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nelllraiser · 4 years ago

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fish bites | grace & nell

TIMING: during the fog fish potw, before the morgue scream. LOCATION: the woods. PARTIES: @silveraccent & @nelllraiser SUMMARY: nell and grace decide to take a walk, and run into some foggy-fish- and even though they may be misunderstood, they decide to take the L and leave.

What had started as a truth serum mishap seemed to, thankfully, be turning into a budding friendship. With things seemingly and momentarily slowing down for Nell, it meant that now she could take the time to actually enjoy friends rather than simply worry about their lives and her own being in near constant danger. Of course...that was still something she worried about, and often still had nightmares of, but if the danger kept itself to her dreams and out of the real world it meant she could do things like go on harmless hikes with Grace. As the pair walked through the dense forest of the Outskirts, Nell trudged along confidently, rather familiar with the woods as they’d frequently been her hunting grounds when it came to bringing in monsters for the Ring. “So how’s everything been with adjusting to White Crest? Hopefully no one accidentally slipped you some truth serum or anything equally ridiculous.” The words were an obvious and light jab at herself.

A few months ago, Grace wouldn’t have been able to imagine being friends with somebody who accidentally dosed her food with truth serum. Now, she thought it was fitting to the way that the little town had welcomed her. She and Nell, and even Blanche, were growing to be quick friends. She was grateful, if not slightly wary. Not due to the situations that they had found themselves in revolving around one another, but due to her inability to let go of the fact that one day, her friends might not be around any longer. Still, she pushed through it, thus finding herself on a hike with Nell in the woods she hadn’t trapeized through yet. “It’s taking some time,” Grace admitted to her as she stepped over a fallen branch on the pathway. She looked over at Nell with a smile, “there have been a few things to top that, don’t worry.” She wasn’t lying, either. Between the reanimated corpses, the airplanes, seeing Renee. Her stomach churned. “I wouldn’t worry about me,” Grace said as she stabilized herself on a neighboring tree. “It brought us here, didn’t it?” She asked with a tilt of her head.

Nell’s childhood had been spent among these pines, running along with her sisters until the sun began to set, and Bea would round them up to get back to the East End in time for dinner. Being famous Vegas magicians on par with David Blaine had left the Vurals quite well off, and though Harris Island had the most extravagant houses— Nisa and Demir had wanted a place where it was easier for three growing girls to stretch their wings and breathe. Considering that yards were rare on the island, the East End had been the obvious answer. So the forest was something of a sanctuary, a place that could be rife with danger, but also comfortingly hidden away. “That’s fair,” Nell commented. “There’s a lot to get used to in White Crest. What do you mean a few things to top it, though?” Had trouble been finding Grace? “Well you can’t tell me not to worry about you after you just said that,” she finished with a brief chuckle. “But it’s true. I guess we have truth serum to thank.”

Despite its miseries, White Crest had brought things to Grace’s surface. She had begun to think about things more clearly, and though she had originally taken refuge in a new town for the sake of wanting quiet, it was anything but. She could blame herself, sure, but she had the means to leave, to disappear into the night. Did she want to, though? Maybe whatever White Crest had to offer was a little more interesting than Grace had originally thought. She was curious, that was for certain. Maybe a little naive, too, but Renee’s words in her head, just live! Just live, Grace! It was what kept her moving forward. Grace gave Nell a sideways smile and shrugged, “I mean, you live here too, I’m sure you can imagine.” Truthfully, whatever it was that she had gone through, she couldn’t imagine it to be too wild, what with the stories she had heard. “Do you know Connor?” Grace asked as she stepped over another wayward branch, “I ran into him after-- well, after I saw my old friend, the one I mentioned.” Grace wasn’t sure if she trusted Nell because of their first meeting, or because she felt nothing ominous from her. “We saw some stuff, it was…” Grace shrugged, “it’s definitely an eye opener, I can tell you that much.” Grace carded her fingers through her hair as they came to a smaller trail that looked like it led off of the main path. “Do you want to go that way?” Grace asked, curious.

At the mention of Connor, Nell tilted her head to the side in vague acknowledgement, not entirely sure if her one meeting with the exorcist counted as knowing him. “Yeah, I know him,” was what she settled on. Unconsciously, Nell slowed her walking, realizing the conversation might be about to take a rather serious turn. “Your friend…” she began tentatively. The one who had died? “The girl you mentioned when we were under the truth serum, right?” There was no need to rake over old wounds. “You saw her as a ghost?” There was no delicate way to put it, not with the world they lived in. Maybe it was best to say it outright and quickly, to rip the bandaid soundly off in one go. “Are you alright?” she asked as her follow up question, though she had a suspicion that the answer was no, regardless of what Grace might say. How would seeing your dead friend fall into the category of alright? Nell followed Grace’s question with her eyes, looking the trail over. It was one of the more secluded routes. Maybe the bigger and thicker trees would help Grace feel a little more sheltered. “Yeah, for sure.” It didn’t take long for things to change the further along the path the got, a thick fog quickly settling around them. Fog wasn’t an strange oddity in White Crest, but for it to have come on this quickly was possible cause for questioning. “Fog doesn’t usually come on that quick here…” Nell mused aloud, a frown tugging at the corners of her lips.

