what a catch [cress]

[TINO AMADORE MANCINI]

[style= font-family: arial black; letter-spacing: -2px; text-transform: uppercase; font-size: 25px; color: d6cfc7; line-height: 22px; line-space: -1;]I've got troubled thoughts

They say the captain Goes down with the ship So when the world ends Will God go down with it? Miss Flack said I still want you back Yeah, Miss Flack said I still want you back I got troubled thoughts And the self-esteem to match What a catch

“Meet me in the coffee shop at Quincy Market?” Blue eyes squinted at the bright light of the man’s iPhone. The beauty of his apartment – yet also the curse – was that his curtains kept his bedroom almost pitch black in the morning. So, naturally, his eyes attempted to adjust to the light of just his phone, which was a light bright enough to make him want to reach for some sunglasses. Tino ran his hand through his hair as he looked at the text message from his sister. It literally felt like it was six in the morning, but as he rolled over to look at his alarm clock the red digital numbers read 11:54 am. Tino sighed and sat up in his bed, rubbing his right eye with the back of his hand as he replied to Cressida, “Sure, be there in thirty.” Maybe forty-five, but he didn’t add that. The twenty-six year old Narcotics Officer was waking up with a teenager’s hangover … again … for the third time this week alone … the brutal hangover that had him dreading to open his blinds. Oh those sweet blinds that gave him hours and hours of beautiful sleep that just never seemed to be enough. Well, fuck. It had to happen eventually. He pulled the blinds open and his eyes immediately felt like they were being burned in just moments. God, he was going to kill Cressida to making him wake from his slumber so early.

Tino grumbled as he pulled on a pair of jeans and a long sleeved t-shirt before stumbling over to his bathroom in order to wash his face and brush his teeth. He had to admit, feeling clean did seem to help him feel just a wee-bit better. However, he couldn’t deny his aching body’s cry for help. He downed three Advil before grabbing his sunglasses and keys. Having his condo-keys, car keys, and extra set of his parent’s house keys, all in one little package made him feel like a woman – but damn was it useful to have them all in the same place. He’d be lost without them together.

He had to admit, he was pretty annoyed with even his favorite sister for waking him up to meet her somewhere for a reason that was unknown to him. Then again, it could just be the hangover talking because all he really wanted to do was hibernate in his cave. Of course, he’d do anything for his baby sister, but that doesn’t mean that he doesn’t secretly wish that he didn’t have to do anything at all. He could be the asshole who just blew everyone off – but he couldn’t do it to his family. He’d be shunned forever, because that would definitely not have been the way their huge Italian family was raised. He felt like it was a mistake leaving his bed and getting into his black BMW 335, but he knew that it was for the good of the people! More like the good of his sister who clearly wanted something out of him. Well, he had a hunch on where it could potentially be going because of the last conversation they had … but he was quietly hoping that that wasn’t what it was. Cressida had been complaining about her living standards … their sister, Genesis, to be exact … and Tino had willingly offered his guest room up to her while doubting she would ever take the offer. He was still going to give her the benefit of the doubt … maybe she just wanted some brotherly love and company.

Yeah. Who wouldn’t want some of Tino’s company when he’s completely hung over and in a potential asshole mode? Then again, Cressida probably wouldn’t know that … and Tino would do his best to not let her see him get angry. God, he hated when he would get angry. It seems to happen all the damn time to all the people that he cared about. Tino swallowed dryly as he began to parallel park next to the coffee shop, the thought of Lila flashing briefly through his mind. He sighed, and hit the lock button on his keys to his car as he walked to the door of the shop. He was late … as usual. ”Hey,” he managed to flash a friendly smile toward his sister as he pulled out the chair across from her to sit down. ”Sorry I’m late, but you did wake me up so it isn’t necessarily my fault,” Tino was the master at somehow shifting the blame onto other people. He didn’t really realize that he did it, but it was one of the things that Lila came to despise the most. He always managed to put anything he did wrong on the other person – a sort of defense mechanism you could say.

Tino ordered a coffee, and finally took off his sunglasses. He refused to let his struggling adjustment to the lighting show, though he knew it was probably a failed attempt. He didn’t dare to eat anything, his body ached too much to even want anything to do with food. So, he just looked at his younger sister, his blue eyes attempting to scrutinize why she could have possibly wanted him to be here besides the fact that he was her awesome older brother. ”Well?” he arched a brow, his lips forming a somewhat joking smile, ”Are you going to tell me why I’ve been summoned?” He was partially teasing her, of course, but in reality … he did want to know why he was woken from his slumber.

template and post © to rain
image © to tillie at caution 2.0
lyrics © to fall out boy

