frozen with this fear . open

[naomi]

"Ma'am, visiting the park with that animal is a serious health risk to the general public," the police officer reiterated. "Yeah, I heard you the first time," she spat, flicking her eyes away from his face for a moment. "I'm going to have to ask you to leave." Naomi rolled her eyes. Of course. That was just great. How the hell was she supposed to properly exercise her cat if the damn police officer didn't let her use the dog park. In case he didn't know, there wasn't exactly a tiger park in the vicinity. "Where am I supposed to go?" Naomi inquired. "He needs to exercise." The police officer gave her a somber look. She knew what he was thinking. He thought she was completely crazy, derailed from her rocker. In a sense, he may have been right, though this wasn't an instance. Clyde was a four year old tiger who needed to get a proper amount of exercise. She had a very small backyard, and she didn't even make it to the local park a few blocks from her house. The cops seemed to watch the activity of Clyde like a hawk. What pussies.

"Have you ever thought he belongs in a zoo?" the police officer asked skeptically. Naomi scoffed. This lecture again? "No shit, Sherlock," she snapped. "I've had this tiger for four years. If he was going to kill someone, I think he would have done so already. He's fine as long as he has a bit of time to run around." The police officer shook his head. "I can't allow that, ma'am," he told her. "Visiting the park with that animal is a..." Naomi laughed bitterly. "Serious health risk to the general public. Yeah, I get it." The muscle in the police officer's jaw clenched. Naomi decided to leave it be. "Whatever. Fuck this," she muttered. "I'll just leave. Have a nice day, officer." Naomi shot him a bitter, strained smile and walked over to her car. Clyde was in the back of the car. There was a fenced off area for him, mostly because Naomi was afraid he'd wreck the seats if there wasn't.

Well, shit, Naomi thought once she the engine was running. She had no idea where she would take her big cat for a run. The park park was out of the question. The dog park was off limits, too. She slapped a hand on her face, pulled out of the parking lot, and began to drive. Clyde was pacing in the back of the car. This wasn't a good sign. The San Diego Zoo had a tiger enclosure. She could bring Clyde there, she supposed. Naomi wasn't too keen on driving all that way for a stupid twenty minute run. The Hollywood sign came into view, and a light bulb flickered to life in her head. The Hollywood sign! There was plenty of room up there, and she doubted it'd be a "serious health risk."

She took an abrupt turn enroute to the sign, and as if Clyde knew, he chuffed in agreement. "Yeah, yeah. We're almost there." She reached the spot in about ten minutes or so. Clyde was eager to get out of the confined space in the car, and Naomi was happy to see him run. She threw him a nice chunk of red meat, which he retrieved without hesitation. They were behind the sign. There was a slimmer chance of being caught that way. There wasn't anyone around for as far as Naomi knew. She hoped it stayed that way. She'd hate to be told about the "serious health risks" of bringing a tiger into a public environment again.