“Yeah, her.” Grace smoothed her fingers through her hair. She didn’t open up easily, and the majority of that had to do with her ability to figure out others’ emotions at the drop of a hat. It felt like cheating. She could see inside of them, but they couldn’t see into her. The truth serum had certainly helped pass that roadblock, and Grace couldn’t be sure if she was embarrassed or grateful for it. “Yeah, it was…” Grace forced out a laugh, “usually I’m all for a good scare, but--” She shrugged and cleared her throat. It suddenly felt thick. “I’m fine, but, you know it’s weird… she looked the same way when I identified her--” Grace’s sentence broke away as they stepped into thick fog. It pooled towards them quickly. Her eyebrows furrowed as she looked around. It was thick enough that if she weren’t standing directly next to Nell, she’d lose her line of sight. Grace tugged at the straps of her backpack nervously, tightening it against her. “Does this always happen?” Grace asked as she moved slightly closer to Nell. Just in case, she thought.

As Grace spoke, Nell’s brows drew together in the beginnings of concern, the emotion flickering alive inside her as it woke, sensing that there was a friend in need. “I mean good scares are fun. It’s just a little different when it’s someone you know.” She hadn’t seen Bea’s ghost when she’d been dead, though it wasn’t for lack of trying. However, she’d seen it all when Evan had formed along with the cursed coins all those months ago. Nell knew firsthand that seeing that was the opposite of fine. “They do that. Ghosts. Appear as they did when they died. I’m sorry you had to see it, though. Both when you identified her and when you saw her as the ghost again.” Nell’s selfish curiosity wanted to ask what it was that had happened, but managed to bite her tongue this time around. But the fog was growing far too thick to be anything normal, and a frown was quick to form on Nell’s lips, her not liking this in the least. She could barely see her hand in front of her face, and being blind to her surroundings did nothing for the seemingly ever-present paranoia that someone was out there...waiting to attack...just like Montgomery had. “No. It doesn’t.” As Grace shuffled closed, Nell reached down to grasp the empath’s hand in her own, both for comfort and practicality. As Nell squinted into the fog, she finally spotted them— a set of fins forming from seemingly nothing as a fish’s face greeted them no more than a foot away. “Oh shit, it’s one of those fucking foggy fish or whatever.

Grace hadn’t told anyone about Renee, nobody but Connor. For Nell to know, too-- albeit originally, without prompting due to the truth serum, Grace had become afraid. She had become afraid to form friendships, or any connection for that matter. She had come to White Crest with the intent of silence, of solitude. The life she had thought out for herself, however, was turning into something entirely different than what she had pictured. “It wasn’t really--” Grace looked up to the canopy of trees, she let Nell take a hold of her hand. She squeezed it tightly as she looked at the fish that began to surround them. “I haven’t actually,” Grace gasped out, “I haven’t seen any of them, I’ve heard of them, but--” Grace stared at the fish, eyes wide as it began to float closer to them. “What do we do?” She asked Nell as she gave her a quick glance.

Nell wasn’t sure how to approach the fog fish, electing to stay where she was and not make any sudden movements. For the most part, they seemed docile. “I…” It was rare that she wasn’t sure how to proceed with the supernatural, but this wasn’t something she’d seen in her entire life. “I don’t think it’s...aggressive.” As if in answer, one of the fish swam closer to nudge the pair of them gently with its nose, almost seeming curious. Nell tensed when it did, still not trusting the foggy fish as magic began to instinctively pool and gather in her stomach. “I don’t know what it wants?” Another of its fish friends came up to prod Grace with its strange nose. “If we just stay here, and stay still— maybe it’ll just go away?”

“You don’t think?” Grace asked, tone maybe a little too accusative. She cleared her throat. “Sorry, I’m just-- This isn’t normal.” She whispered. Grace winced as the fish floated closer to them, its mouth and what she figured was its nose coming to touch against their forearms. “If we just stay here?” She asked uneasily. She watched the fish as it watched them warily, its eyes blinking slowly-- or did it even have eyelids? She couldn’t tell. Grace bit the inside of her cheek as she cast a glance Nell’s way. “You’re way too calm for this, does this happen to you a lot?” She asked.

“I mean I don’t know for sure,” Nell replied, just the smallest bit defensive. “No, it’s fine.” She couldn’t expect Grace to take every weird thing White Crest threw at her in stride. That would be vastly unfair. “It’s not normal. Even by White Crest standards.” Of course White Crest had seemed particularly active ever since she’d returned. “We could try and leave if you want?” Something about the fish was almost hypnotizing, making Nell want to stay and learn more about them. “I mean- this specifically doesn’t happen to me. But a lot of weird shit...does. I also sort of sought it out for five years before I came home.” Somewhere in the distance, another fish formed, though this one looked a little different. Sharper and leaner.

