#* · ˚ ⋅ 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 ﹕ ❪ pr ❫ * k novotney .

[shadwoes]

                                      “ it’s just a delicate situation. ”    karolina watches @rvolving​ , she is not as cautious as she would have been in her approach with logan, but roman causes his own sort of pause for the public relations director. perhaps it is because she sees him as a sort of wild card, or perhaps it’s something else entirely.

                                    “ we just need to run some lines. ”    babysitting the roy children ( though they are not children, she reminds herself, they are adults that never quite grew up. )   is not in her job description, though sadly, sweeping up after them is.      “ she just had some expectations, i need to make sure everyone is on the same page. ”     -  sc .

[shadwoes]

karolina stays firm, she has dealt with a ‘fake’ firing from his father before, but logan held far more sway than roman, knew how to get out of compromising positions.    “ i work for waystar, roman. but gerri has a narrative, and she has been very . . . ”   karolina intertwines her fingers, twists them like she’s wringing nerves out. she’s running through how to say this.   “ conscious. with how she wants this to play out, and i think it’s in the best interest of the firm to comply with those wishes.”

pr head looks at him, her gaze is meant to say it all, that there is a level of danger to spelling it out for him.   “ she was with waystar for a long time, there are certain things her contract insured, which we are following through on, and somethings it didn’t, and i think it’s smart to take a beat, and discuss how we should broach the end of a thirty year career with those things in mind. ”she has something on us.    she’s saying it without saying it, trying to communicate the statement as fact.   karolina doesn’t know what it is, but she knows it’s big, enough to rock the boat, certainly.   

“ we can go with cruises, we can shoot for incompetence if that’s how you want to angle this, it’s good, it’s a good angle, your dad had recommended it, but um . . . it might be better, if we shoot that arrow at anyone else. ”  

he’s never ever found himself in a situation that would’ve had him yearn for hugo by his side, ever. but right now, he’s pretty sure he’d prefer hugo’s shrivelled fucking turtle face over karolina’s passive-aggressive you did bad bullshit. ❝ what the fuck do you mean, expectations? ❞

he doesn’t need her to tell him, is the thing. he did bad, and so what? words don’t fucking mean anything, and dad would’ve never apologised. dad had wanted gerri fired. one of the last things he’d ever even said–

❝ do you work for her or for us? because i’m pretty sure if you wanted to not be working for waystar anymore, that could be arranged. turns out i can do that pretty fucking fast, actually. ❞ but if words didn’t mean anything, he wouldn’t have to deal with the consequences. he’s feeling far less trigger-happy than he’s trying to portray, a little remorseful, a little hasty in trying to swipe that aside. threats out of the mouth of roman roy will never carry the same weight as they would coming from logan’s. ❝ just say, like, cruises or whatever. that’s the magic word, right? cruises. she did a bad job, boo-hoo, but we’re taking responsibility by removing bad agents, something something. ❞ all he’s directing at her is a shrug, attention purportedly glued to his phone. he’s not seeing anything. ❝ you work out the details, wordy woman. do the words. ❞

[shadwoes]

                                        the problem with being salaried at waystar is they think they can call at any hour of the night, the problem with being their communications director is that usually, that’s true.    the sun has yet to rise over new york when her phone rings, buzzes against the nightstand for a solid thirty seconds before karolina picks it up.

                                        karolina is half dressed, pulling her sweater over her head before she leaves the bedroom, a plan to grab her heels on the way out as to not make too much noise. leaving early is always easier, it works out better, she can’t be talked into staying, no one can get mad at her for leaving.   she hopes to leave before @timesense​ wakes up, though of course it doesn’t happen that way.

‘come back to bed'

                                     she almost flinches when a voice calls out in the dark, turning to face river.   “ i can’t. ”    i want to.   she sighs, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear with a small smile, she studies the other woman, glancing away slightly.    “ it’s work. ”    she reasons, as if river might have thought it was ever anything else.

[shadwoes]

 @howverytm​ asked : karolina - lavender :   how easy is it to gain your muse’s trust ?  once their trust is broken ,   how might one go about mending it ?

