniels]

[

People expected Taiden to be a wild rebel or hold a criminal record longer than most people’s bucket lists. He was neither. His body was covered in ink because he loved art. He worked in a club known for heavy metal and rock music because he liked that sound. He wasn’t a rebel without a cause who set out to fight ‘The Man’ and cause chaos and destruction wherever he went. He was a pretty relaxed guy who could make a hell of a mess in his own space, but who loved the people he was close to more than anything. Still, people didn’t see that at first glance. They just saw a guy who looked like walking trouble. He was used to bouncers checking his ID carefully, to cops on patrol asking him if everything was okay when he was taking short cuts home after closing up at Six Feet Under. It didn’t bother him anymore, and Taiden laughed it off. If anything, it could inspire his work sometimes. He had a huge piece on demons and gods that he was doing, and it was solely going off of what people saw when they looked at each other. Six Feet Under was a huge inspiration, but then it was supposed to be hell itself, and Elvira was forever adding dark corners to dark corners.

There was a great deal more to Taiden than his edgy appearance. His body of ink stood for more than just some pretty pictures. He was well travelled, and had discovered a lot about himself, his family, and the cultures that he could have been a part of. He wasn’t just some kid from Bath, England, who grew up with a dysfunctional broken home. There was a whole world out there, and little bits of it influenced who Taiden was. His apartment looked like a collection from a wanderer, and maybe that was exactly what he was. He had wandered, listening and exploring, seeing what there was to see. He wasn’t some serious creature, but at the same time he was an intellect who enjoyed deep discussions as night gave way to another fresh day. Taiden liked to get to know people beyond their initial portrait. He wanted to peel away the layers and see what they kept deep down in their core. He had found himself travelling, as cheesy as it seemed, and though he couldn’t say it had changed him as a person, it had made him more curious as to who the people around him really were. He didn’t believe that everyone was as materialistic or as shallow as they often came across in a first impression.

Taiden turned his head to the side, looking at the girl who had spoken with raised eyebrows. He was curious, at first wondering what on earth she was talking about. Then, because he rolled his shoulders once more and made his shoulder blades crack, he realised what she must have been reacting to. He laughed, flashing a brief grin and showing his pearly white teeth. “Nah. Just a quirk of mine. I suppose years of playing hockey recklessly didn’t help much either, though.” He raised his glass to his mouth and took a deep gulp, sighing softly as it went down ever so nicely. “I can also wiggle my ears.” He joked, offering it out as though it was on the table as a legitimate suggestion – something as casual or as common as offering to buy someone a drink or walk them home after a night out.

• • •

TAGGED! Kanoa Baxter Kennedy
WORDS! 596!
OUTFIT! Inked Hottie!
LYRICS! Fool’s Gold - - - Passenger
NOTES! <3

[Kanoa Baxter Kennedy]

Kennedy had never really been a shy girl, which was probably why she and her brother had been the easier targets as kids; they'd never really been home. She loved being out and about, hated being stuck in her room or apartment because an assignment demanded her attention or because the flu caught her off-guard. There were good reasons to lounge in bed all day and she was good with those but there were also bad reasons and those were the ones that pushed Kennedy to get out there and see the world. She would not let her kidnappings turn her into some scared little introvert. She did what she did, she looked over her shoulder and she clocked everyone who seemed to be continuing in the same direction for longer than a couple blocks. Paranoid? Probably but it kept her safe. Not that she was in danger now. Her father made sure that no one knew where his kids found themselves after leaving the island, going so far as to taking three flights across the country just to drive eight hours to their final destination.

It was the mentality of someone who'd been stalked, watched and attacked on more than one occasion and if anyone knew that, it would be completely understandable. Kennedy however, didn't want to see the looks on the faces of her friends if they ever found out. She hadn't liked the pity, the shock and the fear when she'd been a kid on the island. She hadn't been found more still of the intrigue and excitement in the eyes of others that wanted to know her story. Back home, she hadn't been able to hide who she was, everyone on her island knew. But on the Mainland, she was just another girl trying to get through school without much trouble. In New York, she was doing much of the same thing, with the addition of stepping up on that stage a couple nights a week to introduce the acts that night and warm the crowd. If her life hadn't taken the interesting turn it had, she would probably have grown up to become some Bartender by night, student by day working towards some law degree perhaps. She was a brilliant woman but since the kidnappings and her sudden move to the other side of the damn country, things had changed. She no longer had interest in working in law. But her English teachers at the academy had shown her a whole new world when she'd finally gotten to Maine.

They were the reason she was an English Literature major instead of something else. And probably the reason she was in New York and not somewhere a little more... Flaky. Then again, it could have been all the talk from the dorms, who knew? Either way, she ended up in the Big Apple, and she hadn't looked back since. A lot of decisions led to where she was now and though she would forever wish she'd never been kidnapped, she was still grateful for where her life was now. Kennedy had met some interesting people since showing up in New York which was always a good thing for an extrovert like her. She opened her mouth to say something when the bartender put her drink down on a napkin in front of her. Quickly, she dealt with handing over the bills to cover the alcoholic drink and returned to the man she'd been speaking to with a quick smile and a hasty thanks. "Is that right? Well then, why don't you prove it, Alfalfa." She teased, not even considering the possibility that he wouldn't get her reference.