“Good to know,” Grace shot back, a nervous smile pulling at the corners of her lips-- an involuntary reaction to the situation before them. She looked at the fish and did her best to avoid its eyes, as she was unsure of where to look. It looked sort of like the fish in her bowl at home, but with two eyes instead of one. “Do you think we can?” Grace asked under her breath, tugging the other girl alongside her, “they’re everywhere, aren’t they?” She had gone on the walk with Nell with no other intention other than stress relief, but it didn’t seem as though the Fog Fish were going to allow that, not now, at least. She blinked at them, disbelief settling on her features when another two fish formed behind the newest. “Maybe we should go?” Grace asked, a little more urgent as she pulled Nell backwards, down the path that the two had made their ways up.

“Unclear,” Nell replied on the subject of whether or not the fish would allow them to pass. “I guess there’s only one way to find out, though,” she said as she too took a step back up the path they’d come. For a moment she hesitated, curiosity momentarily getting the better of her as the cloudy fish continued to sail the gentle breeze of the forest. The way they moved was nearly mesmerizing, and Nell wanted to know just what it was they were. The fish began to part, the fog once again gathering thickly around their pod as another fish began to form. This one was sharper, leaner, and apparently meaner as it moved aggressively towards the pair of girls, a overbite of sharp teeth somehow glinting in the lowlight. “Okay- definitely time to go!” Nell grabbed onto Grace’s hand once again in an effort to tug her along the trail, steps quickening into a run as the enormous barracuda gave chase. Standing to fight was Nell’s general instinct when it came to hostile parties, but it was glaringly apparent that fighting fog wasn’t going to be all the fruitful.

Grace arched a brow, “you’re not going to go pet it, are you?” She wouldn’t put it past Nell to do so, and then again, maybe Grace would too, but these were floating fish in the air surrounding them, fog following their tails. Grace’s attention was diverted to the mass of fog that hovered over the hoard of fish, and only when she saw the fish with the overbite head their way did Grace hear the fear in Nell’s voice. Finally, she thought. Grace let Nell guide her down the pathway from where they had come. “Do you think it can actually hurt us?” Grace yelled out as they ran, tossing a cautionary glance over her shoulder as they avoided branches and low hanging limbs from trees. The last thing she wanted to do was be eaten by a fog fish. Grace rarely ran, and her breath was already running ragged. “I don’t want to get eaten,” She whined out as they ran. The clearing was just ahead-- they hadn’t gotten very far, lucky enough for them. As soon as they broke from the fog of the woods, the sun kissed the crowns of their heads and Grace twisted around to look at the fog as it began to dissipate. “So it was just territorial. Cool.”

The fish was hot on their trail as the gled through the forest, and Nell swore she could feel some sort of ghoul-ish breeze pass over the nape of her neck when it gnashed its teeth together a little too close for comfort. But as the crisp sun beat down on their skin, Nell turned to see that Grace had been correct. The fish was gone as quickly as it had appeared. “What the hell?” Nell asked no one in particular. It wasn’t all that often she came across a creature she couldn’t even begin to identify, but this was definitely something new for the catalogue. “Maybe it can’t leave the fog?” she pondered aloud. “Since it’s made up of it?” Either way, it was probably for the best that the thing was gone— even if she was a little too curious about the foggy fish. Turning back to Grace, she gave the girl a once over in an attempt to make sure her friend had escaped unscathed. Once she was satisfied with that she simply said, “Do you think it would make good fish sticks?”

“I don’t know,” Grace whispered, her heart thudding. She glanced towards Nell, “maybe?” She squinted into the fog, barely able to make out any other floating figures past them. “That’s…” Grace tugged on Nell’s hand, “we should go before we figure out if it can, right?” She let out a nervous laugh as she tried to guide Nell back towards where they had come from. “Fish sticks? I mean, probably not. I don’t think it has any substance.” Grace ran a shaky hand through her hair as she stepped over another fallen branch. She hadn’t expected today to turn into running away from a fog fish, or a few, but anything was possible in White Crest, she was seeming to notice. Grace took a deep breath, “at least we didn’t get hurt.” Grace laughed uneasily, finally letting go of Nell’s hand as they broke through the brush, back towards the open space.

Despite Nell’s curiosity about the fish, she followed after Grace. Had she been along, she might have ventured back to explore further, but she wasn’t willing to potentially risk her friend’s safety. Of course...she could always come back later. “That’s what tartar sauce is for, then,” she quipped back playfully. “Of course we’d need a big container of it. Maybe just fill a pool and dunk the whole fish in.” Once they were out of the woods, Nell continued down the path towards town. “You know...I think I just made myself hungry.” And even if she wasn’t, Nell was always down for a good meal. “Let’s swing by Al’s and see if fish is on the menu today,” she laughed with Grace, apparently already recovered from their near brush with the strange creature. No doubt Grace would develop the skill as well once White Crest really got its hands on her. People always adjusted to the town one way or another.

