coming for you — open .

[truce.]

[align=center][div style="width: 430px; text-align: justify; font-family: verdana; font-size: 6pt; letter-spacing: 2.5px; word-spacing: 0px; line-height: 12px; color: #000"]❝ You think Rip would make a good sled dog? ❞ Lucia gestured half-heartedly towards the shepherd dog, Ripley’s ears up and alert as he watched excitable sled dogs barking and howling in their dog run. Tommy looked down at the large hound before letting out an amused scoff, ❝ Yeh, only if he’s da one in the sled. ❞ Lucia let out a short hum, lips twitching upwards before shifting her weight, arms hugging her torso. ❝ Okay, lets see yours then. ❞ She nodded towards the dog run, Tommy not needing to be asked twice before he wandered over and opened the gate, ten dogs rushing out and bouncing around in the snow.

Ripley watched cautiously, tail raised and wagging before Huck rushed over to play. Suddenly, Ripley lunged towards the other dog before darting away, initiating play with the other dogs. ❝ Y’know I named one of these dogs after Eddie. ❞ Tommy pointed out before looking at Lucia, ❝ He named his kid after me, so I named my kid after him. Guess which one is Eddie The Man. ❞ ❝ Eddie The Man? ❞ Lucia questioned with an amused scoff before settling down and observing the dogs around her. ❝ Hmm… ❞ Curling her lip, Lucia raised a hand before pointing at the only dog laying down loyally at the dog sled, watching the rest of the dogs explore and play. ❝ That one. ❞

❝ Y’got that bang on the money. ❞ Tom pointed out, hesitating before grumbling to himself as he trudged on over. ❝ So who wants to take these mutts out sledding today then? ❞

[freddie]

[align=center][div style="background=transparent; borderwidth=0px; bordercolor=; width: 400px; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 125%; text-align: justify; font-family: arial; color: black"]

— growing up, freddie never saw much in his sister. she was a family disappointment in fred’s eyes. always trying to play with fred and will when she obviously wouldn’t have been able to keep up. she was practically invisible to them growing up, and freddie preferred it that way. an outcast in her own family - and fred wished that she would just know when she wasn’t wanted and leave flintlock already. though at this point, he was past trying to continue to ignore her. antagonizing her was the next best thing. it was his job, now that will wasn’t around, to make certain that lucy knew she was still the family disappointment.

he wandered towards tom’s pack of dogs, sparing lucia only a quick glance before looking at all of the dogs playing. he turned his head towards tommy at the proposed question. who wanted to take the mutts sledding? fred could never turn down the offer. “i’d like to take them for a run.” turning his head towards his sister, his eyes narrowed smugly as he remarked, “i don’t think you want lucy to try and do it.” childish, but a remark that still made his stance on her fairly clear. he stretched his arms casually out above his head with a small grumble as he trudged over towards the sled, remarking, “besides, i’m practically an expert now.”


[spoiler=tags ― updated 08/31.][size=8pt]◜BASICS ┊ THE CURSES OF DIAMONDS AND RINGS ◞
‣  ❝ frederick flynn stirling ❞ | freddie, fred, freds | male [he/him] .
‣ 24 years old . | june 20th; gemini.
‣  currently the warlord of flintlock lodge

◜PERSONALITY: ESTP ┊ ONLY AT FIRST DID IT HAVE ITS APPEAL ◞
‣  boisterous . adaptable . athletic . articulate . brilliant . captivating . charismatic . charming . clever . confident . precise . youthful . loyal . amusing. aggressive . deceptive . proud . smooth . stubborn . traditional . argumentative . conceited . difficult . greedy . power-hungry . impatient .
↳ lover of beer and attention
↳ considers himself royalty

◜ APPEARANCE ┊ NOW YOU CAN'T TELL THE FALSE FROM THE REAL ◞
‣ five foot ten & one hundred and seventy five pounds ; reference .
↳ blonde hair kept short and neat
↳ muscular, toned build
↳ blue eyes , often alight with mischief , a deceitful smile