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Tag || taiden lachlan daniels
Words || 611
Clothes || Hot Hostess
Music || She'll Leave You With A Smile --George Strait
Notes || <3

[taiden lachlan daniels]

[

Taiden didn’t have time for people who pried into other people’s lives as though they were something from a soap opera. He had been subjected to whispers and nudges when he had been younger and his parents had divorced. It wasn’t something that faded away with time though. There was always someone, somewhere who had something to say about the broken home that Taiden came from, about how some of his siblings were only half-siblings. They spoke as though their blood was tainted, as though they were poison. Taiden had risen to the bait once or twice in his youth, but he had learnt from his father to let go of much of it. It would last forever and there was only so much that could be said without fuelling such talk. It was easier to let it go and forget about them. It still bothered Taiden, but he had better things to think about and do with his time.

That was the joy he had found in travelling. No one had to know about the life he had left behind if he didn’t want them to. Not that Taiden hid a great deal from those who he befriended. He wasn’t ashamed of the life he had come from, but often it had been easier to simplify things. It was quicker to say that his step-father was an ass than to explain how he had attempted to make life miserable by forcing them all into his ideal little box. He didn’t exactly have a knack for storytelling, but that was something he could live with since his body told enough stories with the art that he had inked all over him. A picture could tell a thousand words after all – which was a lot more than you’d get out of the sometimes scary looking art kid. Taiden wasn’t quiet per se, but rather he didn’t choose to ramble on like some people did. He said what he wanted to say and then he was often done until the next time he had something worth opening his mouth for. It was a pet peeve whenever he met guys who had to lead the pack by talking every other minute, spewing some anecdote that wasn’t even relevant but instead was something they thought was funny.

A weird alpha battle was not what Taiden looked for when he wanted to hang out with friends. It was a pointless sort of fight. Plus, all it did was serve to annoy him. There was no need to pit friends against friend just for the sake of being some weird kind of leader who picked what bar they went to next. It was probably that reason why Taiden kept his friendship circle small, and mostly to people who mixed well together or who already knew each other. That was there was less of a chance of someone coming on board and rocking the boat. “Alfie who now?” Taiden raised his eyebrow quizzically. He wasn’t one for references, especially if they were obscure or not British. Pretty bad for a guy who considered himself to be educated and travelled, but his specialities were in areas not many people often referenced in casual conversation.

• • •

TAGGED! Kanoa Baxter Kennedy
WORDS! 539!
OUTFIT! Inked Hottie!
LYRICS! Fool’s Gold - - - Passenger
NOTES! <3

[Kanoa Baxter Kennedy]

Kanoa smiled at the man. She didn't think the Little Rascals was a very niche film but perhaps it was. She didn't really know. She grew up on an island that was temporarily home to more tourists per year than actual islanders. And thanks to her special circumstances, she was more encouraged than most to stay at home, indoors where the movies were good and the internet speed was high. She couldn't be used against her father in his line of work if she was safe and secure in the house. It should have bothered the young girl, and it did but her friends didn't mind hanging out at her place. At least she had a pool they could lounge around. Moving to the mainland had been an adjustment that Kanoa hadn't expected would take her long to figure out. She was a pretty outgoing person and enjoyed the company of people.

She'd been able to blend in well enough, never spoke about home in specifics, and life for her moved on rather well. It had been so long now that she didn't really need to look over her shoulder whenever she went out but her father had taught her well and ingrained in her the sense of urgency in making sure she was never followed home. So she took the long way, spent an extra hour sometimes to zigzag around before she finally went home. It also meant though, that she could go out to the nightclubs and enjoy a night on the town with her friends without worrying that something bad will happen to them. As fat as the bad guys were concerned, her father didn't have a daughter anymore. And Kanoa didn't go by her real any anyway so even if they thought they found her, they would dismiss it because she wasn't Kanoa Baxter Kennedy in New York, she was Kennedy Baxter.

"Alfalfa is a character in a kid's movie called The Little Rascals. He could also wiggle his ears. I highly recommend it but that's nostalgia for you." She explained, waving her hand between them to dismiss her remarks. They weren't exactly common knowledge. She didn't know that many people who actually sat around watching movies as kids on days that weren't ruined by rain. "I'm Kennedy, by the way. Rather rude of me to call you a name and not give you one to call me back. Of course, you could always just make one up for me." She offered with a smile, outstretching her hand in greeting. It was an odd quirk, sure but Kennedy was an odd girl.

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Tag || taiden lachlan daniels
Words || 436
Music || She'll Leave You With A Smile --George Strait
Notes || <3