#wickedswriting #ch:grace #fish bites #chatzy

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nelllraiser · 4 years ago

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when life gives you lemons | grace & nell

LOCATION: grace’s apartment. PARTIES: @nelllraiser and @silveraccent SUMMARY: nell arrives at grace’s with a house warming meal! unfortunately navigating a witch’s kitchen can be tricky with all sorts of things lying about. grace shares a little more than she intends, as does nell. CONTENT: drug manipulation (accidental), mentions of death

Finding out that Grace lived in the same building as Blanche could only mean one thing. Nell was practically obligated to bring the girl food and essentially force her to be friends with herself and the blonde. She’d never been all that great at making friends, but her sudden uptake of them since coming back to White Crest gave her something of a confident boost, even if a couple of those friendships had hit rocky waters. But she didn’t want to think about that right now. Instead, she focused on the warmth under her fingers that came from the hünkâr beğendi that was fresh from the kitchen, magically warmed all the way over to the complex. It was essentially an eggplant puree with spiced and sauteed lamb cubes to top it, and as always— it was her grandmother’s recipe. As Nell raised her hand to knock on the door, the fleeting thought that this was the most normal thing she’d done in a while crossed her mind, and excitement began to fill her, the edges of it tinged with anticipation at meeting a new person.

Grace had been spending the majority of her time, if not at work training with Regan, at home alone. The scent of sandalwood hung in the air-- a mistake made by lighting a candle for too long. After having doused the flame, she busied herself with getting her things ready for the following day, not wanting to be late to work and giving Regan an excuse to be disappointed in her. It had taken her a few moments to get everything organized and set aside, laundry included, and just as she was about to collapse into her bed with her laptop, somebody had knocked on her door. Confusion and curiosity colored Grace’s features. She hadn’t met anybody who would feel the need to come over, aside from Blanche, and that had been a calm and quiet conversation in the hallway. Grace shoved herself off of her bed, wandering to the door. The face on the other side is a face that Grace hadn’t recognized through the peephole, and even after the door is open, Grace is still finding the girl hard to place. “Hello?” She said warily, not sure if she had the wrong apartment or not. “Can I help you?”

Oh shit. Nell had forgotten to actually tell Grace that she was coming over hadn’t she? She was pretty sure she’d mentioned something online about meeting up and having food after finding out that she was Blanche’s neighbor, but perhaps she hadn’t actually asked. Or maybe she’d just assumed. Well— too late now. The brief flicker of uncertainty that wavered in her was quickly replaced by sheer refusal to acknowledge it, rolling with the punches as it were as Nell swiftly recovered, presenting the dish of food. “Shit, sorry. I now realize you didn’t actually say I could come by but...I did bring food. Sort of like an apartment-warming gift or whatever.” Oh, she’d also forgotten to say who the hell she even was. “I’m Nell. We were talking about whales and eating people.” Hmm, maybe she should work on her first conversations with people. But that was in the past now. “This...is pretty creepy, isn’t it?” she asked with a bit of an uncertain chuckle.

The confusion on Grace’s face quickly morphs into understanding as the woman explained herself. Oh, of course! She had been bad with faces all of her life, and the icons were small on the forum, so could she truly be blamed? “Oh, shit! Yeah, sorry.” Grace could feel the nerves rolling off of Nell, and in turn, she began to feel them, too. Her words had been genuine, however, Grace could tell that much. Stepping aside, Grace allowed Nell to walk in. Letting the door close, Grace was quick to kick aside the shoes at the front door, not having wanted her to trip over them. “It’s not creepy, no, sorry--” Grace laughed, “Things have been… a bit wild, sorry-- I just, well you know I just moved here, so…” Finally, Grace took further notice of the pan in Nell’s hands, “Oh, let me get that for you!” Grabbing it, she retreated to the small kitchen that was just adjacent from her bed. There was enough room between her bed and the kitchen to separate themselves as two entirely different spaces, but it had still felt small. Beggars can’t be choosers, Grace reminded herself. “I’m Grace, Grace Huang, but I guess you already knew that, but--” Grace stuck a hand out to Nell, “nice to meet you, and over man-eating whales, no less.”

As Grace seemed to accept Nell’s presence without question, the witch’s nerves settled, replaced with a general sense of being at ease, though the eagerness to get to know the girl in front of her was still present. “No, you’re good! I literally just showed up to your apartment like a freak so- you definitely don’t have to apologize.” Thankfully, it looked like Grace was more than willing to welcome her in, so it looked like she didn’t quite have to worry about that any longer. “No, I mean that makes sense! Moving around can be a lot.” She’d done it herself for five years straight, though she’d enjoyed the picking up and going off to somewhere new, always on to another adventure. “I’m glad it’s not creepy, though,” she finished with a more comfortable laugh. Handing the pan over, she quickly explained, “It’s hünkâr beğendi! Sort of like...eggplant mashed potatoes with meat on top. People call it sultan’s delight here so I figured as long as you’re not anything higher than a sultan you might like it. Hopefully you’re not some secret goddess or something. Then I’m screwed.” Her smile was quick to greet Grace as their conversation continued on. “I’m Nell Vural, but it’s nice to officially meet you without the risk of whales devouring us,” she finished as she shook the offered hand.

