belladonna-wright

[belladonna-wright]

[Outfit]

"Now," Jessie set down two cups on the table at Hatters, before sliding herself into the empty seat, "Sorry. What were you saying about the job situation?" They'd been interrupted by their turn in the queue, and she had sent Mads off while she bought - her treat. As a rule she ... tried not to nag too much about what was going on with all of that. Mads was a grown man after all, and she was glad he had managed to find plenty of things to keep him busy outside of academia, but (and call her old fashioned) she did worry about him.

"I know the podcast has been doing well, but this is usually the sort of time when they start posting some more academic jobs for like, the next year, right?"

She took up her teaspoon and stirred a little milk into her americano, for appearances sake. "Any joy on that front?"

@mads-morey

Touching Base, Reaching Out - Messie

[belladonna-wright]

[Outfit]

Jessie hummed to herself as she approached the brightly coloured front door. She was feeling rather pleased with herself, and had no idea what terrible fate lay in store for her ...

See, she had arranged to meet Nick, and to go for a nice quiet coffee somewhere while they discussed options. Some more money was about to come in from their little adventure, and they needed to decide what to do with it and how best they were each going to handle their share. So her mood was nothing but smug and delighted as she arrived and knocked on the door.

She would not stay long, just long enough to politely smile if Isaac happened to be home and hopefully avoid the inevitable awkwardness if the kid was about. Yes, yes, it was all going exactly to plan-

Until the door opened and it was not Nick standing there.

"Isaac!" Jessie recovered quickly, smiling. "Hi, sorry, is Nick back yet, or-?" Or should she have done a few more loops around the block...

@isaac-morey

Trapped! - ColourWright

[belladonna-wright]

Trapped! - ColourWright

[belladonna-wright]

Jessie listened, and then chuckled. "Oh, darling those are some of the best kind of nights," she commented with a wink. The number of times necessity had given her an opportunity she would never have come across otherwise? Well, it was astounding! But there were hazards, it was true.

"Have you considered South America?" She asked, as a starting point. "There are a staggering variety of options, really, depending on what you're looking for. Different cities, and cultures, the cities are practically alive. And then the wilderness is something special-"

She herself had spent a lot of time getting lost there. She had loved the wildness as she travelled, the places where she could escape the modern world and pretend for a moment that she was back in another time, when the whole of the west seemed to stretch out before her and the only home was the saddle. She thought of those times with a soft pang in her chest. But alas, no matter how she had tried to run, things always seemed to catch up with her.

"Plus if you learn Spanish, that'll get you by in most places, rather than having to learn lots of different languages."

@mighty-mitte

Daughters of the Night - Missie

[belladonna-wright]

"I'll do my best," Jessie smiled. "You know how it is, at some point I'll have a flash of inspiration and suddenly the whole thing will make perfect sense and I'll feel like a complete fool for not having spotted it all straight away." But such was the nature of puzzles.

"Now, you must tell me all about your plans for the week, and what the lovely Bob is up to now," she smiled again, feeling that it would be a far better use of their evening to perhaps gossip about some things and pay the offending crossword no more mind.

@agentroz

You Make Me Feel So Young - Rozzie

[belladonna-wright]

Did she have any originals? Hah! Jessie had many. Her record collection, in its entirety, would be worth a fortune to the right collectors. But she supposed she had the benefit of having been around for so long and being able to pick up albums as they came out, and before they had been designated 'classics' with all the respective bump in the price tag that went along with that.

"Oh, well I think babies are just a grass is greener sort of situation, aren't they? Each one seems to be that bit louder when they're up close," she smirked, putting on an album by an old jazz pianist. Something atmospheric, but calm.

"Still, I'm surprised, I thought November was the big month for babies, or was there some exciting event 9 months ago that I'd missed?"

@dian-morey

The Rules Of Polite Society - Jian

[belladonna-wright]

"Oh, alas, my brilliance is quite used up," Jessie sighed. "I fear I may be fresh out for the evening. Ah well, I'll settle for mediocrity and enjoying the music, shall I?" She shook her head. Perhaps a fresh perspective in the morning would help her crack the puzzle-setter's unique perspective on things.

@agentroz

You Make Me Feel So Young - Rozzie

[belladonna-wright]

"They're trying desperately to cater to those who're only drinking a Gin and tonic and might need some additional flavours in it, since they're not really that keen on gin," Jessie sighed, happy to complain about some hypothetical other for a change. Much easier than talking about her own life at all.

"Meanwhile it rather throws off the balance of things in a proper martini." Most poorly thought out. Mind you, some people would probably still enjoy the additional flavours, but Jessie prided herself on being a traditionalist.

"Ah well, it's still drinkable, I suppose." She raised her glass again and gave Roz a quick wink.

@agentroz

You Make Me Feel So Young - Rozzie

[belladonna-wright]

Jessie dawdled a little over her record collection, trying to think of something to put on that would suit the correct ambience of the evening. Nothing too loud and distracting, that would be bad for conversation, and ideally nothing too sombre either, since that might lead to the mood turning gloomy.

