#chatzy: felix

[mayihaveyournameplease]

TIMING: current LOCATION: The Grit Pit PARTIES: @mayihaveyournameplease & @recoveringdreamer SUMMARY: beau decides to scam the system. felix is the system. CONTENT WARNINGS: None! They are best friends. Nothing could ever go wrong.

Gambling was a problem Beau had struggled with for the entirety of his life. There was an unearned air of arrogance about him at all times. Other than his ability to twist words into shapes they’d never meant to encompass, Beau could do nothing else to maintain hold over his gambling. And yet, when a fellow fae whispers sweet words of a fight pit where he could bet for names, Beau found his interest piqued. 

It hadn’t been a hard place to find, it hadn’t taken him long to watch his first fight. It had, however, surprised him to see a familiar cat, one that he’d wanted to keep forever until it'd betrayed him. No scars remained from that interaction, except for the one slashed across his heart. Beau shot to his feet, racing down the stairs and into rooms out of bounds to track down his “friend” after the fight. It took awhile to navigate the unfamiliar maze but finally he saw the back of the person who had hurt him. “Well, well, well. If it isn’t my favorite little cat.” His signature smile was plastered to his face, but it was hard to keep the scorn off his tongue. “Imagine my surprise finding you here.” 

—

It was one of those nights where Felix had fight after fight scheduled with few moments to rest in between. They were already exhausted as they finished up one against some undead something or another that they could only identify in the vaguest sense due to its lack of heartbeat. It was a warmup fight, not meant to really draw a crowd. Felix was given permission to end it quickly, and they had. Not so fast that no one was entertained, but not so slow that it drained him. After all, there were more fights scheduled for later.

For now, though, the balam made their way down to the rest area for fighters who were between matches. They sat a little ways away from their colleagues, not particularly feeling like conversation for the moment. A nervous energy thrummed through them as they waited, eyes periodically darting to the clock. They were distracted enough not to spot the familiar figure entering, not to notice his presence at all until his voice sounded through the small space. Felix jumped a little, nervous without really knowing why as their eyes found Beau. They slid a small smile onto their face, offering him an uncertain wave. “Oh. Uh, hi, Beau. I didn’t — I didn’t know you… came here.” Anxiety clenched in their chest. Beau was still so mad at them because of the jaguar’s attack. Seeing Felix in the ring must make it worse, right? Their violence on full display… Shame ached in their chest. “Yeah. I, um… I work here.” 

—

Ideas flitted around Beau’s mind faster than neurons could capture them. He could cheat. A rarity given the way fae magic wound itself so deeply around faes. He could regain a fraction of the names he had lost. Of course, that would only be in number. The real names he had lost, including his own true name, were still hoarded by that disgustingly handsome man Elijah. Who had cheated to get them. At least it was his turn to cheat. His turn for something good to happen. That’s what kept the smile plastered on his face, his cheekbones pulling apart like a predator, slowly and without remorse. ‘First time here.”Beau explained, casually leaning his small frame against the wall because he had seen a cool man do it in the movie, and he wanted so desperately to be the cool guy. In a hall surrounded by rough and ragged fighters, he could be the cool guy, right?

The scent of lavender fabric softener wafted off Beau’s freshly pressed cardigan as he spoke. “It's been awhile since we’ve been face to face.” Nightmares of the jugar’s claws digging into his chest sometimes woke him up at night, the pain searing in memory. “But like I said before, I’m a good guy. I’m your friend. And I do forgive you. I just needed some time, some space. You know how it goes, for me to be a good friend. But now, look at me! I’m happy to see you. See how big my smile is?” His cheeks burned with the size and effort it took to maintain his smile. “Now as a good friend, I was hoping you’d do me a favor.” Beau lowered his voice, leaning in, eyes shifting up and down the rows to make sure no one was paying attention. “Throw your next fight.”

—

Things still felt so awkward with Beau. It was Felix’s fault, of course. Even if they’d never meant to attack their friend, they’d still done it. Their claws had ripped through his skin, left him bleeding and hurt, and intention didn’t really matter when it came to a breach of trust that big. Beau had been the one to get hurt and Felix had been the one to do the hurting. It was as terribly simple as that. The fact that Beau was willing to forgive them after that showed just how lucky Felix was to have him as a friend to begin with.

“It — I mean, it’s okay. If you, uh… If you don’t. I know I really messed up.” They could still feel Beau’s blood on their hands, sticky and thick. You never forgot a thing like that, not entirely; it stuck with you long after you’d washed the physical remains of it away. “But I am happy to see you! Uh, even if — I don’t know if this is a good place for you. For anyone.” That was the reason for the unease curling in his chest, right? Beau was here, and he shouldn’t be because it was dangerous. Because people got hurt here. That must have been why Felix felt so uncomfortable in his presence. At Beau’s request, however, the discomfort spread, and Felix’s smile fell. “I — Beau, I can’t do that. I’m not… Not allowed.”

—

“You did really mess up.” Beau agreed to their words easily, flippantly, because to Beau it was obvious how badly Felix had fucked up. It was gospel truth that hurting him had been in error. There was no self reflection on the situation that both of them had found themselves in there, and why a jugar had been out in the middle of Wicked’s Rest, because that wasn’t about Beau. Blood dripping down his chest and a hot white pain was what mattered. And then Felix was telling Beau that they couldn’t do this for them. After all they had done for Beau, they couldn’t do one single little favor. 

The corners of Beau’s smile faltered as he tried to keep back the ever present seething rage. How hard was it to follow a simple plan. “You can.” Beau told them. “You will.” Beau continued.. There was a fae bind wrapped around Felix, one that meant Felix would do whatever Beau asked them to. It was a shame he had to tug on that magic to make it happen. Weren’t friends supposed to help friends? “You will do this, I need you to do this. Throw the fight Felix. I want you to. I need you to. You’re going to.” As easy as that, the fae magic should take hold. “I’m betting big on this. Don’t let me down.” He reached out, a finger pressing lightly against the tip of Felix’s nose before moving away. “Well this was a very good talk, don’t you think?” 

—

The anxiety in their chest only intensified as the faintest anger spread itself across Beau’s face. It wasn’t entirely fair to Beau, they knew, but Felix never dealt well with anger being expressed towards them. Even when it was earned, even when they so sorely deserved it. It always took them back to a kid walking on eggshells under their father’s roof, or to those moments with Leo when things snapped from perfect to terrifying in a split second action. Instinctively, Felix curled in on themself a little, pulling themself away from Beau without thinking. As if they hadn’t been the one to hurt him before, as if he didn’t doubtlessly bear the scars their claws had carved into his skin. 