Grace had been aware of the fact that she was a walking contradiction. She had faced that fact, spoken by her grandmother multiple times. She could say she wanted one thing, only to show that what she truly wanted was something entirely different. It had shown now in the way that she let Nell into her apartment without question. She couldn’t just work her life away, otherwise she’d end up to be what Regan was, and while Grace was sure that the woman was kind on the outside, the last thing she wanted to be was boring. “No, I’m not a goddess,” Grace laughed. She hadn’t ever heard of the food that Nell mentioned, “I’ve never had it, so I’m sure it’ll be great, I mean, you made it and brought it here, so thanks.” Grace dropped her hand after Nell had shaken it. So Regan had been a one-off, Grace could read Nell like a book. She seemed to be excited about meeting somebody new, and instead of fighting it, Grace mirrored it. She’d deal with the exhaustion later. “Yeah, for sure! Thanks so much for coming over, sorry about-- I forgot.” She laughed again, wandering over to the counter where she had set the food down. “Do you want to join me for dinner? I haven’t eaten yet, so.. If you haven’t either, the more the merrier?”

“Are you sure you aren’t?” Nell teased, perhaps flirting a bit. After all, flattery was never a bad thing, right? Especially when meeting new people. And it wasn’t like Grace wasn’t pretty. Quite the opposite. “I’m glad it can be something new, then.” Her tone was as welcoming as it had been to begin with, but Nell was also beginning to remember why she wasn’t the best at small talk. How did people get by like this? Nevertheless, she waved a hand in Grace’s direction, dismissing the girl’s apology once again. “Don’t worry about it. I genuinely don’t remember if I even told you I was coming. Also, you really don’t have to keep apologizing.” She tried not to linger on the thought of whether or not Grace often let herself take fault for things, deciding that was a bit too heavy of a consideration for having just met the girl. “Are you sure, though? I mean...I never say no to eating.” Nell looked around the kitchen, as if trying to see how she might help with getting the meal ready.

Grace hadn’t quite picked up on Nell’s flirting, and if it hadn’t been for the sudden shift from Nell-- something short of playfulness, Grace wouldn’t have picked up on it at all. “If I were, I’d probably be the goddess of tripping over my own two feet,” she laughed. It had been awhile since her apartment had been filled with laughter-- save for when she had been rewatching The Office for the 50th time. “It’s a habit,” Grace said over the noise of the plates shifting against one another as she set them on the counter. “No, totally, please.” Grace peeled back the tin foil from the pan and marveled at the dish. “I’m excited to try this, I’m sure it’s going to be great.” Grabbing a spatula, before she began to spoon out portions, she laughed again, “some would say we’re moving too fast.” She grinned at her new-proclaimed friend, riding the high from Nell’s elation. God, she was going to pay for this later, Grace thought as she portioned out the hünkâr beğendi. Grabbing both of the plates, Grace set them down and turned towards the fridge, “What would you like to drink? I have water or lemonade?”

Huh. Nell wasn’t entirely certain if Grace had noticed the flirtation or not, or if this was her way of politely denying it. Perhaps just one more little one to try and get a read? “Well, I’m sure you’d look cute doing that, too— tripping and all.” It was so frustrating flirting with girls sometimes, half the time they had no idea it was happening simply because of how women often tended to compliment one another. Though...Nell supposed that was somewhat of a good thing. As someone who probably should apologize more rather than less, Nell couldn’t entirely understand the habit of saying sorry. Wait, was Grace flirting now? Why were girls so confusing? Boys were easy, why couldn’t women be the same? “I mean, I don’t think that’s always a bad thing to move too fast,” she replied with ease, the words smooth as they left her. But the cooking was a rather big distraction from her flirt game. Accepting the plate, Nell’s emotions soared in what might have been an embarrassing amount if she knew the other girl was an empath,as they did every time she was presented with food. “I’m good with whatever you’re having!”

Grace could feel the blush that had risen to her cheeks. Was that her, or was that Nell? It was hard to tell. This was why she had come to White Crest. Wait-- not to flirt with pretty girls, but for the quiet-- God it was hard to focus on the food in front of her, rather than the words that continued to leave Nell. Instead, Grace flashed another smile, eager to please. “You think so?” Grace grabbed the silverware, and two glasses of water, before returning to her seat. Dividing the silverware between them, she took a seat. Nell was loud. Louder than anybody she had met in White Crest. Why was that? Grace bit down onto the inside of her cheek, forcing herself to stay grounded. “Thank you for the meal,” Grace said before diving her fork into the food. The first bite had taken Grace by surprise. She hadn’t expected the food to be bad, but she hadn’t expected it to be as good as it was. “Oh, this is tasty!” Grace said, covering her mouth as she spoke.

Okay, was the blush a good or bad blush? Nell mused over the pinkess of Grace’s face for a minute, trying to decide whether or not to continue the onslaught of flirtation. Nevertheless, Grace asked about Nell’s thoughts on the matter so...that was an invitation, right? “Oh, definitely. I don’t think there’s much you could do without being cute.” That was a bit more of a heavy hitter, and Nell waited somewhat impatiently to watch Grace’s reaction carefully. “Thanks for accepting me into your home when this was essentially a surprise,” Nell said before diving into her own meal in a way that spoke to just how ready she was to devour it. A little sprig of pride sprouted in her along with a flash of joy as Grace praised the food. “Yeah? I’m glad you like it!” It did taste good to Nell, even if something about it seemed a little...different than when she usually made it. Was it missing a bit of lemon juice? But that was impossible, she remembered reaching for it and adding it in. Unless...she’d accidentally reached for the wrong thing.