She hesitated a little longer, before turning around to Dian and simply deciding to ask him instead. "Have you any preference what we listen to?" She asked. After all, most of the niceties were over with their little check-in already, where they both politely asked how the other was but neither really answered yet.

For now, their little coven was so peaceful, understated, compared to so much of what she had heard of in the past. "And how has work been this week? Any exciting tales to tell?"

@dian-morey

The Rules Of Polite Society - Jian

[belladonna-wright]

"Well," Jessie sounded out slowly. On the chessboard, she made a move that she had been eying for some time now, and took a moment to consider fully how that had changed the board for her. "Really that depends a lot on what you most enjoy," she shrugged. "After all, people can have very different ideas of what they're looking for from a travel destination."

She wouldn't recommend some of the more remote wildernesses she'd travelled to, if it turned out Mitte was more interested in cities and nightlife and things like that.

"That's another classic mistake people make, you know?" Jessie mused. "Thinking that because a place is very trendy then they'll automatically enjoy it, but of course, if they're looking for culture and nightlife, then a beach resort probably won't suit. Or going on a great wilderness adventure somewhere when they really prefer shopping and sight-seeing-"

@mighty-mitte

Daughters of the Night - Missie

[belladonna-wright]

Jessie hadn't even thought much about the future, beyond that glorious promise that it would involve them all being together, forever. Trust Bullseye to think some optimistic, wonder-filled thoughts of the things they might get to experience. When she looked forwards, she saw the plans she would have to make to look after everyone - to keep them fed and happy and healthy, all of that took a long-view. She hadn't allowed herself to think much about how much the world had changed.

The world was already changing, she heard. Railroads criss-crossing the country and big new towns and mines and rumours of what life was like on the coasts...

Somedays she dreamed of seeing it.

Jessie laid her hand on Bullseye's shoulder, and gave it a gentle squeeze.

"Sky's the limit, Bullseye," she whispered softly. "I mean, it could be everything we've ever dreamed of. Of course I want in." She wanted it so badly she could almost taste the metal tang of blood between her teeth already.

@bullseye-stoddard

Who Wants to Live Forever || Jesseye

[belladonna-wright]

"It wasn't easy," Jessie conceded, but she smiled sadly and shrugged her shoulders. The wound was a very old one by this point, a scar so faded that she could almost forget it had ever been there to begin with. But when she looked closer, there was still the one pang of regret; she had not been there. She had been so busy with her new family, she hadn't been there for her parents.

"But come on," she smiled more brightly. "That's hardly much fun to talk about on our night out! What do you think of the martini? It's an interesting gin blend, I'd say-"

@agentroz

You Make Me Feel So Young - Rozzie

[belladonna-wright]

Time.

Time was a funny thing, wasn't it? Jessie had all the time in the world, stretching out behind and in front of her, she could do whatever she wanted with it and know that luxury was there. But you could never get it back, could you? By God she wished she could get some of it back. For all the nights remembering, you could never go back. She hadn't really understood that when she left the ranch with the Round Up Gang and never saw her parents again.

She knew it now.

There would be no more time with her parents, or her brother, or her nephew.

Jessie gave a slightly strained smile as Roz seemed to realise that she had said the wrong thing by mistake. "Not at all," she waved it off, before taking a sip of her drink. "It's not as if I've ever spoken about it. But, well, yes. Sadly my parents died when I was quite young."

@agentroz

You Make Me Feel So Young - Rozzie

[belladonna-wright]

"Oh, well, no," Jessie agreed, with a smile as she sat back slightly in her chair and ran a hand through her long dark hair. "What child has ever really taken their parents advice without at least a few attempts at ignoring it and eventually working it out for themselves?" She teased.

"I never listened to my parents either, really." Not about the most important things. She'd been too stubborn, too passionate, always leading with her heart.

@agentroz

You Make Me Feel So Young - Rozzie

[belladonna-wright]

December 17th: Jessie + Autumn

@belladonna-wright

[belladonna-wright]

AIYSHA HART as SAM RAILSTON — Line of Duty, 5x05

[belladonna-wright]

Jessie felt rather pleased, really, that this vampire seemed to agree with her about such things. But then, perhaps they had a unique perspective, what with having the luxury of as much time as they could possibly want. They never had to rush, there would always be another day to experience something. If not a day, then a week, a month, a year. They would keep coming.

"It seems to be the way, you know? All that expense and fuss, only to try and signal to other people that you had a lovely time, without ever actually having one!" She scoffed.

"Ah, well. I prefer to travel after dark if at all possible." She preferred most things in the dark, it made life so much easier to beat those beastly headaches from the bright sun. "Cook up some excuses about the benefits of travelling early, or it being cheaper to fly back late, you know, things like that-" She waved a hand vaguely.

"Otherwise I like to simply take plenty of rest in the middle of the day."

One thing she very much missed about the good old days was when her being a woman seemed to be perfectly good justification for her to need a rest in the middle of the day to avoid trouble with the heat.

@mighty-mitte

Daughters of the Night - Missie