MARCH UPDATE

POSTED ON Dec 27, 2020 19:14:46 GMT

The evening air is lovely on Eliz’s face, the feeling of the noon sun on his skin the final enjoyment he would be able to muster out before he is to return into the building.

He took in his surroundings from this view, “One final look.” he says to himself before pushing off the balcony railing and moving back into the building.

For the most part, Eliz sees himself as an upstanding employee. He does what’s expected of him quickly and effectively, he hasn’t had many upsets in the office environment as far as he can remember, and he goes out of his way to help others when they are in need of a hand; although he would rather avoid his coworkers altogether.

But, and for what reason he could not pinpoint, he had been called to the most recently appointed head of Devon’s office.

So, like any anxiety riddled member of society, he could only assume that this was where he had gotten fired. And to think, all the effort he had put into this place up until now would be undone in just a few short minutes… it really goes to show you just how insignificant your role is in this world.

Though the situation was almost laughable, to crack a smile here would likely bring unease onto those who worked under him. So he simply walked his walk of shame, each step taken quickly and quietly before finally reaching Stone’s office- Eliz walking in and standing at ease while facing the woman: stone faced and ready for whatever she threw his way.

“Yes, ma’am?” He asks in a gentle and calm voice.

DAPHNE STONE

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daph

She/Her

thirty-two

september 20

rustboro

Demisexual

Fashion Designer

rising star

103 height

born into this dying world, its time is up

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POSTED ON Dec 29, 2020 0:19:51 GMT

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[attr="class","angelonfire"]

[attr="class","aofSidebar"]

@eliz

[attr="class","aofBody"]

she was stressed. [break][break]

she was tired. it'd been a fair amount of time since alex's passing, yet the days never failed the drudge on even longer. she feels the weight crushing upon her shoulders, the reality that the company was going to be held up by her, of all people (never her mother nor her sister, who already knew so little about the cruel world that hoenn would have been). alex had been the only person who was properly trained up, in the full, to take over as the head of devon. as the eldest? she didn't go without training, but she hadn't gotten anything to the degree that alex did. would she be competent enough? would she be able to handle herself? the anxiety and thought creeps up on her mind. [break][break]

it will be okay. it had to be okay. the weight of an empire rests on her shoulders, so she had to be okay. the last thing she wanted was to pass the company away, around, without a name of its own. her pride wouldn't allow it (pride? it was a new term to her. it was a foreign word to a woman who'd lived her entire life shrouded in humility). [break][break]

daphne sits at a familiar desk, free of dust with the frame of the family together. it was one of the few things alex liked to keep while he was at work, and she never had the heart to turn it away. "and just when you came back to hoenn.." she sighs, pen in hand writing along the surface of paper. "i'd like to think that i was doing a good job taking care of the company in your absence, but you upped and left shortly afterwords" her lips curl into a slight frown, as her other hand gently rests against her forehead "it's a little unfair of you." [break][break]

back to work. there was quite a bit for her to manage but, thankfully, there were project managers who took care of the majority. the woman glances up, after a young man had entered her office with the same stern expression as her own. what was his name..?[break][break]

"lucius." she starts, eyes glancing back down to the papers for but a moment, before they turn back upwards to him "i haven't received your yearly report, yet. how is the progress on it?"

I'M ALIVE

[attr="class","aofCredit"]SELKIE

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POSTED ON Dec 29, 2020 6:25:18 GMT

There are a few seconds where he stands in silence, his lips pulled taut in a placid line.

“Oh…” He states blandly, slowly crossing an arm over his chest as another moves to hold his face, hiding the embarrassment behind it.

“Right. Of Course. Yearly report...” His voice trails off, tone soft and nearly unheard as his eyes avert from Daphne and to the side.

“I’m still in the process of interviewing those who work under myself. I’d say that I’ll be done a few days before new years…” His posture returned to its previous state as he spoke, expression soothing over as his eyes returned to her, softly looking over the woman. “Is this okay with you?”

Internally, he was screaming at the top of his lungs, beating himself up for even thinking something as dumb as being fired. Hell there was even a moment where he considered giving one last walk and talking to his underlings with a, “yea I’m gonna be fired” attitude about him.