Grace looked at Nell over her plate, and she could feel the rouge deepen on her cheeks. What was going on? By now, it was hard for Grace to tell if what she had been feeling were her own emotions, or if they were the emotions of the girl sitting across from her. She was sure once she left, she would be able to pinpoint it. Grace didn’t have the energy to fight it, and so she succumbed. Was she really already being run ragged? To be fair, she had made it a point in staying away from people, especially because her own emotions had already been all over the place. “There’s probably something, but I won’t bother trying to find it.” She said after a moment, picking up her napkin to wipe at the corner of her mouth. “It’s really good, thank you. I was probably just going to eat microwave mac ‘n cheese again.” Grace took another bite, then realizing, what was the last vegetable you ate, Grace? As time went on, Grace found herself falling into conversation with Nell easily, something that hadn’t happened in awhile. Though, had she really tried? Glancing down at her empty plate, she leaned back, “I’m so full, I don’t think I’ll be able to eat anything for a week.” she said as she combed her fingers through her hair. “You know,” Grace wiped her mouth with her napkin, “You’re probably the prettiest girl I’ve seen since moving here.” Wait, what?

Nell left the playful flirtation to itself for a moment as Grace’s reply didn’t seem to sway either way on the spectrum of whether she was welcoming to it or not. “Well let me know if you do. I’ll be very surprised.” Okay, maybe not entirely done. That comment was harmless enough, though. A gentle frown came over her lips as Grace mentioned the microwave meal, as if she were disappointed in the girl, though it was meant in good fun. “Well, I’m glad that I could come by, then. Even if the best part of mac and cheese is the way it gets all toasty on the edges.” As she scraped the last of her plate clean, Nell leaned forward in the slightest, a flash of surprise glinting across her as Grace seemed to unabashedly continue down the road of flattery. But she quickly tried to cover it with the beginnings of a smirk. “You know how to make a girl feel special, don’t you?” she replied with a tease. “You know I didn’t plan on coming over and here and flirting but that sort of changed when I saw you.” Hold on. That hadn’t been something she meant to say. It had felt like the words just sprung from her unbidden...even if they were the truth.

Grace blinked up at Nell. What had she just said? She didn’t know this girl, so why was she expressing herself like that? Confusion altered Grace’s features, but it flitted away as soon as it had come. Nell’s words had caught her off guard, but instead of ignoring them like she usually would have, Grace nodded, “No, not at all actually. I have no idea how to flirt, but I think you were flirting with me? I’m not sure, that’s what I felt from you.” Grace clasped a hand over her mouth. What the fuck? She grabbed her glass of water and finished it. Why was she so hot all of a sudden? Grace reached up to fan herself with the collar of her shirt. By now, it had been impossible to hide the embarrassment. What in the world was she doing? Before she was able to stop herself, she spoke, “I just moved here, and you’re like, the first person I can feel things from-- not in a Gay way, but in a emotion way, is that weird?” Grace’s eyebrows pulled together in confusion. Had she just outed herself not only as Gay, but as an Empath, too? “Wait, I didn’t mean that-- no, wait, I totally did.”

Nell’s lips turned into the slightest of frowns as Grace began to babble. Was the other girl nervous now? Had Nell accidentally made her nervous? What did she mean about feeling, though? “What you felt from me?” she said, latching onto that word. Maybe Grace just meant like...her general vibes or something. “But yeah, I was definitely flirting.” Oh. Okay, apparently the words were just gonna keep coming whether she wanted them too or not. “I mean the gay way is a great way,” Nell answered relexively before once again feeling confusion color her. “Emotion way? I’m confused, what do you mean? Cause I mean that could sound pretty gay to some people,” she tried to joke, uncertain as to what the hell was happening. “You didn’t mean the gay thing or the emotion thing?” All she could do was feel hopelessly lost while asking questions.

Grace stared at Nell, not sure what was happening. Why were her thoughts splitting from between poised lips before she could stop them? “Feeling? Like, I can feel, you-- not you, your thoughts, wait, not that..” Grace’s eyebrows pulled together, now in frustration. “Emotions? I can feel what you’re feeling.” She had just outed herself as an Empath. Great. Maybe Nell wouldn’t believe her, think she was talking nonsense. Though, what was happening to her? “And the gay thing? Yeah, I mean, I meant the flirting in the Gay way, but the emotion thing, that’s real too.” Grace bit down on her lip. Could she just stop talking now? She swallowed nervously, picking up her empty glass of water. The emotions that Nell had been feeling were a mix of confusion and nervousness, which hadn’t been making it any easier on Grace to get herself together. “Do you have any idea what’s going on?” Grace asked her, making eye contact.

