#↾ ֍ cookie mathis ⋯ closed starter ֎ ↿

[onebigerror]

@notthedyingtype closed starter for cookie & maddie

another black eye poorly covered up by makeup. another night fleeing the house after her husband passed out drunk. thankfully, the little twenty-four dinner that she took refuge in during the late night hours was dimly lit, making it easier to hide anything she didn’t want to be seen. the place was usually pretty empty. a few lone truckers passing through for a late night meal and coffee and a few local stragglers who couldn’t sleep for one reason or another. none of them paid any mind to her as she sat quietly at a corner booth leaned over a cup of coffee and a crossword puzzle. she was already three cups in so hopefully she’d be able to go home and get some sleep right before her husband left for work. she had her routine down, slip out of bed, come here and slip back in bed just in time for his alarm to go off. he never even missed her. 

the sound of the chime was what made her look up from the weekly crossword. a fairly recent regular. the poor woman always looked so shell shocked and cookie would be lying if she tried to say that she wasn’t interested in her and whatever story she had. tonight might just be the night for a little female bonding if the other was even interested. “this seat is open.” she called out as the woman started to her regular seat in the middle of diner, near the bar stools and away from the windows which she was always nervously looking over at. “unless you’d like me to join you?” cookie was really wanting some female company because it was something she sorely lacked in her life. she had only her husband chuck and his insufferable sister who always talked incessantly about how great it would be if they were pregnant at the same time. something chuck was heavily pushing for in case he got drafted. and something cookie really wanted no part of. marriage and motherhood really didn’t suit her and in all honesty she just wanted a way out without a kid strapped to her. “i’ll buy a coffee or a soda. whatever floats your boat.” cookie was hopeful.

[welcometophu]

Not Your Love Song: Chapter 36

Marked Book 2: Not Your Love Song

Chapter 36

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They have the entire back room of Minnisale's to themselves.

When they ask for the reservation for Whitman, Rory expects to be led to one of the long tables set up for a group. However, the smiling hostess leads them down a hallway and into a back room where a single long table is set up in the center of the room, and another against the wall to the side of the door. There are stacks of chairs and tables leaning the wall at the back of the room. Rory’s fairly certain it’s supposed to be a banquet room.

The center table holds several pitchers and empty glasses, as well as a salad bowl on top of two plates at each place. Two big bowls of salad and small carafes of dressing are already on the table.

“I’ll have them start bringing in your starters shortly,” the hostess informs Jonathan, who nods in response.

Kit squeezes Rory’s hand, leaning in to whisper, “This is not meeting at a restaurant. This is using money to have a miniature feast.”

Rory whispers back, “As long as he remembered vegetarian options, I’m not arguing if he’s footing the bill. We are college students. Seize the opportunity.”

“You have a point.” Kit squeezes his hand one more time, then lets go so they can separate as they head into the room.

Darrik is already there, sitting at the table with Shane. Jess is talking to Ally, and Jonathan turns back to them after the hostess leaves.

Their groups have intermingled. Ally glances over and smiles slightly, then turns back when Jess touches her arm to get her attention.

“Why don’t we sit down and have salad,” Jonathan calls out, nudging the girls toward the table. Once they’re settled, two waiters bring in plates of appetizers for the side table. From the looks of it, either Jonathan expects more people, or he thinks they’ll be here a while.

They do have an entire ritual to plan out. It could take time.

“Shane,” Kit says as he sits, waiting for Shane to look over. “We saw Pels the other night. Tuesday, after Coven.”

Jess tugs out the seat on Shane’s other side, dropping into it. “I had lunch with her on Tuesday. I told her that maybe talking to you guys or Ángel and Hayley might help her understand what’s going on when she asked about the mark.”

“She lives on my floor, so she hunted us down,” Rory says. He hasn’t really thought about it since then—there’s been a lot going on—and he realizes that he’s not sure how much of what Pels said that she wants to be public knowledge.

On the other hand, he gets the feeling that Shane and Jess are going to know it soon enough.

“She asked about the marks.” Kit’s hand motion seems to imply of course. “And she let us see hers.”

“She did? She wouldn’t let me see it.” Jess leans forward, looking at Kit as if she’s somehow going to see Pels’s mark there. “What did it look like?”

“A mountain—hang on.” Kit grabs for his bag, digs his notebook out. Rory offers a hand, and when Kit nods, he tangles their fingers together, letting magic flow from himself into Kit while Kit draws.