TAGGED it's open (:
WORDS 625 words
OUTFIT here
NOTES clydester! <3

[/ DANI]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style,padding-left:16px; padding-top:0px; padding-right:0px; padding-bottom:0px; background-image:url(http://i51.tinypic.com/2nbr3oi.jpg) ] california girls california girls, we're undeniable fine, fresh, fierce, got it on lock - - - - - - - - - - - - - - If there was anyone who was cultured and well-traveled it was Bernadette Lajoie. After all the girl could brag that she’d lived in four different continents, seven countries and six states throughout her lifetime. And at the age of twenty five she was still young and ready to explore much more. The Haiti native moved to China at the age of seven and lived in the Ivory Coast of Africa when she was nine before moving to India for eight months. She didn’t come to America with her parents until she was ten years old. The reason for her excessive traveling was her mother’s career choice. The woman was a pharmaceutical rep and while she struggled with her job for many years it had finally taken off. That’s when all the traveling came into the picture. Pharmaceutical reps needed to have connects and spread their business so they were often shipped to various parts of the world to work with different areas of people and expand their trade. Sometimes those trips were very short and would mean that her mother would be away for a couple days. Sometimes those trips lasted several months or even years and would require the small family to relocate entirely. Bernadette never minded it though. She’d always loved all the traveling. It was an adventure to her. And by the time she got to the States she had stories to tell. How many teenagers got to say they’d been to Asia, Africa and the Middle East and were from the Caribbean? Very very few that was how many. Traveling and seeing the world had become a true passion of Bernadette’s. It was why even after graduating high school and being freed of her parents’ excessive traveling she’d still continued to take opportunities to see as much of the world as possible. So it was only natural that now she was living in California she took advantage of her location to get as much as she could out of the experience before she moved on to her next big destination. What sense did it make to be able to say that you’d lived in some of America’s biggest cities and saw some of the most famous attractions, but you couldn’t attest to having been to Hollywood? It sounded very stupid to her and she was determined to fix that and tack on another conquered land to her book of travels. Bijou drove down the winding roads in the Range Rover she’d recently bought, courtesy of a ex-lover’s money of course. She couldn’t exactly call him a boyfriend. She didn’t do the whole relationships and hearts thing. What she could call him was a fun little sex toy with lots of money and a burning desire to spend his money on her and spoil her with riches. Of course that whole...affair (for lack of a better word) didn’t end well once he realized she didn’t want a relationship and she was just using him, but by then she had everything she needed and more. Besides he was getting too clingy anyway. They always did. Geez, why were men such women these days? The infamous Hollywood sign loomed in the near distance and Bijou knew her next destination. How could she turn it down? Not only was it a famous landmark, but it was private and secluded. No one would think to come up here right? She drove down the path that would lead her to the sign. As she neared the top she could already see the city expanding at her feet far below the hills. The view was gorgeous. The woman pulled the car to a stop near a small clump of trees a short distance away from the sign. She climbed out and made her way closer to the landmark, but frowned when she realized she wasn’t as alone as she thought. There was a woman up here playing with a...tiger? The sighting made her have a flashback to her childhood. The tiger itself didn’t faze her but it was the fact that it was running freely here in California that caught her off guard. Even though she hadn’t been living here for quite as long as most people, twelve and a half full years to be exact, she knew quite well that having tigers running wildly in America was less than legal. A lawbreaker. This was fun. Bijou moved closer, but was careful to keep her distance. She knew from experience that tigers were vicious animals and even though this one was frolicking happily in the grass she didn’t know what kind of personality the animal had. Bijou eyed the giant striped cat then looked at the woman. “Either you’re a bad ass bitch or you’re fucking stupid,” she said simply. At least the chick was smart enough to bring meat so the cat wouldn’t starve and bite her arm off. (FEATURING) NAOMI/char (SCRIPT) 821 (WARDROBE) look (NOTES) this shall be fun =3 TEMPLATE BY OH SO COOPERNATURAL ! @ CAUTION.

[naomi]

Clyde liked their outings, even if he had to cram into the back of her SUV for long periods of time in order to reach their destinations. His big cat muscles weren't meant for a condo, Naomi knew. He needed to be running in wide open spaces. The vets told her. The police men told her. What. Ever. As much as she'd love to give Clyde the proper care he "needed," Naomi couldn't give away her big lump of black and orange fur. He had become family to her in the last few years of her ownership. Even though caring for him reminded her of her ex-husband, the woman couldn't seem to think about parting ways with him. Most little girls loved their pet dog. Naomi loved her pet tiger in that way, though many considered her psychotic and obsessive. She dared to be different, and being the proud mother of a big cat was definitely different.

Clyde, being a Bengal Tiger, could eat up to seventy pounds of meat per day. Naomi averaged his diet out to twenty pounds in order to avoid drastic growth. He was much larger than a regular old house cat, and his size was evident in her home. Lamps were constantly broken. Blankets were torn frequently. He was a pricy pet, but Naomi's paycheck didn't groan at the expense of him. In fact, he barely made a dent in her salary. Alex and Phoenix paid well. Remnants of the money she mooched off of Paul also helped her care for Clyde as best as she could. Today, Naomi brought ten pounds of meat for Clyde to gobble away as well as a bottle of 2% milk. He adored both treats, though Naomi tried her best to rely less on the milk as she used meat. She tried to keep his diet at least as realistic as possible.

Once, she had illegally imported wild bison meat from a European country. No one found out, but she was too fond of Clyde to take the risk again. He liked chicken and beef, but horse meat was definitely his favorite. Naomi ordered some every other month. Beef was easier to get in touch with, and chickens were great for him as well. One day a week, she gave him raw eggs, milk, and cooked rice. That gave him any extra nutrients he might need as well as the vitamins she mixed in. Although she looked like a dumb bitch, Naomi knew more than she led on. When it came to tigers, she was actually somewhat of a genius. She knew they were joined by someone new long before the woman spoke.