Then, Beau was speaking again. He was insisting. And there was — there was a feeling. Deep in Felix’s gut, like a knot tightening. Their options dwindled as, unbeknownst to them, two binds fought against one another. There was nothing concrete in the Pit’s contract that prevented them from throwing a match. After all, part of the full control the Pit liked to have meant that they needed to have the ability to decide who would win a match when the money started to roll in. It was about profits, at the end of the day. But there was an unspoken sort of rule that you weren’t supposed to throw a match unless someone with the Pit’s management team told you to. Not for friends, not for your own profit. Nausea tugged at Felix’s stomach, his whole body aching like he’d come down with a bad case of the flu. Without knowing about the bind Beau had put on them, they figured it was guilt. They still felt bad for hurting their friend, they wanted to make it up to him. That was all it could be, in Felix’s mind. They couldn’t fathom that Beau would tie them up in a bind. He was their friend. He was human, as far as they knew. It was guilt. It was just the guilt.

Beau’s finger pressed against their nose, and Felix flinched without meaning to. “Wait,” he said as Beau moved away. “Please, I — I can make it up to you another way. They’ll hurt me, Beau. Please don’t ask me to do this.”

—

A laugh escaped from Beau. At first light, a butterfly fluttering around, but quickly transformed into something obscene and loud. “Make it up to me?” The smile was real, but only because this was funny. Comedy in its truest form. “What could you, Felix, the little kitty who doesn’t even know how to fill out a driver license form do to make it up to me?” The words were a hiss, a whisper pressed sharply through his smile. He didn’t need anyone else in this hall to hear him, even if some of them had turned their pathetic eyes on them during his laughter. “They’ll hurt you the way you hurt me.” Beau’s finger slid off Felix’s nose, his hand moving to cup Felix’s cheek. A forced look of kindness and understanding on his features. “Don’t you think that’s fair?” Beau asked, his voice switching to one of the most reasonable man alive. Beau let his hand drop to the side. “Now, this was a very good talk. I’m so very glad we understand each other. I love that about our friendship, we’re going to go far together. On even ground as even friends.” 

—

The harshness of Beau’s words were so familiar. How many times had Leo said something similar? In that same tone, with an apologetic smile. It made Felix feel just as small coming from Beau as it had when it was his ex slinging the words around, and they shrunk even farther into themself. Maybe Beau was right. It wasn’t as if Felix had much of anything to offer in a friendship, just like they’d had very little to offer Leo in a relationship. And maybe they did deserve to be hurt. For what they’d done to Beau, for the blood still soaking their hands. They looked down at those hands now, curled in their lap where they sat. If they did this, they’d be punished for it. They knew that. Even if the bind from their contract didn’t hurt them, the people in charge of the Pit would. The fight would. There was no way to throw a fight and walk away from it unscathed. 

But… Beau was right, wasn’t he? Felix deserved to be hurt, because Felix had hurt Beau. Swallowing, and feeling so little control over the action, they nodded their head. “Yeah,” they agreed quietly, “okay. I, uh… I’ll throw the fight.” The words tasted like acid on his tongue, burning all the way out.

—

“You’re a good person, Felix. I knew I liked you.” All signs of anger had faded from Beau, docile once more now that he had gotten his way. No more need to throw a fit, or slam his huge emotions around, he had won. “That’s what I like to hear.” Beau clapped a hand across Felix’s arm. “I have some bets I need to place, but I will be in the seats watching. You won’t be alone while you go through this. I’ll be with you. And I’ll be ever so happy and sympathetic for you. I guarantee.” A giddy laugh released from him. His toes were practically dancing in place. Just like that he was about to get a lot of new names. So many names, all meticulously documented. “I better hurry. I’ll have to write down all the names I’m handing over.” Beau fished a notepad and pen out of his jacket pocket and started writing, walking away, a spring in his step. He’d already disregarded anything Felix could be feeling in this, because it didn’t matter. The bind was in place, and the bind was going to see Felix fail this fight no matter what.

“Oh, before I forget.” Beau turned around, his real smile still in place. “Make it look good. We all want a show right? I think the fans love it bloody.” Beau did not care for violence at all, if bloody was good or bad, he couldn't say. But the call to gamble was the swan song that made violence suddenly look appealing. He left, and made his way to the fae broker. It was time to get rich. 

—

“Okay,” Felix said quietly, unsure how else to respond. They flinched again as Beau clapped his hand on their arm, a distant expression on their face. On some level, they knew that this wasn’t right. They couldn’t imagine any of their other friends asking something like this of them, after all. But… they’d never attacked any of their other friends while shifted, had they? They’d never carved claw marks into Teagan, or Anita, or Mona, or anyone else the way they had Beau. If he was angry, it was justified. If he was upset, he had a right to be. Felix owed him something, didn’t they? They’d hurt him so badly, and he hadn’t even gone to the police or called a hunter or done any of the thousand things he could have done for retribution. Surely this, what he was asking, was a small price to pay.

Felix’s eyes darted back up as Beau spoke again, swallowing tightly at the instructions. Make it look good. Let themself get hurt, let their blood paint the floor of the ring. Beau asked it so easily, and Felix felt they had no choice but to obey even if they didn’t have the emotional capacity to understand why they felt that way. They only nodded, watching as Beau left.

Time stretched on and, all too soon, the fight ahead of theirs was over. The announcer was gearing up the crowd for Wildcat’s next match, for them to face off against the zombie whose coffee they’d paid for in line at the truck once and who knew better than to ever pull his punches. It would have been a decently close match, if not for Felix’s agreement with Beau. Felix would have pulled ahead, because they usually did. But now…

Someone pushed them out into the ring. There were lights shining in their eyes, and they felt sick. The announcer screamed the match into beginning. And Felix prepared themself to make it look good. 

—

The betting process had been faster than Beau anticipated, a fae accepted the names he offered to hold as a broker, and then Beau was racing to find his seat. He was giddy. His toes tapping, his butt shaking. When he won this bet, and he would, he would have more names then the count he had been out before Elijah stole all his names. His beautiful names. He was going to punch Elijah when he next saw the man. Or maybe he should set his pretty panther friend on the man. Have the panther maul the human until he surrendered Beau’s names back to him. Then he could maintain his distance from violence, just like he liked. The thought pleased him as he settled into his seat and waited for the match to start. Felix was pushed into the ring, and Beau beamed down at them. Whatever he was fighting, whatever was about to happen, Beau hoped it hurt. 

A zombie. Tasty. Or at least Felix would be to the zombie. Beau let himself laugh at his joke. A popcorn seller walked buy and Beau decided today was a good day. He would splurge on the buttery treat. Right as the popcorn was handed over the zombie got in a good fight. Oh. That looked like it hurt! Beau smiled widely, shoving the popcorn in giant handfuls into his mouth as he gleefully watched his friend get beaten.