The picture, when it’s done, is a perfect replica of the clouded shading on one half of Pels’s mark, and the mountain on the other side.

“That mountain is very triangular.” Ally leans into Kit’s space, traces the lines up the center. “It’s like half a crossbow.”

“A right angle,” Kit says. “Or as Pels put it, it’s mathy.”

He pushes the sketch toward Jess, and pulls his hand back quickly, drops it into his lap. He grips Rory’s hand tightly, entire body stiff.

“What?” Rory whispers.

“I think I just figured it out.” Kit’s voice is low. Wary. Rory’s a little worried what it is that Kit thinks he understands, because he doesn’t think Kit likes it.

Jess nudges the notebook back toward him. “Enlighten us. Please.”

“You’re the mountain,” Kit blurts out.

Ally swallows laughter, while Jonathan looks flat out shocked. Both of Darrik’s eyebrows rise, and Shane puts a hand on Jess as if to keep her from launching herself across the table.

She doesn’t move. “I’m what?” she says slowly.

“You have earth energy,” Kit tries to explain. “You’re not magical, but you’re grounded. Solid. The first time I met you, I thought mountain. And the funny part is that in the Tarot, the earth element is pentacles or coins. They’re practical. But they’re also magical. It’s—you’re as solid as the earth around us, and as necessary. You’re probably a grounding energy in whatever that relationship might be.” He pauses, frowning. “Pels is probably air. Or water. I don’t think I know yet.”

Jess raises her hands slowly, wrists out. Both are smooth-skinned aside from a few freckles, and unmarked. “I don’t have ink. Shane does. And before you go where I think you might be going—I’m not into guys. Shane’s my best friend, and yes, we do share a bed on occasion, but I think everyone at this table has at some point platonically puppy piled.”

“Often,” Rory deadpans.

“Clan,” Darrik points out. “Even if I’m not a shapeshifter myself, it’s still my heritage.”

“Noah,” Ally says, and Jonathan nods with her as she continues, “He was the kind of guy who just drew you in and created piles out of people for cuddling purposes. Which is impressive considering I grew up in a very don’t-touch-me family, and Jonathan is prickly.”

Jonathan scowls. “I cuddle,” he mutters. “When I have to.”

Ally gestures at him like he’s made her point.

They’ve all made Jess’s point, though, not that Rory needed convincing. Bed sharing can be perfectly platonic.

“Right, but what if she’s both of your soulmates,” Kit says slowly. “What if her touching Shane activated the mark, but she pulled away too fast for it to finish? So her mark should be a blend of Jess and Shane in the end. And there’s nothing saying that you can’t be platonic soulmates. It’s not about romanticism, is it? The original ritual was, but everything turned upside down and sideways. Why not that, too?”

“I think Kit’s trying to tell you that your crush on Pels might not be as insane as the rest of us think it is,” Shane murmurs. He grunts, as if Jess kicked him under the table.

Rory’s just relieved that no one goes back to describing Jess as a mountain.

Shane looks down at his still clouded wrist. “I want to say that everything’s going to be okay. Ángel’s happy with Tony. You guys seem to fit together. But then Pels scowls at me and yells at the air when she passes me on the Quad and now you seem to think that my lesbian best friend is also my soulmate, and I just—this seems to be going about as well as everything else in my life. It’s something else to break.”

“If it weren’t for bad luck,” Jess murmurs, and Shane grumbles his agreement.

“We should eat,” Jonathan says, and when Rory looks over, the side table is laden with seven different kinds of appetizers. Jonathan holds up one of the large bowls of salad, offering to pass it along, and the conversation fades for a time.

They eat in a mix of family style with plates on the table and the rest set up as a buffet. Big bowls of pasta, with the meat in separate bowls, as well as a big dish of stuffed shells, and some eggplant parmesan are laid on the table. Rory barely has time to finish eating toasted ravioli before he has a plate full of eggplant and pasta. A second table is set up and a cloth put over it, next to the first, and as they slow eating, the serving dishes are placed there.

They don’t even come close to finishing the food. They’ll either have plenty of leftovers, or they’ll be able to keep eating as they work through the night. Or quite possibly both.

When the plate of cannoli and cookies is set at the center of the table, Darrik nudges it toward everyone else. He pulls on the sleeves of his sweater, tugging them down over his hands. “We should get started,” he says.

The mood shifts rapidly.