                                trust came easy once, what feels like a million years ago now, before waystar. but things change, people evolve. she’s been bitten one too many times to be so naive now. karolina never imagined her life going the way it has, she, much like gerri or any minority that has made it above the fourth floor at waystar, have a target on their back, stable footing is a luxury.  she is skeptical by nature, it’s become a survival instinct. trust is something hard to gain and easy to loose.

                                if you have her trust, you’ve done something or multiple somethings to earn it. it’s a complicated scenario when someone manages to break her trust, because on one hand : that’s the business, betrayal is natural, every one is waiting to cut someone else’s throat and karolina has adjusted to that way of thinking. she is constantly waiting for the other shoe to drop, for a knife in the back, and when it comes she likes to think she expected it ( whether she does or not. ) if she can see the reason for it, she is more likely to be forgiving, or at least pretend to be, try to be.   she understands it’s a game and everyone is losing, that the only way to advance is to stomp on someone else. ( though there are a handful of coworkers she trusts dearly, who she believes won’t betray her to advance their own position because she is a powerful ally. )

                              but if it’s personal, it’s a different story. she’s been burned one too many times for forgiveness to come naturally, you’ll have to work twice as hard, for twice as long, to earn it back, if you ever do. it’s always been a fractured thing, a cup dropped too many times, chipped around the edges, it can be glued back together but there are missing parts, it leaks on the platter every time you fill it. fixable but scarred.  it starts with an apology, something meaningful, and after that, it takes time.

botanical headcanons .

[shadwoes]

                                late nights are not uncommon for them, karolina has pulled quite a few in the last week, it’s smoke and mirrors, washing the hands of waystar royco and hoping no one looks beneath the surface. the little company retreat has been a disaster thus far : logan’s mission of raising moral between his ‘top minds’ seems to have been a bust. she has been working alongside sam for the last few hours to find the rat. karolina is half asleep in the common room, hunched over her laptop, a cup of half finished coffee on the table beside her.

∗ 3o﹕ sender  wraps  a  blanket  around  receiver’s  shoulders .

                                she doesn’t stir until weight lands on her shoulders; she blinks awake, not quite startled but obviously surprised. delicate fingers shift, touching fleece blanket, wrapping it tighter around her shoulders, fighting off the chill. dark eyes find @cancope​, registering the kindness of the act, the fact gerri probably wasn’t trying to wake her. communications director gives a shy smile : caught sleeping on the job certainly isn’t a good look. especially when assignment comes from logan himself, when it’s time sensitive. but, despite herself, karolina trusts gerri. knows that as long as she doesn’t have a reason to mention it, she probably won’t.  

                                “ hey. ”   she clears her throat, shifting in her chair, back straightening.   “ you didn’t have to i . .”   she cuts herself off, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.so instead of excuse, karolina gives a more genuine smile, ans a little nod before she speaks.   “ thank you. ”

[shadwoes]

                              there is something about @timesense​ that karolina finds almost addicting, perhaps she could claim it has something to do with freedom : only seeing river when she isn’t working, flying away with her, taking her on adventures around the world, maybe it sparks a sort of wanderlust in karolina, feeds a craving she didn’t know she had.   maybe river reminds her of when she was younger.

                              “ it’s not like i’m not used to it . . . ”    the workaholic in her is unstoppable most of the time, phone occupies a large amount of her time, but she’s promised to put it away unless absolutely necessary, though that doesn’t stop her from talking. karolina looks at river, eyes find the other woman as her hand pushes passed thick black hair, work calloused fingers slipping over the back of her neck and guiding her closer.  leaning in as their lips meet. karolina’s soft hands cup river’s jaw, bring her closer for a long moment, allows the warmth to envelop her. she pulls back and the corners of her mouth are tipped into a smile.

                              “ you’re going to have to try harder than that to shut me up, you know.. ”

82﹕ sender  draws  receiver  into  a  kiss  by  the  back  of  their  neck .

[shadwoes]

                          getting them out in the public eye is a necessary evil, show they’re still kicking, still together. the ruse of a family run business is more powerful than the actuality. it’s a shitshow, anything involving the roys is. karolina had learned that when she was an nothing more than an intern on the fourth floor, but now it’s more like holding a snake and trying not to get bit.