—

Make it look good. They weren’t sure why they felt such a… compulsion to do everything the way Beau had ‘requested’ of them, but it was certainly there all the same. After this, at least, maybe they would be forgiven. Really forgiven, nothing halfway. If Beau needed to see Felix’s blood stain the floor of the ring to get past the jaguar’s claws in his chest, maybe Felix owed it to him to give him that. So, they went out into the ring knowing how it would end. They fought in a way that still looked like their normal fights; claws, dodging, kicks and ducks. But they let themself take more hits than they usually would.

They could see the uncertainty on the zombie’s face. Wildcat was known to be a formidable opponent, and they weren’t fighting like it tonight. The zombie they were up against was one Felix had faced before, and he recognized that Felix was holding back. Felix caught his eye, silently begging him not to say anything, but they didn’t know the other well enough to know if the request would be met. It didn’t matter, anyway. What was done was done. They told Beau they’d throw the fight, so they’d throw the fight.

Make it look good. The zombie sunk his teeth into Felix’s arm, and Felix let him. Make it look good. The zombie swept Felix’s feet out from under them, and Felix didn’t dodge the attack. Make it look good. The zombie landed on top of them, and Felix only tilted their head back as his forearm landed on their throat. In their chest, the jaguar raged. He wanted out, wanted to win, but it was like there was a… wall there, somehow. Like something was blocking him from emerging fully, like victory was never an option at all. The arm across their throat blocked oxygen to the point of seeing spots, and Felix tapped a hand against the mat.

The official let it go for a few moments after Felix tapped out. The crowd cheered and jeered, the announcer sounded surprised even if Felix couldn’t make out the words he was saying. And then, the bell. The weight disappeared from Felix’s chest, their head fell back on the mat. The match was over, the zombie was crowned the victor. Turning his head to the side, Felix caught sight of Leo on the sidelines. The look on his face said he knew what had happened, at least partially. That scowl promised retribution. Felix closed their eyes.

When they caught their breath again, they rolled out of the ring, limped back to the fighters’ area. Thankfully, this had been their last match of the night; they didn’t think they could have handled another. Settling onto the bench, Felix sat tense and uncertain, waiting to see if Beau would find them again.

—

Felix was getting destroyed. Beau found a new delightful glee as he watched them get shred into. Practically torn apart by the zombie without ever dying. Blood splattered the areana and all of it had to belong to Felix and none from the zombie. Make it look good never felt so good. Even if he was slightly disgusted by the mess and the smell of blood, definitly the sweat of the audence as they hooted and hollered. None of them knew what beautiful piece of history was in creation. What beautiful acts of service was partaking as Felix got crushed and slammed and bit and kicked. Today was a good day.

Beau instantly went to the broker. He collected his names, he reveled in the feel of fae magic tightening around him, as the threads of new names wove themselves into the pattern of his existence. Fae magic was beautiful, it really was. Beau felt stronger, better, he felt more. Beau knew that he should have gone back to Felix, but surely they were ready for a nap. Or in the infirmary. And who was Beau to take their precious time that they had earned? No. Beau left the wretched place, a skip in his step. They would probably message Felix later, if they remembered. Really there was no rush. Felix had deserved the beating they got, and Beau had deserved his new gift. He smiled. He lavished in the moment. He went home and cooked himself a nice expensive dinner and didn’t spare a single thought to the Felix.

[ariadnewhitlock]

Felix and Ariadne meet Fluffy! || Felix & Ariadne

TIMING: Before The Orange. LOCATION: A forest. SUMMARY: Felix and Ariadne run into a Kerashag. They react to it in the most Them way possible. TRIGGER WARNING: None.

There were times, even now, where the woods felt more like home than the apartment they’d lived in for years. It was funny, in a way; Felix hadn’t enjoyed their time living in the cabin with their father and siblings, but they were nostalgic for it all the same. It was so much easier to miss things once you’d lost them, he supposed, so much easier to long for something once it was gone. Walking through the woods now, they felt that all-too familiar ache in their chest. They half expected to run into their father, a stuttering hint of fear filling them at the thought. Or maybe they’d find one of their siblings. Or… no one at all.

Or something else.

They heard it first. The low, strange call of ‘oooom oooom’ that echoed through the trees. And then, desperate footfalls of someone running. That was just about all the warning they were given before someone collided with them in a tangle of limbs and messy blonde hair. Felix blinked from his spot in the leaves, looking up at the girl who’d collided with him. She looked… distressed, to say the least. “Are you —” They were interrupted by another, much closer cry of ‘oooom oooom.’  “ — okay?”

—

It was cold, but Ariadne supposed that wasn’t supposed to bother her. It didn’t really bother her, since she herself was freezing cold most of the time. Still, it felt wrong to go out in winter without a coat, and so she still kept one on. If nothing else, pulling it around herself was a good use of her nervous energy and need to fidget around. It was excusable, and she could pass it off as something wholly human rather than something monstrous. (She wasn’t a monster — or she tried to tell herself as much, but it was hard, and she still thought back to that stupid van).

There was a weird sound in the forest today.

And not weird in the way that animals scurrying away from her was weird, but like, weird weird. Some sort of echo, and Ariadne decided that she wasn’t too sure she was much of a fan of the echoing. Not to offend the echo, or anything, but it just wasn’t totally her vibe. Which was fine, right? Not everything had to be her vibe. She could not vibe with some things! Crash – except that her hyperfocus on whether or not it was morally acceptable to not vibe sometimes caused her to run straight into someone. “I – yeah.” Except the echo-y sound was still there. “I’m – are you okay? I’m sorry, I didn’t – wasn’t – looking where I was going as much as I should’ve been.”

—

She seemed a little distressed, and it wasn’t hard to guess why. The sound wasn’t quite skyquake loud, but it was definitely echoing in a way that seemed to shake the trees. And that probably wasn’t good, was it? Most things that made sounds that loud weren’t really things you wanted to run into in the woods on your own, Felix thought. Especially not when accompanied by thunderous footsteps that seemed to imply the thing in question was big. There were a lot of monsters in this town, and Felix had met too many of them already. They weren’t keen on meeting more.

But they also weren’t keen on forgetting their manners. They stood, offering a hand to the girl who had fallen with them. “Oh, no! I mean, I wasn’t watching where I was going, either. It was probably my fault, mostly. I’m clumsy.” It was something Leo used to chastise them for often, and Felix was fairly certain that there was some truth behind it. They were clumsy, and that was why they did things like run into girls in the forest while surrounded by loud noises. “Um, do you want — Do you think we should go? I can’t tell which direction that sound is coming from, but I think we should go in… the opposite direction.”