Clyde's behavior changed. He was more distracted, glancing in the direction of the newcomer much like a dog might. He was an observant cat. He chuffed. Naomi laughed at the girl's observation. "Maybe a little bit of both," she called behind her shoulder. Naomi took another chunk of meat in her gloved hand. Pulling her arm back, she tried her best to accelerate the meat as far into the air as she could. Clyde took after it without a second thought. While he was distracted, Naomi glanced at the newbie. "What are you doing up here?" Naomi asked, her voice annoyed. She didn't want to deal with more laws against her strange pet.

TAGGED bernadette lajoie
WORDS 559 words
OUTFIT here
NOTES the beginning of a beautiful friendship! <3

[/ DANI]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style,padding-left:16px; padding-top:0px; padding-right:0px; padding-bottom:0px; background-image:url(http://i51.tinypic.com/2nbr3oi.jpg) ] california girls california girls, we're undeniable fine, fresh, fierce, got it on lock - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Good answer. Anyone who could play around with a two hundred pound plus cat without a care in the world was bold...but also nuts. This particular tiger didn’t look as big as most, but Bernadette could see that it could still probably gobble down a German shepherd with relative ease. “Yeah I believe that,” was her response to the female’s confession, but it was directed more to herself than anything. Why did she always have to get stuck with the crazy people? It was really beginning to bother her because there was a saying that went something along the lines of ‘two birds of a feather flock together’ and she didn’t like that all. But then there was also one that said ‘opposites attract’ or something so it could have been completely possible that Bernadette wasn’t crazy and that she just happened to bump into nutcases because she was so normal. She preferred that idea better. But when you had so many different contradicting idioms floating around it was hard to tell which one to stick by. She would have to remember to bring that up to Dr. Koren the next time she went in for one of her sessions. Bernadette walked a few steps closer to tiger lady, but still kept her distance. She stood in silence for a moment as she curiously watched the wildcat chase down its meat. Within seconds it was gone. It was almost cute in a way. Twisted, but cute. Her eyes were pulled back to the woman, who now seemed to be irritated at her presence. That much was evident in the tone of her voice. If she thought that would be enough to make Bernadette turn and walk away she was wrong. Bernadette was in no way a people pleaser and she didn’t live to satisfy the needs of others. If she did that how would she be happy? Placing her own needs above everyone else’s was the reason she was standing here today, rolling around in a hot ride and watching some crazy lady play fetch with a wild animal. There was never a dull moment in her life. Even on days when she tried to be normal Bernadette still happened to walk into the craziest scenarios. She was pretty sure that wasn’t normal either. Hm, another topic for Dr. Koren. Boy, would he get his jollies off when she’d actually have something to talk about instead of sitting around in his office eating all of his refreshments and asking intrusive questions about his sex life. “Why, did I ruin your playtime?” she asked, then shrugged. “I needed something to do. I guess going on a wild safari sounded like a good cure for boredom.” Bernadette fell into silence and leaned against the back of the woman’s SUV, slipping her hands into her front pockets. “So what’s the deal with Garfield? You break him out of a zoo or something?” She couldn’t imagine how someone walking around with a Bengal tiger could go by unnoticed. She probably had money. Rich people got away with everything. (FEATURING) NAOMI/char (SCRIPT) 515 (WARDROBE) look (NOTES) Garfield xD TEMPLATE BY OH SO COOPERNATURAL ! @ CAUTION.

[naomi]

"That obvious?" Naomi questioned. A snide chuckle fell from her lips. She'd been called everything in the book. Bitch. Slut. Cunt. Most of which were paired with proper adjectives. Crazy bitch. Pathetic slut. Fucking cunt. Adjective? It was now. Honestly, she forced herself to stop fretting over everyone's opinions after she married Paul. There was something about the way he'd looked at her that gave her ego an eternal strength. He'd treated her like gold. These days, Naomi was worth just as much. She lived the ideal life of any twenty-three year old woman. She was divorced, known for her lazy habits, and had less friends than she had fingers on one hand. Obviously, the life of the rich and pampered was the best life. At least for Naomi, one such lifestyle was strangely comfortable.