[CRESSIDA AHRI MANCINI]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, width: 300px; height: 380px; background-color:#fff; border-left: 30px solid #000; border-right: 30px solid #000;] WHEN YOU WALK IN THE ROOM

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gathering her purse and her keys, cressida paused for a moment, contemplating if she really wanted to drive. she was a naturally athletic and active person - hence being a ballerina as an occupation - and the idea of sitting in her car even for five minutes settled badly with her. dropping the apartment keys into her clutch purse, she opted for walking and wrapped herself in a thick coat and scarf to ward off against the chilly january air. she found herself liking the cold for it reminded her of her training in russia with the ballet company. she'd enjoyed herself so much during that time, and everytime winter came with its chilly fingers and snowy days, it reminded her of her early teenage years when she'd been discovered and turned into what she was today.

stuffing her gloved hands into the pockets of her jacket, she walked outside and breathed in deeply, the cold air singing her lungs with its intensity. she needed to get out more and not with jamie. being with him was fun, but it wasn't anything serious, and hearing genesis gripe about it wasn't worth the effort. not that her sister had much room to talk considering she was shacking up with one of her patients, but cressida kept that to herself unless she felt the need to wield that little weapon. she was just as confrontational as genesis, but she just wanted to relax. she was tired of always having her gloves on as if they were going into the octagon to beat the hell out of one another. since genesis was older, she seemed to take everything in cressida's life as if it was her personal vendetta to make sure she made no mistakes. but really, that was impossible, and genesis didn't seem to understand that.

so cressida naturally migrated toward their older brother tino. he was just a couple years older than genesis, but he and cressida were much more alike. he was laidback, but he'd also been the shoulder for cress to cry on throughout their childhood. she was thankful he was close-by now, and she smiled to herself as she entered the coffee shop where she'd agreed to meet him. she wasn't surprised that he hadn't already arrived since he was notoriously late, and she calmly removed her gloves, shoved them into her pockets and ordered herself a mocha latte. finding herself a seat, she sat patiently sipping her latte until her older brother arrived.

her smile was brilliant and broad when she saw him, and she stood - leaving her coffee safely behind on the table - to throw herself into his lap as he sat down in the chair opposite from where she'd been sitting. "tino! i'm sorry i woke you up, but you are a lazy asshole, and you know it," she piped, smiling at him and kissing his cheek before hugging him tightly around his neck like she was a little girl again. he'd already been in elementary school by the time she was born, and although he was the youngest of the older four, he was still significantly older than her. he was her protector and her confidante, and she felt safe with him.

withdrawing herself from his lap, she returned to her seat and sipped her drink as he ordered and removed his sunglasses. her naivety was such that she didn't notice the signs of her older brothers base habits, and she merely smiled guilelessly over at him as he fixed his blue-eyed gaze on her. she pouted playfully as he asked why she'd summoned him.

"so i'm not allowed to just want to see you," she stated flatly, her hazel eyes flashing teasingly as she sipped nonchalantly from her Styrofoam cup. "i told you, it gets boring always listening to genesis gripe at me. apparently she doesn't think it's funny when i flirt with her boyfriend." shrugging, nonplussed, cressida grinned impishly. "how is it going on the force?"

thanks brooklyn from caution, atf, shine & rc&r.

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[TINO AMADORE MANCINI]

[style= font-family: arial black; letter-spacing: -2px; text-transform: uppercase; font-size: 25px; color: d6cfc7; line-height: 22px; line-space: -1;]I've got troubled thoughts

They say the captain Goes down with the ship So when the world ends Will God go down with it? Miss Flack said I still want you back Yeah, Miss Flack said I still want you back I got troubled thoughts And the self-esteem to match What a catch

Brilliant blue eyes wandered aimlessly around the coffee shop. It’s kind of funny how everyone just walks around in some sort of trance as they go through the motions of their everyday lives. Work at a coffee shop, work as a police officer, work as a taxi driver … and what’s it all for? To do what you love? Not usually … more like, everyone wants to make some bread so they do things they would never do if they didn’t have to. Tino couldn’t remember why exactly he got into police work, but he knew he didn’t hate his job as much as the poor boy behind the cash register. He looked like he was hating life right now.

His sister sat herself on his lap, taking the hung over Tino by a slight surprise. He had forgotten how somewhat hyperactive she was. He make a jokingly disgusted face as she kissed him on the cheek, using the back of his hand to wipe the spot. ”Eww, Cress,” he laughed as he spoke. His smile was genuine and bright. She never changed, and he loved that. Tino wished that Cress would never change and mature ... and he especially hoped that he didn’t just jinx it all by thinking that. ”That I do,” he agreed with his younger sister as she told him that he knew he was a lazy asshole. Then with a tight hug around his neck, she was back to her original seat.