◜ FAMILY ┊ EVERYTHING YOU TOUCH TURNS TO GOLD ◞
‣  kelby stirling x lydia clarks | whereabouts unknown
‣ has a brother named william and two sisters named harriet and lucy
‣ large family; multiple cousins and other relatives

◜ RELATIONSHIPS ┊ STATUES AND EMPIRES ARE ALL AT YOUR HANDS ◞
‣  bisexual ; monogamous | never had a serious relationship before
‣ current lover to mollie hawthorne
↳ no strings attached . sees her as a best friend . is terrified he has developed genuine feelings for her.

◜ INTERACTIONS ┊ WHO CAN YOU TRUST ? ◞
‣  [ 9/10 ] physically  |  [ 9/10 ] psychologically .
↳ difficulty w/ guns [ very difficult ] | difficulty w/ melees [ difficult ] | difficulty w/ hand-to-hand [ difficult ]
‣ [member=1512]elysian.[/member] | dm for any major plots .
‣  friendly or nonviolent actions may be powerplayed .[/size][/spoiler]

[truce.]

[align=center][div style="width: 430px; text-align: justify; font-family: verdana; font-size: 6pt; letter-spacing: 2.5px; word-spacing: 0px; line-height: 12px; color: #000"]And here Freddie arrived in all his patronizing glory, eyes lit up with his ever-apparent longing to make Lucia feel as if she was worthless. Shoulders slumped slightly as her gaze flitted over towards Freddie — some days, she believed every word he said. The Stirling family had been essentially raised on a patriarchal toxicity, as if having the right body parts inherently made one person more valuable to the family than another. As for Lucia, it served no advantage that she'd always been viewed as the black sheep of the family, having let herself be whisked away by Rowan Walker several years ago and leaving her family behind.

Why would she return if her heart ached for acceptance in a family that seemed to continually reject her? Well, this was all she knew. Lucia only had two pathways in a life so constricting: the Stirlings or Walker. Lucia would stubbornly exclaim that she was fine on her own but truth be told the very thought of solitude terrified her. With Freddie's snotty remark came a small quirk of Lucia's brow, as if she was already so used to the biting remarks. Hugging her torso, Lucia uttered in response, ❝ I didn't want to do it anyway. ❞ She lowered her head to look down at her boots, eyes rolling before she mumbled to herself once Freddie was out of earshot, ❝ I hope he falls. ❞

Eyes darted to the side to look at Tom, the older man staring at her — seemingly dumbfounded — before pointing his finger towards the sleds, ❝ If ya both done bickering... ❞ Tommy grumbled before trudging over towards the sleds. ❝ Y'know what to do then? ❞ Tom questioned Freddie before nodding at the sleds. ❝ Go on then. Set 'em up for me if you so brainy, little man. ❞ 

[COLT MADISON.]

[align=center][div style="width: 370px; text-align: justify; font-family: arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 1.4; color: black;"]— colt hadn't considered the fact that flintlock might have sled dogs, but it made complete sense. it was probably the best way to get around in heavy snow - except maybe a horse or vehicles, but those weren't exactly easy to come by. he had just been in the area, but approached out of sheer curiosity when he heard the barking and shuffling in the snow. when he was little, he'd had a dog, but there weren't many where he'd grown up.

the young man came up, nodding to lucia and tommy - and barely offering freddie a sideways glance. of course he knew freddie - the guy was a major pain in the ass - but the other two were unfamiliar to him. he stopped beside the pair and bent down, holding his hand out to let any interested dog take a sniff. he turned his attention to the other people. "beautiful dogs. mind if i pet them?" he asked. "name's colt, by the way. i don't think we've met. i'm kinda new."