—

“I’m clumsier. I do ballet, you’d think I’d be better at that sort of thing.” Ariadne made a face. “Please, don’t apologize, you really don’t have to.” It made her feel uneasy, when people apologized too much to her. Or apologized at all, really.

“Yes. We should go in the opposite direction.” Ariadne nodded. “I don’t – I can’t tell what the opposite direction is, exactly, but we should go in it, whatever it is.” Because she didn’t want to deal with whatever was happening, but she was not about to leave someone, even a stranger, because what if they got hurt? What if something happened and she could’ve helped prevent it but didn’t because she was a wimp. 

She gestured away from where they stood. “We could – try – to go there?” Hopefully, it couldn’t hurt, even if Ariadne was way off base with her judgment of how to handle tricky situations (which, in all honesty, she probably was, but she’d have plenty of time to stew in those thoughts later. Right now she needed to focus on the person she was with. Make sure they were okay.)

“What do you think?”

—

“Oh, hey, that’s really cool! Ballet, I mean. I, uh, I always thought it looked fun.” They’d begged their mother to let them do it once, but she’d worried that if they were too nimble on their feet, it might attract the wrong sort of attention. So much of Felix’s life, even in the beginning, was built up out of fear. “I’m so—” They cut themself off before they could apologize for apologizing, wincing just a little at their own awkwardness. Yikes.

At least they were on the same page about plans. Opposite direction, check. Felix shifted their inner ear enough to get a better grasp on the sound and where it was coming from, tilting their head to the side. It seemed to be coming from the direction the girl had run from and a little to the right. 

Gesturing in that direction, he nodded. “It’s coming from that way,” they announced. “So, um, this way? Would be good.” Which was the same direction she’d gestured towards so, really, Felix’s input was a little useless. “Uh, probably fast! I think we should go fast. Is fast okay with you?”

—

“It’s a lot of work, but it’s fun too, yeah.” It was something that brought a certain calm to Ariadne, though she knew that wasn’t the case for everybody. Not even everyone who’d been in her studio, and she knew she shouldn’t take the fact that she felt at ease with it all for granted.

“Yes, I think so too. Going that way, I mean. This way. Your way!” She wanted to kick herself in the shin for her awkwardness, though through some force of sheer luck and grace of whomever, Felix was chill about it. Ariande wasn’t sure that she had the words to thank them enough.

She nodded. “Fast is for sure okay with me. We should just, like, get away from this all, right?”

—

She didn’t ask how they knew where the sound was coming from, and Felix was glad for that. The panic clawing at their chest would have made it difficult to answer, and they didn’t think they needed to be wasting time right now. They had to make a break for it, and quickly. With this stranger in tow, ideally; they didn’t like the idea of leaving her on her own, even if some part of them seemed to think that was the best idea. (They didn’t know where that came from; they felt the strangest urge to run from this girl just as much as the sounds coming from the woods. It didn’t make a lot of sense to them.)

“Fast!” They agreed. “Yeah! Um, I think — On the count of three? Run as fast as you can. That way! One… two… three!” As soon as the last word was out of their mouth, they were sprinting, hoping that the young woman would keep up.

—

They seemed vaguely jumpy around her, but Ariadne figured maybe she was projecting. Which she did a lot, especially around strangers, and so maybe that was happening. She was going to just assume that, because she didn’t want to be an added issue on top of whatever the heck else was going on.

“Fast is good.” She agreed, repeating herself again. But that seemed to flow with them, and they didn’t seem like they were about to yell at her and judge her for it, so that was all good. “Uh-huh, three.” Ariadne readied herself, taking off half a second after they had. Once they stopped, a good ways away, she did too. “You don’t think something back there was hurt, do you?” It was probably not the greatest of ways to think, survival-wise, but what if the sounds had meant something was in pain?

—

A hint of guilt stabbed through them at her question. Felix hadn’t even considered that something might have been hurt, that something might need their help. They’d been so caught up in the strange, unsettling feeling churning in their gut, in the jaguar’s unexplained unease. What did it say about them that they needed to be reminded, in this moment, that they weren’t the only thing out there? 

Glancing back in the direction they’d just come from, Felix hesitated, bouncing uncertainly on their heels. “I don’t — Maybe. Maybe we should — I mean, I could go back and check. To make sure. You don’t — You don’t have to come or anything, it could just, you know, uh, just be me.” They could handle themself if it was something dangerous, couldn’t they? They handled themself against dangerous things every night at work, even if they hated themself for it in the morning.

—

“I could go back and check. I don’t want you to have to go just by yourself.” Especially because she’d suggested it. She didn’t need credit for it or anything but if something bad did happen, then maybe the other person wouldn’t end up being hurt.

“You shouldn’t have to go back by yourself.” Ariadne corrected herself. Trying to sound more firm and decisive, though she wasn’t sure how much she felt either of those feelings, but it didn’t hurt to fake it, did it? Not when it was faking something that would hopefully make someone else feel better. “Should we – I don’t want you to get hurt, but I don’t – know much about what that sound might be and so I’m afraid I have no real idea about stuff.”

Shuffling her feet, she turned around. “Or should we wait here?”

—

“It — I mean, it would be okay,” Felix insisted. Between the two of them, they thought, it probably made more sense for Felix to be the one to go back. After all, they had experience fighting; they weren’t sure the same could be said for the young woman before them now. If things got really bad, they could just shift and run, too. That was a good plan, right?

Except… she seemed almost upset at the idea of Felix going back alone. Her tone was decisive and firm, and Felix felt compelled to listen. They shifted their weight, uncertain. They didn’t want to upset their new friend by pushing too hard, but they didn’t want to leave anyone to be hurt, either. “I, um… I probably wouldn’t get hurt. I mean, not like ‘I’m invincible’ or anything, just — I’m pretty good at not getting hurt? I can, uh, move pretty fast, when I want to move fast. I wouldn’t want you to risk, uh, you know, getting hurt. But I think — I think I want to check. To make sure.”

—

“I don’t think or know if it would! I’m not trying to be rude, I believe you’re good at stuff, but I just don’t … people shouldn’t have to face bad stuff by themselves, if possible. That’s just… it.” Ariadne was positive she wasn’t making any real or significant sort of sense, but it was something, and the other person was listening to her which felt really nice and validating.

“I want to check too.” She nodded, firm as she could manage. “I mean, I might get hurt, but if there’s two of us we can look out for each other, and there’s less likelihood we’ll get hurt, like, statistically speaking. Or whatever.” Her mom talked about statistics in her classes sometimes and so it seemed like the right sort of thing to say. “We can go and look and check and then we can go, once we know it’s not hurt or anything.”