Ally and Jess both rise, clearing the food away from the table with Jonathan’s help. They have the minimum left in the way—Kit declares the cannoli a requirement and won’t let them take the plate. Jonathan seats himself at the end of the table, furthest from the cluster, as Shane, Kit, Rory, and Jess all pull out their notes.

“I’ve spoken to Sunnyview, and if we want to try again on Wednesday, we can,” Darrik says. “But we need to have a plan.”

“Lora’s parents don’t want anything to do with it.” Jonathan’s tone is flat, his arms crossed over his chest. “They don’t believe it’ll work, and they don’t want to risk hoping that it will.”

“I don’t blame them,” Ally says. “Hope hurts.”

“It does, and if it doesn’t work this time, we’re done.” Darrik’s tone is definite. He’s staring at the table, at the notes strewn across. His elbows rest on the table, his shoulders hunched as he leans forward. “I miss Noah,” he says quietly. “And I think that helping bring Lora out of her coma will go a long way toward helping all of us heal. Because it’s something we have the potential to fix. But if we keep trying, and it keeps failing, it’s just going to keep us grieving longer. So this is it. Either you reach her and she wakes up, or we let it go.”

“I’m not going to stop visiting her just because you need to step back,” Ally says quietly. She has her hand on a necklace, twisting her fingers in the chain.

Darrik shakes his head. “I’m not asking you to. But I need to stop waking up every day and thinking what can I do to change things and I need to start thinking I can move forward. I’m not saying we should forget about Lora. But there’s a difference between spending time with her, and thinking we can fix the situation. She’s been seen by Healers, and they say nothing’s physically wrong with her. There’s no reason for her to be under, not medically. But she is in a coma.”

“I can reach her,” Kit says, and Rory drops his hand to Kit’s back.

“I know you think you can,” Darrik says gently. “And I appreciate that you’re trying. I’m just saying this is it. This is the last time.”

“Then we need to be absolutely certain that we’re as exacting as possible,” Shane says, smoothing the papers in front of him. “Jess’s formulas, and Kit’s art, and Rory’s….” He trails off, brow furrowed.

Right, there are some things they all need to be caught up on. Rory pats Kit’s back, and when Kit looks at him, Rory cocks his head. Kit motions with his hand, and Rory takes that as permission to explain everything.

“We have a few new details to add to the planning.” Rory grabs a piece of paper so he can list them out. “One—Kit’s art is a magical Talent. Not the art itself; those are just really nice pictures. But his ability to create the art is magical. Two—my Talent really likes Kit. Like a lot.” He can feel the warmth in his cheeks, and he can imagine how everyone interprets that statement. “I know I’ve been struggling with feeding energy to other people, but with Kit it just flows. It’s like my magic recognizes his, and it wants to mingle.”

“So you can supercharge him for this ritual,” Jess mutters, making notes of her own.

“Something like that, yes.” Rory glances at Shane. “Have you figured out a way to stabilize Shane’s chaos? Or use it in a productive way? Because I really don’t want this failing because someone falls over again.”

Jess makes an erasing motion in the air. “Handled. Go on. Is there anything else we need to take into account?”

“Back in high school, we had a ritual go wrong, and a friend of ours was trapped in a dreamscape.” Kit’s voice is tight, and Rory flattens his hand against his back, lets their magic seep together in a way he hopes is soothing. “Carolyn and Del rescued him by literally going into the dreamscape, and taking me and another friend with them, and bringing his mind back out.”

“Do you think that’s what we need to do with Lora? Repeat that same ritual?” Jess asks, looking up from her paper, pen paused mid-motion.

“Where is Del?” Ally looks down the table as if there should be a computer there.

“We talked about it, and we left her out on purpose,” Rory says. “After what happened with Sam—Kit’s friend—we think she’d be a liability.”

“Lora’s not in the same state as Sam was,” Kit explains. “I think we need to reach her mentally, not physically. If we include Del, we run the risk of catapulting all of us into a place that wasn’t hospitable at all. We were chased by shadows. We had to find a way to escape, and half the paths led to places we really didn’t want to go.”

“What if it is the same?” Ally snaps. “What if you’re taking the best option off the table before we even begin?”