[freddie]

[align=center][div style="background=transparent; borderwidth=0px; bordercolor=; width: 400px; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 125%; text-align: justify; font-family: arial; color: black"]

— fred had a long look at the sleds, and then over towards the dogs. freddie sure talked big game for someone that hardly knew what he was doing. with a casual grin, he walked towards tommy and the sleds. patting tommy on the shoulder, he left his hand casually on his cousin’s shoulder as he said, “you know what, tom? i know how much you enjoy setting this all up. i’d hate to take that away from you.” he was so full of shit. he looked at the other man with such a fake-innocent look that he knew he could see through -- but he didn’t seem to care, either way. stepping away, he didn’t give tom much choice as he said, ”you can thank me later.”

yeah. as if he ever gave tommy a reason to thank him.

glancing towards colt as he made his way onto the scene, fred spared him a side-glance before looking back towards the dogs. as usual, cold had to come along and ruin everything. if he was truly bothered by colt’s presence, he didn’t seem to pay him much mind. sometimes, if you ignored the problem, it would go away -- and maybe the “problem” in this case would realize when he wasn’t wanted and buzz off. well, one could only hope at least.

[spoiler=tags ― updated 08/31.][size=8pt]◜BASICS ┊ THE CURSES OF DIAMONDS AND RINGS ◞
‣  ❝ frederick flynn stirling ❞ | freddie, fred, freds | male [he/him] .
‣ 24 years old . | june 20th; gemini.
‣  currently the warlord of flintlock lodge

◜PERSONALITY: ESTP ┊ ONLY AT FIRST DID IT HAVE ITS APPEAL ◞
‣  boisterous . adaptable . athletic . articulate . brilliant . captivating . charismatic . charming . clever . confident . precise . youthful . loyal . amusing. aggressive . deceptive . proud . smooth . stubborn . traditional . argumentative . conceited . difficult . greedy . power-hungry . impatient .
↳ lover of beer and attention
↳ considers himself royalty

◜ APPEARANCE ┊ NOW YOU CAN'T TELL THE FALSE FROM THE REAL ◞
‣ five foot ten & one hundred and seventy five pounds ; reference .
↳ blonde hair kept short and neat
↳ muscular, toned build
↳ blue eyes , often alight with mischief , a deceitful smile

◜ FAMILY ┊ EVERYTHING YOU TOUCH TURNS TO GOLD ◞
‣  kelby stirling x lydia clarks | whereabouts unknown
‣ has a brother named william and two sisters named harriet and lucy
‣ large family; multiple cousins and other relatives

◜ RELATIONSHIPS ┊ STATUES AND EMPIRES ARE ALL AT YOUR HANDS ◞
‣  bisexual ; monogamous | never had a serious relationship before
‣ current lover to mollie hawthorne
↳ no strings attached . sees her as a best friend . is terrified he has developed genuine feelings for her.

◜ INTERACTIONS ┊ WHO CAN YOU TRUST ? ◞
‣  [ 9/10 ] physically  |  [ 9/10 ] psychologically .
↳ difficulty w/ guns [ very difficult ] | difficulty w/ melees [ difficult ] | difficulty w/ hand-to-hand [ difficult ]
‣ [member=1512]elysian.[/member] | dm for any major plots .
‣  friendly or nonviolent actions may be powerplayed .[/size][/spoiler]

[truce.]

[align=center][div style="width: 430px; text-align: justify; font-family: verdana; font-size: 6pt; letter-spacing: 2.5px; word-spacing: 0px; line-height: 12px; color: #000"]Freddie’s clearly malicious actions nearly dampened Lucia’s afternoon, a slight grimace sitting on her lips as she quietly observed her older brother talking to Tommy. That man was truly like a wolf in sheep’s clothing around the humble Flintlock Lodge. He had a sharp tongue, but most would solely put it down to a certain extroverted desire to command a room with finesse. In fact, if Lucia didn’t know any better, she likely would have fallen for his charms, too. But, Lucia had been raised alongside him for all her life; if there was one thing she learned about the women in the Stirling family, it was that in order to survive in such a savage patriarchy, she would have to fight to keep the men of her family from pulling the wool over her eyes.