The looks people gave her weren't inconspicuous. These days, no one could hold their own business, much less be trusted with a second party's deepest, darkest secrets. Naomi had learned to trust zero bitches, Alex included. The newcomer seemed rather entranced with Clyde's movement. Naomi had to admit that she possessed a fairly majestic, fascinating creature. His muscles ripped with each stride. Even at a walk, Naomi could see movement under his well-groomed pelt. She had people at the San Diego Zoo to thank for that. There was no way in hell Naomi would risk scratching up her bathtub by letting Clyde bathe inside. Unlike her couches, bathtubs, showers, and sinks were much harder to express deliver to her home. If Paul was around, he could probably install one within a blink of an eye. Considering her ex-husband was no longer around, she had to wait her turn like everyone else in the world.

"Why? Did I ruin your playtime?" the woman asked. Naomi frowned. She couldn't take a hint? "Uh, sort of," Naomi replied. She thought she made herself perfectly clear. This bitch was proving her wrong. The thick layer of nonchalance tipped Naomi off. Great. "I've heard they have a great jungle set down at Universal." Another chunk of meat was catapulted into the air. A mound of black and orange fur followed the meat eagerly. Naomi was about a quarter of the way through her supply. If she wasn't careful, Clyde could finish off their quick snack in the next couple minutes. Moderation, Naomi thought. Although, ditching the sign for home sounded just right. Naomi didn't need to stand around feeling belittled by a daring stranger. She came off too similar, and Naomi wasn't okay with that.

"So what's the deal with Garfield?" the newcomer asked. Naomi glanced her way. Another laugh pierced the air. Garfield. She really called Clyde, her two hundred-plus pound tiger, the equivalent of an overweight, orange house cat. At least she knew her colors. "Not that it's any of your business or anything," Naomi began, point made, "He was a gift from an ex." Naomi smiled coyly. "He played for the Cincinnati Bengals." Clyde's origin was not only sweet and thoughtful but also cheesy and pathetic. There were times when more information was pried. Most of the time, however, Naomi stuck to her general response. Clyde was nothing more than a gift from an ex.

TAGGED bernadette lajoie
WORDS 545 words
OUTFIT here
NOTES two weeks later...

[/ DANI]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style,padding-left:16px; padding-top:0px; padding-right:0px; padding-bottom:0px; background-image:url(http://i51.tinypic.com/2nbr3oi.jpg) ] california girls california girls, we're undeniable fine, fresh, fierce, got it on lock - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Bernadette sneered and shrugged lightly. “Not like it’s a bad thing.” She actually preferred the people who more obviously a loose screw or two in their brain. Those were the ones you knew to watch out for. It was the sleeper psychos, the ones who hid their insanity under the surface more easily, she wasn’t so keen on being around. Those were the ones who caught you off guard and screwed you over the hardest in the end. At least with people like tiger lady here you knew to expect something out of the ordinary and to be on your toes. Bernadette herself happened to be another one of the nutsos who was easier to detect. If you couldn’t tell by looking her then all you had to do was to talk to her for about five minutes to figure out something was off. As far as what that may have been, on the other hand, typically wasn’t as easy to crack. The actress’ skills in deception were more than well refined. There were times when even she couldn’t tell when she was telling a lie. She was just that good. For almost her whole life she’d made a living of swindling and deceiving people and now had become second nature to her. The line between friends and victims was a very thin one indeed, and there were very few people who managed to catapult themselves well enough over that line so that their status wouldn’t be blurred.“Well don’t stop just because I’m here,” Bijou said airily. If the woman’s intent was to steer away with her curt responses, she was wrong. Bijou wasn’t the type of person to heed nor care about what other people wanted. Everything she did more or less revolved around her own needs and interests. If someone else happened to benefit from her actions it was just a brush of luck. “Yeah I believe it. They’ve got all kinds of useless shit down there. Personally, I wouldn’t waste my money to see a bunch of animals when I could use it to buy a quality fur coat.” Bernadette watched as another piece of meat was hauled into the air and the giant cat went ripping after it. It was a fascinating thing to watch. How something so deadly could be so athletic and majestic at the same time. Jellyfish were creatures of a similar disposition. When there was a thick pane of glass standing between you and the tentacled creatures, they were the most marvelous and calming things you could observe. But get caught in the water with one of those things and you could bet it would be your worst nightmare. Most likely your last. An arched brow lifted over her eye when her ears perceived the woman’s explanation. A gift from an ex, huh? Impressive. “Damn. Here I am thinking I’m doing something getting diamonds and cars, and you’re swindling men out of exotic animals.” Bernadette shook her head with a laugh. While she never took kindly to being one-upped by anyone, she had to give this woman her props. She would’ve never thought of getting someone to buy her a pet tiger. Then again she wasn’t crazy enough to want one. And pets weren’t her thing anyway. But she couldn’t help but think that thing must shit out some pretty hefty turds. “Wow, that’s pretty corny,” she scoffed. “What did he do, steal the team mascot?” The only purpose of her inquiry was to humor herself. She didn’t care about all the typical details. What was her ex like, why did they break up, how did he get a tiger, how did he go about giving it to her, why a tiger? Quite frankly the woman could keep all that information to herself. Beej didn't come all the way up here to be bored half to death. (FEATURING) NAOMI/char (SCRIPT) 647 (WARDROBE) look (NOTES) Sorry for the delay! ...Though I'm also sorry for tacking on to your to-do list. >_> TEMPLATE BY OH SO COOPERNATURAL ! @ CAUTION.