—

Felix wasn’t sure any stranger had ever held that kind of sentiment towards them before. Sure, they had friends who would insist that they shouldn’t have to go at things alone, but this? Most of their experience with strangers involved them cheering in the stands as someone beat Felix bloody, or as they hurt someone else. This was new. And… welcomed, really. “That’s… really nice of you.” They weren’t sure what else to say. No words could really encapture the warmth they were feeling at the simple sentiment. 

“We can check together,” they agreed with a small smile. “Two heads are better than one, right? And we definitely stand a better chance together. We can watch each other’s backs, and make sure nobody is hurt. Not even the, uh, screaming woods creature thing.” 

—

They were calling her nice and she wanted to vehemently shake her head and tell them that they should save that word for someone else, someone who did all their actions purely and kindly. Someone like Wynne. She wasn’t sure if she could be considered nice when she was the reason so many people had a hard time sleeping. Still, it was genuine, and it made Ariadne feel good – really good, even. “Thanks. I mean it! I try to not lie, ‘cause it’s mean to lie, and you’re really good and nice and smart.” She meant every word.

“Yeah, I agree. We can keep each other safe and yeah – ‘cause we don’t want to hurt the screaming thing. If it tries to eat one of us we might have to tell it firmly ‘no’ but hopefully we won’t even have to do that!” She turned, started walking back toward where the sound had come from. “Let’s… see what’s up?”

—

Not many people thought Felix was smart. Nice, maybe — they tried to be kind when they could, as often as they could — but not smart. It was something Leo often reminded them of with a scoff, eager to point out their many intellectual failings. They ducked their head as Ariadne insisted upon the contrary, called them smart like she believed it and insisted that she wouldn’t lie. They thought it would be rude to tell her she was wrong, so they only nodded. Maybe it was okay to let her think they were smart, even if they knew they weren’t.

“Right, yeah, definitely! But, um — I mean, if it tries to eat you, I — I’d be okay with doing more than telling it no.” Felix was gentle, but they had spent most of their formative years living in the woods. They knew it was necessary to hurt animals sometimes when it was to ensure your own safety, and they were definitely okay doing it to ensure Ariadne’s safety. It just wasn’t their first instinct. That was all. “But, yeah! Let’s see what’s up!”

—

“Okay, that’s fine, but I still don’t want you to get hurt. But I also don’t want either of us to get eaten.” Ariadne wasn’t sure if she’d even taste good, given the whole dead thing and all, but that wasn’t something she wanted to focus on and wasn’t something she was going to voice to Felix, either. Because that would probably only freak them out. Which she absolutely in no way wanted.

She followed them back to where they’d both stood before. “Hello?” She called out. “Are you very hurt?” She wasn’t sure what else to ask, and hoped that Felix would be better at this than she would be, because Ariadne knew very well that she wasn’t even half of an expert on any of this.

—

“I won’t get hurt!” They were pretty confident in their ability to win a fight, even if fighting wasn’t a thing they enjoyed. Wildcat was a formidable opponent in the ring, one of the Grit Pit’s best fighters. And while Felix might have hated that aspect of their life, they could recognize that it was a thing they were good at. They could use it to their advantage when they had to, could fight for people who might not be able to fight for themselves. (Maybe that was a bad assumption to make about Ariadne, but… she didn’t exactly seem eager to stand up for herself here.) 

Slowly, the pair made their way back to where they’d stood before. Ariadne called out, but the strange creature they’d heard earlier didn’t seem to be where they’d left it. The echo of the girl’s voice was the only response she received to her question, and Felix shifted their weight. They could shift more than that, they thought, could try to sniff or listen, but… “Maybe it ran away? Which means it must not have been hurt, right?”

—

“Okay! If you’re sure!” They sounded sure, and she wanted to make sure that they were sure. But they weren’t the sort of person who would lie, and so it was all good. It was just her nerves talking, undoubtedly. She might have been a literal nightmare, but she was fairly certain she’d still suck at actual hand-to-hand combat.

Felix was super duper logical. “That makes sense. If it didn’t call back, it probably ran away.” Or it was hurt and dead. Which was not a road she wanted to go down. “So then it’s probably okay.” It would have to be, she nodded to herself. “Should we maybe go get ice cream or something and then come back for one more check?”

—

The uncertain panic still thrummed in their chest, but they were quick to push it — and the jaguar — down away from the surface. They offered Ariadne a firm smile and a nod. Yes, they were sure. They were never very sure of anything, but they were sure they didn’t want Ariadne to be hurt. That was one thing they could easily understand to be true.

And they were similarly sure that whatever had been chasing her before was gone now. It was a good thing, they thought. Felix was plenty capable of fighting, but they didn’t really want to. It was always a nice day when it wasn’t a necessary thing… nicer still when they could get ice cream instead. Offering Ariadne another smile, they nodded. “Ice cream sounds great.” And another check after… just to be sure.

[vanishingreyes]

Honk! [in a menacing tone] || Felix & Xóchitl

TIMING: Before the Boiler Room and Before Ireland. LOCATION: The Common. SUMMARY: Felix and Xóchitl run itno a weird duck. CONTENT WARNINGS: None!

They thought it would be relaxing. A nice, quiet day sitting by the water. They’d even brought a book along with them! It was self care, or something. On a rare day where they weren’t expected at the Grit Pit that night, they thought it might feel nice to just… sit by the water and feel the lack of obligations.

Except there was some weird duck crawling out of the lake now, and Felix didn’t think it looked very friendly. 

Uncertainly, the balam scrambled to their feet, taking a few hesitant steps away from the water. They would not run away from a duck. They would not. But they kind of wanted to. They kind of really, really wanted to. They took another step backwards, trying not to draw attention to themself, but that plan kind of backfired when the whole ‘walking backwards without looking’ method of escape ended in predictable failure. Felix tripped over someone who’d been seated behind him, tumbling down into the grass.

Blinking, he looked up at the person who’d unintentionally tripped him. “Sorry,” he said. “There was — That duck is — It’s weird. I think maybe it’s a swan, and I heard swans are mean, so —” The maybe-swan duck waddled towards the pair, letting out a loud honk. 

— 

The water was nice. It was calm, and Xóchitl didn’t have to think too much about much of anything. Which, as much as she liked thinking, she had to admit it was a nice thing to have a break from, even if it was physiologically impossible to entirely turn off one’s ability to think.

She’d enjoyed the Common and Public Garden in Boston, and Prospect and Central Park in New York, but at neither had she ever ever seen a bird that looked quite like the one that was leaving the lake now. Some exceptionally strange swan or something – and, much like with actual swans, Xóchitl found that she wanted nothing to do with them.

To make matters… whatever version of more something than they already were, someone tripped over her and Xóchitl found herself looking up at them. “It looks like a weird swan or duck. No offense to animals, but I’m not a fan of whatever that is.” She hopped up on her feet, taking a very abrupt step back as the bird let out a honk. “I’m Xóchitl, by the way. Have you ever seen a swan like this before? I haven’t.”