It would be the last day of high school all over again, and a repeat of that laughable state of his was something he thought he had already gotten over -- Apparently not if he’s thinking about it to this day.

DAPHNE STONE

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played by

Nano

daph

She/Her

thirty-two

september 20

rustboro

Demisexual

Fashion Designer

rising star

103 height

born into this dying world, its time is up

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POSTED ON Jan 9, 2021 21:49:17 GMT

[attr="class","angelonfire"]

[attr="class","aofSidebar"]

@eliz

[attr="class","aofBody"]

if she didn't know any better, she'd think he was anxious. [break][break]

but who wouldn't be? suddenly being called up to the office, instead of being sent an e-mail. just what exactly was she thinking? though this was probably less cruel than the suspense that came with staring the inbox down. what was she supposed to do to ease the morale of the company workers? what was she supposed to do, to make sure that things were running smoothly? what was she supposed to do, now that the eyes were on her once again, and this time as the permanent heir to an empire across generations? it was too much (it was always too much) for her to handle. it was too much for her to grasp. it was--[break][break]

"yes. please send the report to my secretary once it is completed." she speaks in a stern tone, devoid of any anxiety that was so strongly flaring and festering in her heart. daphne was okay. she had to be okay, because she was now the ceo of the company (not just a stand-in, or someone to look pretty. she was the ceo, responsible for the lives. responsible for the legacy she doesn't know to handle).[break][break]

the brunette quietly eyes a few number of sheets - papers that she was sorting out, pertaining to alex's death - before raising a gloved hand to rub the bridge of her nose. "in addition, lucius." emerald eyes narrow into an instinctive glare, verdant daggers only barely missing the man who stood before her. [break][break]

".. how has the company been holding up, in general, since my brother's passing?"

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[attr="class","aofCredit"]SELKIE

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POSTED ON Jan 12, 2021 7:55:52 GMT

Thump-Thump-Thump-Thump

His heart beats a mile a minute, each pause in her words forcing a chill over him. Even given his internal panic, Eliz keeps his stiff outer appearance, looking to the woman with a respectful sternness.

Though despite the hard outer shell he presents, it begins to brittle when the name of her predecessor is brought to light, the thump of his heartbeat slowing as his features shift to a calm yet forlorn look.

“...”

He opens his mouth as to speak, only to close it in a matter of seconds of doing so, eyes averting from her as he looks to the walls, attempting to spot any remains of the man who once occupied the room they currently resided in.

“... The news of Mr. Stone’s death was heartbreaking to everyone in this building to say the least. Everyone looked up to him as a source far more than was was expected of him, and to have him leave us at such an early moment of his life is nothing short of a tragedy. Everyone has been getting along fine as far as I know; those who work under me have hardly had any hangups since the notice of his departure. But there is a heavy gloom that persists overhead… a shadow that cast down on those within our environment and weighs heavy on our backs. I believe the closest thing I can compare it to would be a collective grief…”

Eliz, catching himself, quickly straightens out his slouching composure, standing straight and regaining the posture he once held before he began his lengthy monologue.

“I’m sorry… everyone is getting along as fine as we can, Miss Stone.”

There is a slight embarrassment in his features in the form of flushed cheeks, but the hardness of his expression would suggest a composure hidden well enough.

DAPHNE STONE

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played by

Nano

daph

She/Her

thirty-two

september 20

rustboro

Demisexual

Fashion Designer

rising star

103 height

born into this dying world, its time is up

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POSTED ON Mar 10, 2021 8:41:51 GMT

[attr="class","angelonfire"]

[attr="class","aofSidebar"]

@eliz

[attr="class","aofBody"]