[naomi]

Naomi shrugged at the woman's last-minute interjection. She didn't need to be reassured of anything. Her high self-esteem was always ordered in bulk, so she had protection against multiple degrading comments before she turned sour over anything. Naomi spent half her life sneering at other people, anyways. Her mother always preached that she had to be willing to accept whatever she dished out. The old proverb constantly on a loop used to annoy her. In her mother's raspy voice, the succession of words did piss her off. Too many old memories, Naomi supposed. Other than that, Naomi typically used anything against other stubborn competitors in any verbal face-off. Naomi's wit transformed into a deadly hand grenade whenever she had facts to catapult her statements. "I can only question your judgment now," Naomi informed her. "Most people have enough sense to run away when they see something that could knock them out with one swipe." Well, most people did. There were some incredibly curious--but stupid-- people.

And if those people were stupid, Naomi truly didn't want to figure out what that made her. Reckless, maybe? She'd be perfectly fine with that explanation. Ignorant didn't fit the bill. Ignorance would be owning a large animal like Clyde and feeding it dog kibble, walking him through crowded places, and giving him free reign of just about anything. Naomi had to educate herself about the majestic beasts, Panthera tigris. Paul made sure to educate her on everything she'd possibly need to know while he brushed up on the facts as well. Honestly, she was surprised he hadn't wanted joint custody over the domineering beast. The woman insisted that Naomi didn't have to stop because she was around. A knowing smile fell over Naomi's lips. "I wasn't planning on it," she said matter-of-factually. If the woman wanted to stick around, Naomi wasn't about to complain about the extra attention. Besides, she'd been warned. Naomi wasn't going to feel guilty if she pissed off Clyde and he mauled her face.

The fact that she pulled the "fur coat" joke made Naomi want to sick Clyde on her, anyways. On occasion, comments like hers had the tendency to slip into her conversations. She was protective over her big cat, so any threatening said about him set Naomi off-kilter. "I haven't heard that one before," Naomi replied bitterly. Genuine animal coats were and would never play a part in Naomi's everyday attire. She refused to wear genuine fur on movies, too. Animal cruelty was probably the only abuse Naomi spoke out against. Domestic abuse made her laugh because victims of such treatment were normally squirmy low-lifes who heavily depended on men. The abuse served them right for being so fragile, though Naomi didn't voice her opinions to save herself from the paparazzi. She could see the headline now: Naomi Stanford Finds Abuse Comical. Headlines these days normally told the entire story. She preferred ones with quip.

Naomi shifted in her stance at Clyde came bounding back once more. Naomi scratched between his ears like he enjoyed before bringing a hand down on his glossy pelt. He glanced at her hungrily, and Naomi knew that was her cue to throw another piece of meat. His tail whipped her on the turnaround, but his fur softened the touch. Her attention was directed on the woman. She was rambling about nice cars and diamonds. Naomi had plenty of the latter. Nice cars weren't in her possession by choice. She hated the maintenance of vehicles; therefore she stuck to her SUV. "I wanted something different," Naomi told her. She knew that Paul's reason for his gift was a bit pathetic, but who the hell cared? Clyde was a fucking tiger. "You're right. It is corny," Naomi agreed, reflecting her thoughts. "How many people can say that their NFL ex-husband adopted a tiger for them?" Naomi passed a glance from Clyde to the woman. Ah, she'd said "ex-husband", hadn't she? Shit.

TAGGED bernadette lajoie
WORDS 666 words
OUTFIT here
NOTES triple six. it's a sign!