Lucia saw Freddie for what he was; a walking travesty. He was no gentleman, but a monster dressed as a saint. The crunching snow alerted her of someone approaching, Lucia exhaling slowly before turning her head to peer over towards Colt. She remembered him vaguely as the man who’d collapsed outside the lodge, battling hypothermia all whilst battling the warm Flintlock welcome all the same. Perhaps he was as guarded as she was, wary of the world and suspicious of a stranger’s intentions. Hell, Lucia barely trusted the intentions of those she had spent all her life with.

Ripley lapped up the attention with a wagging tail, the large shepherd dog staring up at Colt with his tongue lolling out the side of his mouth. ❝ Go for it. ❞ Lucia gestured half-heartedly towards her hound, then adding with a short twitch of her lip, ❝ Just prepare to be squatting for a while — Rip loves a good fuss. ❞ She watched as Ripley tried to lick Colt’s face, arms slowly snaking around her torso to hug herself carefully as she watched. ❝ I know who you are. ❞ She pointed out nonchalantly, then peering over to watch Tommy’s excessive hand gestures before she said, ❝ I’m Lucia. It’s good to finally get to talk to you, Colt. ❞

She chose not to talk for a few seconds or so until her eyes flitted to glance at him once more. ❝ If my brother gives you grief, I wouldn’t worry about it. He’s an asshole to just about everyone, save for any woman that might spare him a glance. ❞ Whilst she spoke, Tommy stopped nearby, furrowing his brows at Freddie.

❝ There’s only one t’ing I’d be thankin’ you for, and it’d be for the day you finally decide to clean your mouth out; it's spewing so much shit right now. Huh... Yeh… So lemme show you how to do it then. ❞ Whilst he was abrasive in nature, most knew not to take Tom’s words to heart. After all, he often spoke without thinking first. Lucia supposed that it seemed to run in the family.

[COLT MADISON.]

[align=center][div style="width: 370px; text-align: justify; font-family: arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 1.4; color: black;"]— It was true - Colt was guarded, untrusting. Always had been. Of course, the way he was raised did have a hand in that. Growing up training to be a mercenary, he'd been taught to see anyone outside the Ring as either a potential client or a potential target - nothing more. The only ones he could trust were his brothers in arms - funny how the tables had turned. He had also resisted growing comfortable in the Lodge because of his original intentions in coming there; if anyone found out, he would've been screwed. He had no plans of following through with his mission, but still - he doubted that anyone here would take kindly to the mere idea. Then, there was the matter of guilt. Did he really deserve the kindness of these people if he was lying directly to their faces? The lie didn't hurt anyone - quite the opposite, in fact - but... still...

The young merc's thoughts were interrupted when Rip jumped up onto him, nearly knocking him over, and licked at his face. Colt laughed, patting vigorously at the dog's sides. At Lucia's warning, he shook his head. "Hah- I don't mind. Big guy can get as many pets as he wants." His cheeks grew slightly rosy as Lucia mentioned that she knew who he was; right. Apparently, he'd made a bit of a fuss after passing out on the Lodge's doorstep and sleeping off hypothermia for a week in their infirmary. "Lucia, huh? Good to talk to you, too." He continued to pet Ripley in that moment's silence, eyebrows quirking when Lucia spoke up again. So - she and Freddie were siblings? She must've had a miserable childhood, then. Being around Freddie for five minutes was exhausting - not to mention your whole life.

"He’s an asshole to just about everyone, save for any woman that might spare him a glance." Colt's lips twitched; he hadn't planned on saying anything to antagonize Freddie right then, seeing as the guy seemed to silently agree that they would just ignore each other's presences for the time being, but this was too good an opportunity to pass up. "Don't worry, I'm used to his type." He snickered. "And it must be tiring, then- having such a bad attitude all the time. I can't imagine any woman with a brain even breathing in his direction." He didn't bother lowering his voice or anything of the sort. The guy was a jerk - he deserved to be treated like one.