— 

The swan-duck-thing was a little more than ten feet from where they stood, but it looked like it probably intended to come closer. And Felix didn’t really think they wanted that. Not for themself, and not for the woman — Xóchitl — who they’d all but run into, either.

“Oh, hi,” they greeted, waving a hand awkwardly as they took another step back, pulling Xóchitl with them gently. “I’m Felix. And, uh, I’ve definitely never seen a swan like that before. Or a duck. Maybe it’s a goose? I think geese are supposed to be mean, and it looks pretty —”

The bird flapped its wings, propelling itself forward again. Closer now, it let out another deafening honk, and — Felix couldn’t move. They blinked, eyes darting over to Xóchitl. Was this a them thing, or had that bird actually done something?

—

“It does look pretty mean, if you ask me.” Which, you know, they hadn’t, but Xóchitl couldn’t help herself. 

The honk it let out made her nearly jump, for a moment, which was weird, because even the most annoying of geese-duck-swans she’d run into hadn’t ever made her jumpy. Only full of dislike, and maybe a swan had freaked her out when she was little, but this felt different.

Wrong, almost.

“Should we – move away from it?” Xóchitl wasn’t really sure what this situation called for, but leaving seemed like a good idea. Leaving was easy.

—

“It does,” Felix agreed solemnly. The goose looked angry, and angry geese were probably dangerous. The jaguar within them took some interest, probably because this was a bird and he was a cat and there were obvious connections to be made there.

Or maybe because the honk really spooked Felix, and the jaguar always thought that meant it was his cue to jump in. Felix quickly stifled the desire to shift and eat the bird, because the jaguar was kind of a dick and would probably eat Xóchitl, too, which wasn’t something they wanted.

“We should move,” Felix agreed, only… they couldn’t. It was like they were frozen in place, like their legs weren’t listening to the commands their brain was sending to them. “We should really move.”

—

“We should move, yeah.” Xóchitl echoed their words, though she found herself unable to actually take an action on said words. Which was strange, because she was a very capable person who was almost always easily able to take action on what she wanted to.

“We need to move.” She tried to move again. “I – you can go first.” Maybe they’d move, and that would kickstart her into being able to actually move, because she couldn’t feel herself going anywhere any time soon.

Xóchitl looked back between the goose-thing and her companion. “Right? You – go ahead, and I’ll follow you.”

—

“Okay,” Felix agreed, hoping that her words would… spark something. Force the signals in his brain to send to his legs, something. But when they tried to move again, they found themself just as stuck as they had been before. 

They stood, willing themself to move for a moment longer. There was a beat. And then: “Actually, I think you should go first. Yeah. That way if it attacks, I’ll be able to fight it off. Because I’m, uh — I’m a really good fighter. So. Yeah! You go first, and I’ll watch your back.”

—

They wanted her to go first, and Xóchitl still couldn’t move. And while she wasn’t entirely opposed to lying, there was only so much back and forth that she could handle, especially given that she was feeling far too stressed out by this goose for anything to be made sense of.

“I can’t move.” She finally admitted to them. “I – I’m not lying.” Even though she would lie, sometimes, but not about this. Not to make fun of someone. “Can you? Because I’d really like to not be here. Not – you’re great, but the goose? Not so much.”

—

It was almost a relief, hearing that they weren’t the only one frozen in place. Felix often went through a cycle of fight, flight, freeze, fawn when in a difficult position, and while freeze wasn’t their most common reaction, it did still happen from time to time and was certainly among their least favorite responses. So… it was good that it wasn’t happening now.

But not really good. Really good would have been being able to move and escape. Or even… fight the goose. Fawning would be useless here, but probably still better than this. Whatever was happening, it was evidently some physical thing. So… probably not a normal goose. Great. This was fine.

“I can’t move either,” Felix admitted, a little sheepish. “I believe you! That you’re not lying. I’d also like to get out of here. Because of the goose! Not because of you.” This was just awesome.

—

“Well, I’d be alarmed if anyone wanted to leave somewhere on account of me.” Except that Xóchitl couldn’t quite get herself to laugh about that. Mostly because it wasn’t a laughing situation, as much as she tried to lighten the situation with some vague branch of flirting.

Mostly because that was the best way she knew how to diffuse something, but that might not work right now. Especially because there was no way in hell she was going to flirt with a goose. The goose probably wouldn’t understand human languages anyways, so trying to even reason with it would be stupid and pointless.

“How exactly are we supposed to… find a way to move?” Xóchitl paused a moment before adding, “I also don’t want to move because of you. I want to leave because of that rather superbly horrid goose.”

—

“Yeah, no, you're great,” they reassured her. Any flirting, predictably, went over their head. Felix spent a long time being made to feel as though they should consider themself lucky that anyone wanted them at all. The idea of a stranger flirting with them felt a little preposterous. “The goose is less great. I'm not much of a goose fan. Zero out of ten on the goose, specifically.”

They were babbling. Going on and on, a little hysterically, about things that didn't much matter. It filled the silence, at least, and that was something.

But it didn't provide them with anything resembling an answer. 

It was jarring, having such little control. Sure, Felix lost control when the jaguar took his turn with their shared body, but it wasn't like this. This was something new, something unheard of, something terrifying. “I — I don't know. I don't know what we're supposed to do.”

—

“Never was a goose fan, and I’m becoming less and less of one with each passing moment.” They were a kind person, and they also certainly didn’t deserve to be attacked by a more aggressive than average goose. Not that there were many people who Xóchitl would’ve said did deserve to be attacked, there was something about the individual in front of her that screamed really super doesn’t deserve this more than for the average person.

Still, that didn’t solve the problem of the goose.

“And we can’t run, we’ve deduced that, so…” Xóchitl let her words trail off. “If we throw something at it? Well, not at it at it, but to distract it? Like I do with my dog for her own enjoyment. Do we think there’s any hope of that helping us out? Working in our favor?”

—

“Yeah, geese freak me out a little. Like, their teeth.” Felix remembered the first time they’d come upon the knowledge that geese had teeth. One of their siblings had so kindly shared a photo with them, and they’d been absolutely scarred for life as a result. They were pretty sure this goose, with its loud honks and its murderous eyes, had teeth that they really didn’t want to see.

They listened to the plan placed in front of them, nodding their head thoughtfully. “Oh! Yeah. Yeah, throwing something might help. Um, what do you have in your pockets? I’ve got…” They trailed off, digging a hand into their jeans. “A piece of linty cheese… a receipt… a couple nickels…”

—

“Yep. Hate that they have teeth.” Xóchitl winced. They were already a bird that she didn’t especially (or at all) enjoy, and to add teeth on top of all that was just too much. So to have a goose that was too big, wouldn’t leave them alone, and had teeth? Absolutely not how she wanted to spend her day.