“Then we’ll find out Wednesday and I’ll leave it up to you what you want to do,” Kit says. He holds his ground, expression even. “I’m not going back into the dreaming, Ally. If that’s the issue, then you need to get Del involved, and you need to handle it. But that’s not for me or for Rory. The thing is, Lora’s in a coma. Sam’s been up and around physically, but not coherent mentally. Different symptoms. Different mental locations. Wherever Lora is, it may be deeper and far less physical than what happened to Sam.”

Darrik’s expression is pinched. “Fine.”

“If we don’t touch on the dreamscape, we don’t disrupt—or attract the attention of—the shadows,” Kit says.

Which reminds Rory. “I had an idea for another variable we might want to introduce. For stability,” he says. He hesitates before speaking because he knows no one is going to like it, and he doesn’t blame them. At all.

In the silence, Darrik stares at the table, and Ally glares at them. Jonathan snaps first. “What? Out with it. It can’t be that bad.”

“I think that if we include Mattie, I might be able to channel her specific Talent into the ritual, through Kit,” Rory says slowly. “We know that Mattie was a part of what knocked Lora out in the first place. There were two there—I think she attacked Lora, and the other attacked Darrik after Noah. But my point is, Mattie’s not like that anymore, but she is still a Shadowwalker. And her Talent might reach into whatever place Lora’s gone. Especially if that Talent is what sent her there in the first place.”

By the time he finishes talking, everyone’s silent. Jess stares at him with wide eyes, and Shane looks thoughtful. Kit twists away from Rory’s touch so he can take his hand instead, bringing it up to kiss the backs of his fingertips before keeping their fingers laced together in his lap.

Ally glares murderously at Rory, her brow furrowed. She taps on the table, twists the cloth napkin into a rope, and Rory hopes she isn’t thinking about strangling him with it. She jerks away when Jonathan touches her shoulder.

“I think he’s right.” Darrik stares at the table, shoulders hunched and tone resigned. “I was there, and I don’t want to see a Shadowwalker ever again. But the reasoning is sound. So I say let’s do it.”

Kit grabs a cannoli from the plate, offers it across the table by putting it in Darrik’s field of vision.

Darrik straightens, almost smiles as he takes the cannoli from Kit. He doesn’t say anything, just takes a small bite and nods.

Kit takes his own cannoli, and it breaks the ice. Sweets are passed around, and everyone takes a moment to let sugar flow through their system.

Jess sets her cookie aside half-eaten. “I’m going to have to redo all the calculations,” she mutters.

“I’m bringing a short-range crossbow,” Ally says. “And I’m not afraid to use it.”

“I need more information about Lora.” Kit pulls out a sketchbook and a set of pens and colored pencils. “I know you’ve got pictures of her, and I need those, too. But I also need to know more about what she’s like. Tell me stories while I’m drawing.”

“Here’s what we’re going to do.” Shane spreads his hands, as if pushing them into two groups. “Jess and I are going to work on the actual ritual, laying out a stable design with all the variables in place. Kit’s going to do his art, with Rory doing his thing,” Shane wiggles his fingers, “to help him, while you all share stories about Lora. Down there.” He points at the end of the table where Jonathan sits.

“The main dining room closes at eleven tonight, but I’ve booked this room for as long as we need it,” Jonathan says. “The owner’s a distant cousin, and he’ll be in and out to check on us. If we need more food—”

“More food?” Kit asks.

“Magic makes people hungry,” Jonathan mutters. “I’m just trying to make sure you have everything you need to keep going as long as you need to keep going. So we can get this right.”

Ally scritches the top of Jonathan’s head. “See, he’s prickly, but he really does care.”

“The point is,” Jonathan says loudly, “we can go all night if we need to. So let’s get started.”

It probably is going to be a long night, but Rory’s ready for it. He looks at Darrik, Ally, and Jonathan and he sees resignation in their body language, but a tiny bit of hope lighting their expressions. There’s an ease, and a hint of excitement.

He wants to make sure it’s worth it this time. They have to make this work.

He lays his hand on Kit’s shoulder and settles into the feel of their magic intertwining. As the others speak, telling stories about Lora, Kit begins to draw.

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[onebigerror]

@cannib4l asked: "Oh, I knew you could do it! I'm so proud of you!" (Beatrice to Cookie) // still accepting this meme

cookie would allow nothing to kill her good mood. not even the call from her mother insisting that she gave up this pipe dream and come home to wait for her husband to return. she hung up the phone and turned to see beatrice smiling at her. she gave her a playful wink. it was no secret that the two women were into each other no matter how secretive they thought they were keeping it. plenty of girls on the team were having a little fun on the side while they were free of husbands, boyfriends or the obligation to pursue a future with a man when this all ended.