                           she searches the crowd for a long moment, eyes dancing over investors, over journalists playing nice and businessmen like hounds showing teeth, the threat is ever lingering : the walls have ears.   karolina isn’t one for getting caught up in the mess : she cleans up, she avoids : that’s her job. the ability to speak without words, to communicate with expression is a skill she’s mastered in her years at waystar.    a passing glance with @cancope​ could tell her all she needs to know about a situation. expression speaks louder than language, her eyes find gerri and still she doesn’t approach, their eyes meet, far more than a passing glance : purposeful.

∗ 15﹕ sender  and  receiver  make  eye  contact  across  a  busy  room . // for karolina

                          karolina tilts her head toward the empty hall to her right, keeping her eyes on gerri’s, waiting for confirmation :   coming ?

[shadwoes]

                          there is a certain amount of babysitting done by those in legal, for the most part, gerri takes the brunt of it: left with the roys, left with roman, but everyone has their place to be, there people to look after and today it seems with no tom for him to escape to it seems she’s been handed greg’s leash.    the first thing she had learned about @s4ints​ is that he has no idea of the self preservation that lays in silence.   he talks too much.   every time he opens his mouth she feels the public outcry, the chain reaction like ripples in a pool.

                          at least with kendall, or roman she can see the motive behind the overstep, the public is used to them : rich boys being fuck boys is nothing new and their drama runs in circles, tires itself out.   greg is the new shiny car that’s motor won’t stop running, he’s background noise to her and the others until he isn’t. until amongst the bumbling statements is some secret that needs to stay in the dark.  

                          ( she tries not to have strong opinions about those she works with, neutrality is a powerful weapon, but there are known exceptions : logan, kendall, shiv, gerri, tom, and him . . . though each of them are set on various sections of the spectrum, ranging from trustworthy and loyal to just plain idiotic. )

“And hey, it wasn’t the first time that I broke into a church.”

                          fingers that were a moment ago, dancing over phone screen come to a halt, karolina shifts her gaze to study greg for a moment, waiting to see if he might admit it was some sort of joke : she’d been tuning him out with little more than a affirmative uh-huh or questioning hmm ? for the past fifteen minutes.    “ excuse me, you . . . did you just admit  you broke into a church ? ”    gaze finds him now, interest sparked, the logical side of her brain in an uproar about what might happen if someone finds out the kid with no certifications, hired off the street for his blood is a vandal, but another part itches with a rather unprofessional sort of curiosity.    ( it’s not like she didn’t have her rebellious streak in her younger years, she just wasn’t one to openly admit to multiple breaking and enterings )

                          she is not a gossip by nature, but if she’s honest: she has never found him more interesting.   “ can i ask why ? ”

[shadwoes]

karolina fast facts.

lesbian. ( closeted. )

head of public relations / communications at waystar.

she has a masters degree in communications as well as a degree in corporate social responsibility.

pre-waystar interning, she worked with different nonprofit organizations. 

she grew up the oldest of three to a single father, though her mother has made various attempts at contacting her in her adulthood they have gone unanswered,

she had a rebellious phase in her youth though there is no known record of the happenings.

she’s a pretty good cook, though hardly has the energy to put effort into it.

she can play the piano, her father taught her and she does practice occasionally. 

the only social media she has ( at at least that is public knowledge ) is twitter ( her inst.agram is private but does exist. ) , otherwise she runs more than a handful of burner accounts for various sites.

5’6” without heels. ( she is rarely without heels. )

she has two cats. a white maine coon and a ragdoll : ptak and mysz respectively. 

beer > wine.

[shadwoes]

succession muse tag drop.

* · ˚ ⋅  𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 ﹕ ❪ pr ❫ * k novotney . * · ˚ ⋅  𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐲 ﹕❪ pr ❫ * k novotney .

* · ˚ ⋅  𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 ﹕ ❪ eldest son ❫ * k roy . * · ˚ ⋅  𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐲 ﹕❪ eldest son ❫ * k roy .