Grace could feel what Nell was feeling? “Like an empath?!” she blurted out, that same tidal wave of excitement overtaking her as she realized Grace might know about the supernatural. “Really? That’s awesome! I’ve actually only met a couple, but that’s cool!” That would have been a great place to end that sentence, but instead her mouth seemed to keep going, any sort of filter she might have had suddenly disappearing. “I’m not normal, either! A witch!” Okay. Maybe it was time to reevaluate what the hell was going on. “I...did not mean to say that. But the gay way is a great way. I’m the bi way.” Jesus, was she ever going to stop talking? Nell was more disturbed than anything that all this seemed to be happening, and a prickle of anger began to make itself known, though it wasn’t directed towards anyone in particular, moreso at the general situation. She didn’t like feeling out of control in this particular way. “Well- all I know is I can’t seem to stop talking, and I can’t fucking lie so that’s-” Her sentence stopped fractured off, realization creeping over her. “Oh shit.”

“How did you know that word?” It was often thrown around, people saying that they felt empathetic towards a situation-- with her, when Renee had died. It had always gotten on her nerves, because nobody aside from her Grandmother had known what it felt like. Grace winced at the sudden shift from confusion to excitement, and like before, she didn’t bother to fight it-- whatever was happening now, Grace had not been able to counterbalance what it was Nell was feeling. “A couple?” Grace said, stare blank. Was it normal? She hadn’t thought she was special, not by a landslide, but she certainly hadn’t met more people like her outside of her own family. “A wi--” Grace gripped the edge of the table. “Witch?” Grace laughed, confused. She stared at Nell and waited for her to continue her sentence. “I can’t either, and I don’t think anything is wrong with my water? The heater shouldn’t be on,” Grace started to get up. Just then, she remembered, “what did you say about being a witch?” Nell had to be lying, right? The anger that had flared in Nell nipped at Grace’s heels. “Can you try to relax?” Grace asked, something she would have never had the gaul to. “Sorry, I just-- I can’t focus when you’re flip flopping like that.” Not that she could focus anyways, this girl’s energy was off the charts.

“Because I know supernatural stuff!” Nell exclaimed with the same level of eagerness she’d had before. “Yeah! I traveled a lot to like- help with supernatural things and stuff, so I met lots of people! And a couple were empaths!” As Grace asked for her to calm, Nell reflexively apologized. “Sorry- I didn’t think- well I mean I didn’t know. That makes sense, though.” Nell was certainly not one to police her emotions. In response, she did her best to calm herself, though an underlying current of curiosity tinged with confusion was still present. Was there maybe some way Grace could...protect herself from emotions? But looking at Grace’s grip on the table, a prickle of dread made itself known in her gut. Was she afraid of witches? “Yeah like- magic and all that. But I’m not a bad-” The sentence cut off of its own accord as the truth serum flexed its strength. If she were telling the truth, Nell wasn’t sure what she was anymore in the realm of good or bad. “I’m not a witch who would hurt you.” There. That worked. “Most don’t.” As for things being wrong. “I might have...mixed up my ingredients now that I think about it. I think one of my sisters might have left the truth serum next to the lemon juice.” Guilt was the next thing to wash through her, though she quickly tried to find a way to dull it. How did one quiet their emotions? “I’m so sorry, though. I didn’t mean to.”

Grace’s eyebrows pulled together-- she was going to form a mass of wrinkles at this point. “Supernatural stuff? That isn’t real” She said, the word sounding off as it left her. She, of course, knew all about the supernatural, but it was contained to television shows and books, not real life. She had been told that her gift as an Empath was a blessing, not something supernatural. She thought she had been a one-off, or, rather, one of many-- some kind of miracle. Grace still wasn’t quite sure what was happening, and she wasn’t sure if she would ever quite understand. Nell was talking about witches, and how she was a witch. How did that make sense? Grace had recalled moments that her Grandmother had gotten their cards read, but she hadn’t ever believed in any of it. Grace couldn’t help but tell the truth every time she spoke, but who was to say that Nell wasn’t pretending? Grace glanced up at Nell again, her expression challenging, “thanks, that’s.. A little bit better.” Straightening up, Grace was finally able to feel a bit of clarity, even if it was muddled in things she didn’t quite understand-- perhaps Nell’s confusion, too, molding with her own. “Tell me something you wouldn’t tell anyone else, then, so I know you aren’t lying that you’re like this, like me too, right now.” Grace felt the worry leak into her words, and she hated herself for it-- hated that she was scared. What was happening to her, and who was this girl?

Oh. Oh no. Rather quickly, Nell came to the retaliation that Grace apparently didn’t know anything other than herself when it came to supernatural things. However, it seemed the truth serum had no interest in letting her go about this gently. “No, it’s real! Or well- I guess supernatural is kinda a funny word for it but like- most of the stuff people think is fake is real! Witches included!” Fuck this truth serum right up the ass. That was Nell’s general take on the situation as her annoyance returned, though she tried to remind herself to keep it muted or whatever it was Grace had asked for. She still wasn’t entirely sure how to do that effectively, though. The other girl’s demand caught Nell off guard, and the words were already leaving her lips before she could even think about trying to restrain them. “I’m pretty convinced all my friends are gonna get tired of me at some point, and just not wanna be friends. It’s always just a matter of time. Honestly it might be for the better, though. All I do is get them hurt or hurt them myself.” Instant horror flooded her as the admission was out, self-consciousness gripping her in its clutches as she wished there was some way to get them back. Trying to distract from what she’d said, she quickly asked Grace, “Alright, now your turn to tell me. You shouldn’t have asked me that without warning.”