"i could say the same about you, sweet stuff." she put on her best smile to not let on that something had upset her. "we couldn't have won it without you. i'm only part of a team." she'd pitched a perfect game but cookie wasn't the type that took all the credit. the blue sox were a team and they should all share that victory. "so how should we celebrate?" some of the others were going out for drinks and to mingle with the girls on other teams, cookie wasn't sure if she was going to join them. "so i heard about this bar...a real hush hush kind of thing" she leaned in to speak in a hushed voice. "just for us girls." hopefully beatrice knew what she needed without her having to get too specific when the house mother had ears like a hawk. the old bat heard everything. "should we check it out?"

[onebigerror]

@hauntedxwritings / closed starter / cookie & nancy

the diner had always been one of her favorite spots. she'd frequented it often before joining the team and that hadn't changed after. it had started out as a place to get away from her husband and his temper before he'd left for war and now it just felt like a safe space to her. recently there was just a new reason to want to be there. a new waitress had started working there on the night shift. that also happened to be cookie's favorite time to go there even if it was after curfew. no one noticed or cared if she slipped out as long as she was quiet about it. the qauint little diner was quiet and she could hear herself think. nancy. that was name of the new waitress and she was just a sweet little thing. she kept the coffee cup filled and gave her something nice to look at in the process. cookie knew it was just her job but that didn't keep the baseball player from thinking about her in ways she probably shouldn't. she was sure the woman would never want to come near her table again if she only knew what was going on in cookie's head. no one would want to come near her again if they knew. she'd be a disgrace and god only knew what else could happen. at least her thoughts were free and she'd continue to have them.

she'd been there about an hour when nancy started her shift. she was already three cups of coffee in and working on a crossword puzzle. looking up she winked at her when she saw her tying her apron behind the counter. what a beautiful sight. cookie was convinced that this angel could look gorgeous doing just about anything. she gave her a playful wink and went back to her puzzle waiting for nancy to head over to her table and check on her as she always did. no matter how many late night stragglers there were she always came to cookie's table first. tonight there weren't many. she could hear her footsteps approaching and lifted her head again to see her standing there. "hello, sweet stuff." cookie called everyone that. the girls on the team and fans alike - even their the old lady that was in charge of them and the house she lived it. with that ghastly woman she did it just because she knew it got under her skin. that just gave her more reason to want to do it. it was kind of her trademark greeting. everyone was used to it. but her tone was different when it came to nancy. anyone that really knew her might notice that. "you look tired. maybe i should be getting you the coffee tonight." she teased. "why don't you sit?" there were only two other people in the place and both were occupied with reading material. "promise i won't tell." she knew there was another waitress - there were always two of them - but she didn't seem to be anywhere around so what harm could a few minutes do?

[onebigerror]

@araneorum closed starter / cookie & kat

the shy girl approached her clutching a piece of paper. her hand was clenched so tightly around it that her poor knuckles were white and the paper looked like it could crumple. cookie smirked and inwardly laughed. she’d seen this cute little blonde at every home game they’d played that season and even one or two of the out of town ones. cookie wasn’t stupid, she could see the dreamy look in the younger girl's eyes as she watched her pitch. it was adorable to see her awkwardly attempt to cheer when she would strike out an unfortunate member of the opposing team. what a complete doll. 

the field was mostly empty at this point. most fans that had wanted to meet any of the players had done so and left, this girl was still lingering around after she finished signing her last autograph. “well, hello sweet stuff.” a name cookie called almost any girl she was interested in. it was discreet and not so discreet depending on how you looked at it. she was definitely interested in this one. the old prison marm that was in charge of the team in the house they were staying at didn’t seem to get it so that was definitely a good thing. she just rolled her eyes at cookie when she referred to someone in what she referred to as ‘the senseless term she’d coined as her own’ and that was just fine with her. what the woman didn’t know couldn’t hurt her and that also meant it couldn't get cookie reprimanded.

“i guess you’re wanting an autograph. what if i give you something better than that old piece of paper to sign? you want the ball i used today?” she asked with a wink. it was definitely a more personal item and something she hadn’t felt like offering any of the other fans. none of them had really captured her attention. “come with me and i’ll get it and sign it just for you. what’s your name?” she just hoped the girl wouldn’t run off. she was clearly very timid.