“I mean, I have my phone and my keys. Not going to throw either of those, but I also have, well, admittedly, some treats for my dog…” which Xóchitl also didn’t especially want to waste, but if it got this stupid goddamn goose away, then it would be more than worthwhile. “Though the nickels might also work. Geese like shiny things… probably? Right?”

—

So their options were dog treats or nickels? Not ideal, but… maybe they could work with that. Felix fished the nickels from their pockets, squinting at them carefully. “Let’s start with the nickels,” he decided. “If those don’t work, then maybe we do the dog treats?” There weren’t a lot of options here, but that seemed like the best plan. 

Holding the nickel tightly, he closed his eyes for a moment. “Okay,” they murmured. Then, a little louder: “Okay! I’m going to throw it towards that way, away from both of us.” They motioned to their right, where some weeds were growing high enough that they hoped it would distract the bird. “Are you ready? I think — if it runs away, we move as soon as we feel like we can. And run in the opposite direction.”

—

“I appreciate your thoughts,” Xóchitl nodded, “because I was at a loss for which to start with.” That much was honest, because they deserved that. They seemed nice and they also seemed clueless, which certainly wasn’t the kindest thing to think, but so long as she kept it to herself she figured it was okay. At least relatively speaking.

She glanced to where he was pointing, before refocusing. “Yeah, that sounds good – and yes, I am ready.” Xóchitl planted the toe of her shoe against the ground. Waiting for them to throw it. “But let’s run together, just so we don’t get separated, just in case the goose-thing decides it doesn’t want to go after a nickel. Make sense?” She tensed her body. “Ready whenever you are.”

—

“Thanks,” Felix replied, smiling a little in spite of the situation. It was nice to be appreciated, to be told that their ideas weren’t terrible. They just hoped it was true. In a situation like this one, they weren’t sure they could afford to go with any bad ideas. The goose seemed fairly harmless — it was a goose, after all — but they knew better than to underestimate anything in Wicked’s Rest.

When Xóchitl confirmed she was ready, Felix took a deep breath. “Together,” he agreed. Then, they closed their eyes. “One… two… three!” As hard as he could, Felix tossed the coin. Thankfully, the goose did seem interested in it. It turned towards the gleaming metal, and after a moment, the feeling returned to Felix’s legs. “Come on!” They shouted, reaching out to grab Xóchitl by the shoulder and tugging her in the opposite direction.

—

“Of course!” Xóchitl responded, trying to make herself seem as non-threatening as possible. She didn’t consider herself super threatening in general, but she figured someone like Felix probably could do with an extra dose of ‘not being threatening’, as it were.

She readily followed them, and even once they weren’t that far away, the grating and honking sounds seemed to die down. “It – does it sound better to you, too, or am I just being way too optimistic?” Xóchitl didn’t think she was, but she also hadn’t ever seen a breed of goose like that before. So extra checking was, in fact, needed for this case.

—

It did sound better, though Felix wasn’t the best person to ask if you were worried you were being too optimistic. Their habit of looking at the glass as half full had certainly gotten them into trouble in the past, but… this time was probably different, right? The honking didn’t sound quite so honking anymore, so maybe they were in the clear.

The fact that they were able to move seemed to add to that theory, and they already felt better with some distance between them and the goose. Their shoulders slumped in quiet relief, and they nodded their head. “It sounds better,” they agreed, “but I think we should get out of here. Um, like, as far away as possible. Right? So the goose doesn’t chase us.”

—

“Yeah, don’t want to deal with being chased by… that.” She let her voice trail off. Because that wasn’t how things worked and absolutely wasn’t the way that she planned to spend her day. Plus, agreeing with the other person seemed to be the way to go, given how nervous they seemed. Xóchitl didn’t want to further contribute to what was likely already a fairly intense case of anxiety. That wasn’t going to help either of them whatsoever. 

“Do you have a car? I can drive you to wherever you need to be, just so our… guest doesn’t cause you any further trouble.” Again, she didn’t know what this goose thing was but she did know that she didn’t want to be around it and didn’t want her companion to suffer any more than they already were.

—

“I have a truck!” Felix replied excitedly, trying to reel themself in, to make their voice quiet enough that the creature before them wouldn’t hear it and decide to follow. “But, um, I parked a ways away, so maybe you can give me a ride to it? And I can buy you lunch!” They felt like they owed her. “What do you say?”

—

“I’d be happy to give you a ride, of course.” Xóchitl smiled at Felix. They certainly were excitable, and though she’d hazard a guess that a good part of it came from nerves, there was also something incredibly charming about how excited they could get. “You don’t have to buy me lunch, I’d do this just because, but I am hungry. What were you craving?”

—

Relief flooded them as Xóchitl promised them a ride and agreed to the lunch. After everything, Felix was pretty hungry themself. “There’s a great taco truck that parks near the edge of the park. Want to go there?” Anxiety still thrummed in their chest but, with the goose behind them and the car ahead of them, it was fading back down to manageable levels. All in all, they thought, this wasn’t the worst end to a day.

[gossipsnake]

Tag-Team Rumble Tumble || Anita & Felix

TIMING: Current PARTIES: Anita (@gossipsnake) and Felix (@recoveringdreamer) LOCATION: An alley near the Grit Pit SUMMARY: Anita helps Felix out of a dicey situation. CONTENT WARNINGS: None.

Ever since her first encounter with Felix, Anita had been going to the Grit Pit more often but betting on the fights with far less frequency. She still bet on Felix most of the time, though … that was just easy money. It was rather curious to her how her perceptions of these underground fights had begun to shift after just a few conversations with the balm. A bit of a shame too, however, as it sucked some of the fun out of watching the vicious murders. It wasn’t because people were dying but rather because of who was pulling the strings. 

At the end of the day, Anita did not personally have any issues with most fae as long as they did not make problems for her. But they were causing problems for her kind and she was questioning whether or not she should keep turning a blind eye simply to continue her own enjoyment. 

It was no surprise that Felix prevailed in each of his fights that evening. After collecting her winnings, Anita began to head to the rear exit of the Pit still unsure of if she was going to simply go home or take the bundled up cash in her pocket to the nearest bar to continue a night of excitement. Just as she was leaning towards the ladder option, she heard a familiar yowl coming from a nearby alleyway. Taking quiet steps, Anita inched closer to the alley and peered down to see Felix involved in yet another fight that evening. 

“I lost $700 because of you, asshole!” And just like that the antagonizer made his motives clear. Anita would have walked away if not for the slight kinship she felt towards them, so instead she decided to chime in, “Gambling a bit too rich for your blood, cabron? Maybe don’t bet the rent money if you can’t afford to lose it.” 

