[open]

[seas_open]

It's so easy when it comes to using her powers.

While it's been months since she's done any sort of con and while she has nothing particular on the horizon, it feels strange not to be stretching her wings, so to speak, at least once in awhile. This is what she is, it's part of her very makeup, and there's nothing about being a siren that April has ever felt the need to apologize for. Anyone who has an issue with it can take it up with her, though the truth is she's just as likely to laugh in their face as she is to listen to any concerns they may have.

This is the way she'd been born and no one had been there to teach her how to use her powers. She had discovered them on her own and she knows she's lucky that she figured out how to use them. Surviving the foster care system might not have turned out quite so easy if she'd been without and while she hadn't been able to save every single exploited kid she'd come across, being able to do the things she can do had certainly helped here and there. It's not something she talks about with anyone, the things she'd seen across the various home she'd been placed in, the way some of the foster parents had treated the kids in their care, the abuse of all kinds. She keeps it to herself, but she hasn't forgotten any of it.

Children unsettle her. She never knows what to do about them and she's always been certain she doesn't want any of her own, but she's also never been able to stand a bully. When she sees the little boy being picked on, it's easy enough to send out little pieces of her power that carry with them the influence she usually only holds over the men whose money she's trying to steal. This time, though, she sends them to the much bigger boy picking on the little one and it's only a few seconds before he's turning away, before he starts to walk, then picks up speed, and runs straight into a lamp post.

It's not enough to cause any lasting damage, but it's enough to hurt and she doesn't feel the slightest bit guilty about it. Especially not when the little boy's tears seem to dry up all at once and he stares at his bully for a moment before the bigger boy runs away.

With a grin, she turns away from the scene and continues her afternoon walk down the boardwalk.

[Find April anywhere on the boardwalk. Feel free to have seen as much or as little of the scene with the bullying boy as you like.]

Comments

[seas_open]

"Really should've fucked Will when I had the chance," she says with a sigh, though she's mostly joking. "Wouldn't that have made the whole thing just a little bit more interesting?"

And she's an awful person, but she has to admit she kind of likes the idea of having had both Corrine's men before her. It's petty, it's terrible, but April has never claimed to be anything else.

[trinamoon]

For a moment, surprises passes over Trina's face before she can school it back into amusement. She didn't know that Will knew April; he never mentioned it to her. Trina isn't jealous---she isn't the type---but if she'd known, she totally would've tipped of The Cove for them to work that angle into the story. Hey, there is always time for a special report.

"I love it," Trina admits shaking her head. This small little town had enough gossip to feed an entire city of millions she thought. "Keeps me entertained." Which was good. She didn't put nearly as much energy into her own romantic entanglements as she did other people's.

"So you and that author fellow? Caden," she says. "Is that legit? Or is that just...for fun?" April had moved on kind of quickly from what she saw. Not that Leslie Parker was anything special to not get over kind of quickly.

[seas_open]

"Can't it be both?" April asks, looking amused, though she knows that isn't really a fair response. Not to Caden. She does like him, she likes being around him and spending time with him, but she's had so many years of so many bad things happening that the idea of settling into a relationship with anyone is daunting. Having to define it to herself is difficult enough, but having to define it to someone else is beyond what she can hope for at the moment.

"We're seeing where things take us," she says. "We both got dumped by Les, after all."

That rumour had definitely been in the paper, too, but she doesn't know how many people believed it. And here she is, admitting it was true, that the three of them had been together in a way.

[trinamoon]

"Mm," Trina hums musing over April's confirmation of that little triangle. It was all very twisted. Literally twisted. That relationship map would look like a spider's web. "Yes. That was one misstep you made last year. I'll admit." Not that Trina cared much about Caden one way or the other. But at least he had talent and money. She didn't know what Leslie Parker had besides a bad reputation.

"But eventually every girl remembers she needs a new pair of shoes," she says with a smile. She has decided she likes April, and it may be that she likes April just because she is sure they both agree that Corrine they could take or leave. For different reasons obviously. But still.

[seas_open]

Her own feelings over what happened with Les are still incredibly conflicted. She wants to be angry with him, but the reality is that she cared for him -- cares for him still -- more than she's cared for anyone in a long time. It isn't as though she expected some happily ever after, because that's just not something she believes it, but she had thought, for a little while, that he might be one who would stay.

It hurts to be wrong about that. It even stings a little to have anyone think of him as a misstep. But she isn't about to let that show, not when it's possible Trina might be a good ally to have in the future.

"Well, you know, sometimes slumming it pays off," she says. "Strictly in the bedroom, granted, but a girl's gotta have some fun, right?"

[trinamoon]

"Even still," Trina says arching an eyebrow with a smirk. Leslie Parker? Still didn't seem worth it to Trina. Not when a beautiful woman like April, sophisticated and sexy, could get anybody she wanted. Why slum it, as she said. Trina didn't get it, but it hardly matters now. April came to her senses. "But Caden seems a good choice. I heard about his movie. That's not bad. Maybe you can talk him into letting me do some press."

She snaps open the gold card holder from her bag and holds out her card. "You seem like the type who may need a reporter on your speed dial," she says smiling. "Or we can just go shoe shopping."

[seas_open]

She's used to this, people offering their cards, their time, their interest, but she's used to it from men and they're usually after her instead of her boyfriend. Still, this is fun in itself, and she takes the card with a smile. "I'll pass it along to Caden. See if I can't get you a scoop or two."

Maybe he'll be willing to do an interview with Trina and maybe that will garner April some kind of favour in return. She likes it when people owe her.

[trinamoon]

"Fabulous," Trina says with a nod and a smile. She doesn't have a lot of friends, and she's not thinking April will be one. However, she does like the idea of making an alliance with her. She needs as many of those as she can get. "Well, I must be off," she says checking the time on her smartphone. "Work awaits as always. By the way, I'm running Will Cabot's mayor campaign. I'd love to see you and Caden at our next fundraiser."

She tosses her phone back in her purse and smiles as she starts to move along. "I'm glad we talked," she says in lieu of a proper goodbye.