He watched her carefully, a protectiveness visible in the depths of his gaze as he looked at her – just as when he looked at practically anyone in his family. He just had a soft spot for his youngest sister, and he couldn’t necessarily tell you why. She was a pain in the ass, as was the rest of his family – Tino included. He liked the fact that Cressida trusted him enough with everything and anything. He was more of the rebellious one of the family, so it was nice to know that at least one of his family members saw past all of his bad habits … or maybe in Cressida’s case, ignorance really was bliss.

Tino thanked the employee as he placed the coffee he had ordered in front of him. Lifting the cup carefully to his lips, taking the tiniest of sips before wincing in pain and putting the cup down again. Just like every other boy, he ignored his mother’s attempts to teach him to wait for his food or drinks to cool down before touching them. ”No, actually, you’re not,” he stated matter-of-factly, his sarcasm matching her own, before a smile broke through his hardest of attempts to keep a straight face. At least it wasn’t that he always had to force himself to smile, even if his happiness wasn’t always genuine – it wasn’t always completely and utterly simulated either. A brow arched toward his sister as she spoke again, a small yet disbelieving huff slash laugh came from his mouth. One thing he didn’t like about his two sisters was that they were so … sexual. It’s hard to watch from an older brother’s perspective.

”I’d say that’s a pretty reasonable reaction to not think that is funny,” he pressed his lips together before sighing softly. ”You guys really need to stop doing that,” his tone slightly more serious now, ”how are you going to live together if you’re constantly bickering at one another? There are some things she doesn’t like and some things you don’t like … it’ll only work if you figure that shit out and stop crossing each other’s boundaries.” It was exhausting to hear his sisters bickering all the time, especially since he was extremely close with both of them so he was constantly hearing both sides and being somewhat forced to choose a side. He liked to think that he usually played the role of Switzerland in it all, but sometimes he had to admit that he would take a side. Depending on the situation, of course.

He also knew that one of the reasons Genesis was recently always pissed at Cressida was because of his youngest sister’s choice in men. That threw him on Genesis’ side seeing as he definitely would never accept the fact that his baby sister was dating someone who was older than him. His thoughts were interrupted by her question … work? Ugh, of all things to talk about. Work, work, work. Especially since he was the biggest hypocrite one could be when it comes to being a police officer … especially a narcotics officer. He raked his fingers through his dirty blonde hair, a sign of slight discomfort and annoyance. ”It’s good. We made a pretty big drug bust the other day,” yey more drugs for him to sell to his customers, ”it was some kids from the local community college. Kids these days,” he shook his head mockingly at his last words, a smile breaking onto his lips. ”What are we going to do with all of you?

He paused for a moment, his eyes narrowing at his younger sister, ”Speaking of you … what is this that you were telling me about some boyfriend of yours?” He didn’t add the fact that her so called “boyfriend” was a year older than he was, because he knew that she would get what he was alluring to. He didn’t really care if it bothered her that he was going to be all in her business just like her sister was. There are some things that just aren’t okay … this happened to be one of them in Tino’s book.

template and post © to rain
image © to tillie at caution 2.0
lyrics © to fall out boy

[CRESSIDA AHRI MANCINI]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, width: 300px; height: 380px; background-color:#fff; border-left: 30px solid #000; border-right: 30px solid #000;] WHEN YOU WALK IN THE ROOM

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cressida rolled her eyes dramatically at him as he pointed out that she needed to stop bickering with genesis. it wasn't her fault her older sister found it in her heart to criticize everything she did. it was as if genesis had no idea they were both adults and cressida didn't enjoy listening to her voice droning on and on. just because she was a psychiatrist, she seemed to believe she could read minds, and it got annoying.

"for the record, the only reason i'm living with her is because i need a place to stay while the company is in town, and you weren't here," she pointed out coquettishly, sipping from her coffee and batting her eyelashes innocently. she changed the subject before he could begin harping on her for her behavior toward their sister. she noticed his hand run through his hair, but she wasn't as attuned with body language as genesis, so she didn't quite pick up on his annoyance.

"i am not a kid, tino," she remarked, fixing him with a playful glare. "i can legally drink in most european countries, thank you very much."

once again, she rolled her eyes at his comments about jamie. why did everyone have to stay on her case about him? "jamie is not my boyfriend. just because two people have consensual sex doesn't mean they're dating," she commented, her eyes flashing. she knew tino didn't want to talk about her having sex with anyone - as was his older brother protectiveness complex - but it was true. she wasn't serious with jamie, so she didn't know why everyone was making such a big deal out of it. "are you going to start bitching at me like genesis does? you're supposed to be on my side."

thanks brooklyn from caution, atf, shine & rc&r.

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