A Day to Remember (RP Story)

[u]A Day to Remember, Part 1.[u]
Thursday 2nd October, 7am

Ryan Andrews, the young man known as the hero Cindersnap, awoke with some consternation. Too many late nights and too many early mornings had been plaguing the leader of the New Vigilants. The past few days he had been rushing about to deal with new students and all the work that involved in getting them set up and set in, running classes, working out what to teach next for his students, reviewing other-

To cut it short, he had a -lot- of duties. At seventeen years old, it was a lot of responsibility to take on, but he was the kind of man who always stepped up to a challenge. Today though, he was eighteen. Maybe that would make some kind of magical big difference.

'Fat chance' Ryan grumbled to himself, stumbling out of bed and shedding his shorts and t-shirt mid route to his shower, letting the first blast of cold water shock him into some state resembling being awake. His teeth chattered a little as he stood under the frigid spray, rubbing water into his face. Soon, the water began to warm up, and he reached for the bottle of rather pricey bodywash he used.

”Good morning and happy birthday, Ryan. You know, we would not begrudge you a lie-in on this auspicious day, but being the busy man you are, what with the cadre of friends and fans, I can understand you wishing to fit as much basking in their culminative adoration in as possible.” A female voice came from inside his head, the cybernetic retinal implants that his boss got for him displaying the picture of BODICIA, an oft-snarky AI that looked after things behind the scenes for the Unity Vigil and New Vigilants.

“Love you too, B.” Ryan laughed, lathering his chest up. “I'm taking tomorrow and the weekend off, so plenty of time to catch up on my sleep.”

”That still does not explain why you have such a packed schedule today. And the party? Living to the excesses of the hero lifestyle with soda pop and cheetos I see.” BODICIA replied. Ribbing and mocking was one of the ways she displayed affection to people, and from the day plan she uploaded to his HUD, it appeared she'd moved and delegated some of his chores to free up his schedule.

“I'll give you the same answer I gave Zorielle. With the Rikti attacks recently, the students need something to keep their mind of things. Birthday parties are traditional at the Tower, and mine's no exception. I'd rather curl up on the sofa with some friends and some good food, but things can't go -all- my way today, can they?” Ryan replied. He could internalize the communications, but it was his home and his shower, so he could do what he felt like. Wiping the mirror in the somewhat spacious cubicle down, he soaped up his face before taking the razor to his cheeks, chin and neck. “And anyway, just because it's my birthday doesn't mean I can skip out on all my other work.”

”Great, the Rolando brand of leadership appears to be infectious. Get out while you can, before you end up sprouting formulaic and thought out speech all the time.” BODICIA's avatar display rolled her eyes. ”You have the strength of will and stubbornness down -just- right though. Your order is ready to pick up, see you in the tower for Nine, if not earlier.”

Peering up, Ryan carefully let his razor glide down his neck, removing the downy blond hair and slight stubble that accumulated overnight. “Alright BODI, take care.” He smiled. As her avatar faded from the screen, a quick few eye movements brought up his in-built media player, and the sound of Queen's 'I Want to Break Free' came over his audio implants. Bopping from the shower to the bedroom, he quickly dressed into the tight fitting amber and black uniform he wore to work, before stopping off in the kitchen for something to eat.

He kept his apartment in the area between Skyway and Atlas fairly neat, and the kitchen was well stocked and equipped as always. Cooking was a passion, and there was always something nice about bringing friends over to cook for them. Or his boyfriend. Though that was more of a case of used to, and ex-boyfriend now. News aggregators and bulletin updates scrolled down the right hand side of his vision as he did some minor tidying, taking in all latest updates and events.

'Getting to be a routine now... good thing work isn't at times' Ryan chuckled, stopping just before his front door to check himself over in the mirror, running his fingers through his now dyed and gelled blond hair. His blue eyes were somewhat obscured by the orange glow they emitted, but that light came in handy sometimes, and it's not like he couldn't shut it off with his cybernetics. Clipping on his orange-lensed sunglasses, it was out of the front door and down to the street, hands moving at a blur as he grabbed his mail and zipped off into the city.

*

The orange and black streak of light that rushed across the elevated highways in Skyway City was singing along to another track from his playlist. Thankfully, his somewhat amateur at best singing voice was victim to the Doppler effect, and effectively protected the commuting citizens from being subjected to 'I'm traveling at the speed of liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight!'

With built in kinetic dampeners in his suit protecting him from the wind at high speeds, it also helped to protect the bouquet of flowers in his arms as he made a sharp turn off to a junction. If overrunning the actual junction and leaping from the bridge to the highway below could be considered a 'turn'. A Troll just about to lob a brick at a passing school bus blinked in perplexion as said blunt object disappeared from his hands.

He then promptly fell wheezing to the ground as the brick flew back to catch him in the chest.

Ryan's destination was the cemetery just near to Talos Island, paying one of his now less frequent visits. Seeing the wrought iron gates approaching, the young man dropped out of super-speed just enough to slow to a stop by the time he reached the gate. The flowers were thankfully undamaged, a mix of various blooms that he picked out himself, including some of the recipient's favorites. With a nod to the grounds keeper, Ryan slipped past the gates.

Graveyards didn't really unsettle him anymore, he'd visited enough in the past, and he smiled as he came to his destination, glasses being tucked into a pocket just as he kneeled down to lay the flowers by the gravestone.

“Hey Mom, hey Dad.” The young man's fingers flicked out in American sign language. “Eighteen today... yeah, I know. Shooting up -real- fast now. Broken up with Rob, but I know you know that already...” Even though he hadn't needed to sign as much now, it was still ingrained on him as his second language. “You'll also see that I've been doing my best with my students. It's tough work, but... no pain, no gain. And there's a lot of gain to be had... uh, if that makes any sense.”

Kneeling down, Ryan carefully removed some weeds from around the grave, tucking them away for later disposal before starting to sign again. “Only a brief visit this time, got to work even on my birthday. Just like I always had to go to school on mine, Dad.” Ryan grinned. The excuse that it was his birthday was never enough to be able to stay at home. “I miss you both, but I know you're looking out for me still. Keep looking after Tom too, and... I know I say this every time, but sorry again. Guilt doesn't go away, but we can learn to deal with it. That's what Zorielle says.”

Rising to his knees, he planted a kiss on his thumb before touching it to the large grave and stepped sideways to the next one, crouching again. “Yeah, I know you probably oversaw, but your big bro's eighteen. Still making friends, and I know you'd really like one of them. She works in a comic store. Shame you won't get to meet them yet.” Ryan said, smiling gently as he gently brushed some dirt from the engraved name on the stone. “You take care of Mom and Dad, and try not to be too much of a pain in the butt. Later, Thomas.”

Reaching into his jacket, the young man placed a small figurine of popular cartoon hero Betaman on top of his brother's grave, stepping back to wave. “See you next time.” He signed once more, before air rushed into the place he'd been a mere second ago, already a blur of light and color as he made his way back to Unity Plaza.

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(( You always did have a talent for writing weepy scenes. Having my character referenced in there makes it worse. ))

(( Should've got someone to proof read it, but it's a rather moving little character piece. Can't wait to see the next bits. ))

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Disclaimer: The above may be humerous, or at least may be an attempt at humour. Try reading it that way.
Posts are OOC unless noted to be IC, or in an IC thread.