Still, Grace didn’t believe Nell. She didn’t have a reason to believe her. She had just met her, after all. And now? This was happening, whatever this was. It still confused Grace, leaving her mind to run a mile a minute, to try and piece together every single logical reason that this could be happening. Grace watched Nell in silence, not sure if she wanted to keep opening her mouth, because if she did, what would come out? Grace knew it was a longshot, getting the truth out of Nell, and she could easily lie-- after all, she didn’t know her. It had been stupid to even suggest it as a test, but when Nell speaks, Grace’s jaw slackened. It could be a lie, still, Grace didn’t know what to believe, but her words dug into her heart, as if she could understand and the emotion that Nell felt after speaking those words, they seemed real enough. Grace opened her mouth to speak, but shut it, not knowing exactly what to say. The embarrassment and anxiety that Nell had been feeling was beginning to leak into Grace, and when Nell asked her the same question in return, Grace felt the dread take home in her heart. “I--” Grace began, knuckles turned pale against the table as she gripped it, “I could have saved my best friend, I think-- I felt her die, I felt her die and I didn’t stop it, I felt her, she was scared.” Grace’s voice broke and she reached up to cover her mouth, eyes widening in response to her own words. “What the fuck.”

Nell waited not so patiently for Grace to answer the question, ready to hear whatever it was Grace had to offer, and gloss over what she’d just let loose from her own lips against her will. But she still wasn’t prepared for what Grace said next. Shit. Sympathy filled her, wanting to reach out to Grace. It was mixed with her own flash of pain as she thought of what it had been like to watch her sister die. “I-” Nell hesitated, unsure what to say at a time like this. Was it wrong to comfort someone over something they probably didn’t actually want to admit to? “Did you want to...talk about it?” It was the best she could do. She’d never been the best at dealing with emotional situations, and this was the only thing she could think to say when she was taken by surprise. “Shit, I’m sorry. I should have realized that it wasn’t the fucking lemon. Or taste tested it or something.”

Whatever was happening, Grace hated it. Hated the way that it brought sympathy to Nell’s gaze, hated the way that it filled Grace with her own sense of sympathy, not for herself, but for Nell, because she could feel a wave of fear and discomfort roll over her. “No, I don’t want to talk about it.” At least she could prove now that when somebody asked her what was wrong, she didn’t want to talk about it, and she wasn’t trying to save face. “It was a long time ago,” Grace said quietly, her gaze now leveled with Nell’s. She wasn’t sure what to do or say now, because while it may not have been a secret, it was something painful to Grace’s history that made her who she was today. She looked at Nell, “what do you mean you thought it was lemon?” She wasn’t sure what she was getting at. The pain from her confession still rolled deep in the pit of her belly making it hard to concentrate on anything else. “What’s going on?” Grace asked, confusion further coloring her tone.

“Alright then,” Nell replied patiently, knowing better than to push. When people had tried to make her talk after Bea’s death, and she hadn’t wanted to, she’d been more likely to offer them her fist than her words. By now she’d learned that forcing things out of people was rarely effective, even if she still tried it every now and then. But this wasn’t one of those times. Still, she chewed on the inside of her lip, toying with the thought of saying one last thing on the matter. “Just cause it was a long time ago doesn’t mean it doesn’t still fuck you up.” Maybe she could have said that more gracefully, but it didn’t seem that there was room in the truth serum for that. “The truth serum,” Nell repeated the words from earlier. “It just...makes it so you can’t lie. I accidentally switched it with the lemon juice ingredient in the food.” Certainly this was all a bit much for Grace, though. Especially if she’d only known about empaths before this moment when it came to the world of the supernatural. “Okay so...this is probably a lot. Sorry I sort of just blurted everything out. The truth serum makes it kinda hard not to, though. But if we just chill for like...two seconds, I can explain everything.” Perhaps this would be a longer dinner than she’d anticipated.

Grace hadn’t expected that when she opened the door, she’d be faced with recalling Renee’s death. She didn’t think she’d be forced to say it, either. Though, there she was, sitting across from a girl she had just met, laying her past out before her. It had to be true, what Nell said then, that there was truth serum. “I thought that shit was locked behind the doors of the CIA, or some other weird ass organization,” Grace admitted. Maybe her own conspiracy theories would come to light, too. “I thought it was fake, but--” Grace carded her fingers through her hair. She wasn’t sure what was going on, or if she could believe her, but why else would Grace willingly let her secrets fly? “I--” Grace looked at Nell, and it did seem like she had sincerity in her, and wouldn’t it make sense that if it were a truth serum, and that she had eaten it too, she’d have to tell the truth? Grace wasn’t sure if she could believe her, but instead of fighting it, she shrugged, “fine, yeah, go ahead.”

#drug manipulation tw #ch:grace #chatzy #when life gives you lemons #wickedswriting

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