... well. [break][break]

she couldn't fault him for being honest. and.. honestly, that was the answer that she was more or less expecting. alex himself was.. definitely someone for the people, and someone who was a great asset to the company (more than what she could ever offer, that is. she didn't even have the slightest clue of where she should be starting, if not being fuelled by both grief and rage towards the vile creatures that had taken her dearest brother away). but she knows - and god, does she know - how she has to bury that pain and that anxiety, deep into the depths of her heart. no matter how it may have weighed on her, and no matter how she may have wanted to cry about it. it didn't matter, now did it? it shouldn't matter. not while she was at work, and not while she was sitting in front of a man who worked under her. [break][break]

her hands grip along the papers on her desk, and she taps a bundle of it against the surface of the wooden table. "there's no need to apologize." she speaks, with an attempt to put a small smile to her lips. she doesn't wish, at all, for the people around her to feel her own grief - not when they already had more than enough to handle on their plates. "alex had that effect on people" she says, air filling her lungs as she takes in a deep breath, and quietly recalls much more.. simpler days (days where she didn't have to worry about inheriting the company, again). [break][break]

... speaking of, there was something that she needed to clear up, and something that she needed to know. [break][break]

"one last thing," she tacks on, this time, with emerald eyes raised to lock in, and maintain eye contact "before my brother's passing, had he assigned any larger projects to your group? if the company was at a standstill, there is something i would like for you to prepare for." something that she should have brought up in a larger meeting, but still, something that she'd feel more comfortable with, knowing that there was a second person to help her out.

I'M ALIVE. STILL.

[attr="class","aofCredit"]SELKIE

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POSTED ON Mar 12, 2021 6:09:29 GMT

He takes note of her expression- though stern it holds a softness, the pain of loss- and unfortunate gain- obvious upon close expression.

Eliz feels for her, but would dare not speak out, afraid his own thoughts may be misguided and selfish; the fear of seeming full of himself heavily prevalent.

Instead, he opts for silence, his own stern expression masking the dissonance he felt within, allowing her to continue on without interruption.

And at her words he simply listens, careful in allowing her to finish she she had to say before he had spoken himself; afraid to step on the toes of someone he knows so little and in turn disrupting what relationship the two of them would have for the near future.

His head shakes lightly at her question, remaining at ease in the process.

“No ma’am. All long term projects that had intercepted with evacuation were cancelled completely. Things which required little care to do are currently being worked on. We’ve made a sizable dent in our backlog as of late because of this.”

A nod follows his words, Eliz standing just a bit taller upon finishing his explanation.

“I’ll prepare my colleagues for whatever you have in mind, ma’am.”

Simply sitting about was beginning to take its toll on those without a designated workload, the restlessness that had begun to set in breeding malaise. Eliz hopes that whatever she had to say would spring new life into their work environment to beget any furthered anxiousness that propagated through the air.

DAPHNE STONE

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played by

Nano

daph

She/Her

thirty-two

september 20

rustboro

Demisexual

Fashion Designer

rising star

103 height

born into this dying world, its time is up

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POSTED ON Apr 29, 2021 0:39:19 GMT

[attr="class","angelonfire"]

[attr="class","aofSidebar"]

@eliz

[attr="class","aofBody"]

good.[break][break]

it means that his group was going to be able to take the project that she was brewing up in her head. they'd have time, at least, once she's figured out the details of it all. once she's figured out how to work with it. devon has been at a standstill since her brother's passing, but she didn't intend for it to be silent - especially not when odd things were happening around the region for no explainable reason. she was a stone, for crying out loud. it was about time she decided to do something with the empire her family's built. [break][break]

even if it was an empire she never asked for. [break][break]

at least eliz was more.. accepting of her than some other workers she's spoken to, and spoken with. she's already been busy at work, trying to line everything up and catch up to what her brother had been up to before his untimely demise. there wasn't much left to say, she thinks, but.. mmn. she wasn't fond of leaking new project ideas all of a sudden, especially if it was supposedly going to be a larger thing. but at the same time, she couldn't bear to see the morale of the company being so low. she couldn't stand it. [break][break]

it should be alright, because she's already spoken to some of the head researchers. it should be alright. [break][break]

"it involves the odd wormholes that have appeared around the region. i'll need you and your team to pinpoint the locations, compile me a list, and observe them. can i trust you to do that?"

I'M ALIVE. STILL.

[attr="class","aofCredit"]SELKIE

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