—

It wasn’t that bad tonight. That was what Felix told themself nearly every night they left the Pit now, repeating it like a mantra that might become true if they only managed to say it enough. It wasn’t that bad, it wasn’t that bad, it wasn’t that bad. Tonight, it felt a little more true than usual. The Pit had started them back slow after their injury from the fight against Razor, let them work their way back up little by little. It wasn’t a courtesy so much as it was asset protection, they knew, but it was still nice not to have to bleed themself dry for a job they’d never wanted to begin with. 

They were already preparing to go home for the night, even, before the final fight of the night had finished. It was a rare thing, but Felix wasn’t one to look a gift horse in the mouth. They ducked their head as they headed out the exit, desperate to get home without running into anyone.

But Felix had never been particularly lucky, and that wasn’t going to change tonight.

They’d just stepped out into the alley, eyes on the ground, when the door opened and shut behind them. They didn’t think anything of it until a hand grabbed their shoulder, slamming them against the brick wall of the neighboring building hard. For a moment, the balam’s heart picked up, and they expected to see Parker when they lifted their eyes, expected a sharp knife and a cold gaze. Instead, there was a stranger glowering at them, eyes burning hot enough to make them flinch.

“I — I don’t have any cash,” Felix said quietly, hoping for a moment that this might be a simple robbery. But it wasn’t. Of course it wasn’t. This was about the Pit.

Wasn’t everything?

Their heart sunk as the man ranted about how Felix had lost him money. Must have bet against them, he thought. If they were bolder, they might have said something like maybe you should make better bets, but just the thought of doing so made them uneasy. They flinched, shrinking back against the wall. “Sorry, man,” they mumbled. “Just — Let it go. Come back tomorrow, maybe.” 

It was the wrong answer. There was a glint of something metal in the man’s hand, and Felix waited for it to slice them through. Instead, a familiar voice cut through the alley. The grip on Felix’s shoulder loosened a little in surprise, and the balam took the opportunity to shove the man back and duck out from under his arm. “Hi, Anita,” he greeted, a little sheepish as he waved. 

—

It was an interesting exchange to see Felix actually apologize to their attacker as if they had actually done anything wrong. All they had done was their job - they put on a show and walked out with their life as a reward, what was there to be sorry about? “Hola, Felix,” Anita replied with a grin as she walked further down the alley towards where the action was. She wasn’t necessarily eager to transform in front of this stranger but that didn’t mean that she wasn’t able to help put him in his place. 

The man clearly did not care that he was now outnumbered. After being pushed back he regained his footing and picked up the short silver blade that had fallen out of his hand. “Detrás,” Anita warned as the man tried to approach Felix from behind. 

Before dropping her bag to the ground, Anita reached in and pulled out a small black taser and slid it into the back pocket of her jeans. She didn’t know if it would be necessary but wanted to be prepared. “I’m trying to figure out the logic here man,” she began to say as she kept walking towards the assailant, “So you bet against him, then saw him obliterate his opponents, and you thought - hmmm I know, I’ll go try to beat him up outside. Brilliant plan.”  

—

Felix didn’t like fighting. It was something that surprised a lot of people, given their profession. But they’d never wanted to work at the Grit Pit, hadn’t really chosen to get involved. If it were up to them, Felix would be working anywhere else. A gas station, a clothing store, a fast food restaurant, anything would be better than the ‘career’ they were bound to. Outside the Pit, Felix tended to prefer to solve their problems with words instead of action, or with running away when words wouldn’t do the trick. They didn’t like fighting. 

But that didn’t mean they weren’t good at it.

They could have taken the man without issue, and they knew that. Even worn out from their last fight, even caught off guard, even with all the factors working against them, they could have still gotten away without a scratch. Felix didn’t need saving, but they were so relieved to have Anita show up anyway because they didn’t want to fight. They’d rather let that knife go through their gut than start another fight, but if not taking a knife to the gut was an option, that was definitely their favorite one.

At Anita’s warning, Felix ducked, sending the knife slicing through open air where their head had been moments before. Who tried to stab someone in the head, anyway? That seemed like a harder than necessary move to make. Heads were tough. “Look, I really don’t want to fight you,” they said, spinning around to face their unwanted opponent. “Like I said, you could come back tomorrow? Um, if you bet on me, I can — I’ll win, and then you’ll get your money back. Right?” They looked to Anita, as if asking her to help them out.

—

Anita had never seen them outside of the ring. Well, she had in the sense that they had met up in non-combat environments, but she had never seen Felix engaged in conflict outside of the Pit. They were astonishingly passive, evasive instead of defensive. She didn’t get it. If someone came at her with a knife she would be done with her words. Well, not done with them - she’d get some verbal jabs in while she also dished out some physical jabs. 

Even though this guy had yet to come at her directly with the knife Anita wasn’t about to wait for that to happen. “They might not want to fight you,” Anita began as she weaved herself between the balm and the foolish human, “but I really really do.” In a swift motion, she faked as if she was going to grab for the blade as her other hand forcefully propelled the base of her palm upward making contact with his chin. It did little more than disorient him briefly, during which time Anita took the opportunity to rush forward and shove his back against the corner of a metal dumpster. 

It was more exhausting than she remembered, fighting with human strength. But there was also a bit of a thrill to it. “Your first mistake tonight was betting against my friend here. No, sorry, it was actually the decision to wear those shoes,” Anita corrected herself as she looked down and saw his gaudy snakeskin boots. “Both mistakes may prove fatal.” The assailant came back at them with a growing frustration but an evident lack of skill. 

—

Anita moved like a striking snake, so fast that blinking would have meant missing the movement altogether. One moment she was in one place, the next she was in another. Even in human form, she was clearly skilled. Felix thought of lamia he’d fought and seen fight in the ring, thought of how all shifters seemed to carry aspects of their shifted form even while looking fully human. It was interesting, wasn’t it? The way none of them were entirely human, even if none of them were entirely animal, either. All of them existed in a state of in-between. It ached, sometimes. He wondered if it did for Anita, too.

She didn’t seem particularly bothered by it in the moment. It was fascinating, watching her fight. Even Felix, who wasn’t much of a fan of violence, could acknowledge that. They stood in silence for a moment, eyes wide. They had hoped to solve this with words, but… maybe it was better this way. The man had a knife, after all; what if he turned it against Anita? Felix probably deserved wherever the blade might end up, but Anita didn’t. Not for just passing through, not for just being friends with Felix. 

Of course, the man wasn’t giving up very easily. He seemed like the type who’d probably take offense to being beaten by a woman, even if he weren’t already all bent out of shape. Felix saw the glint of the knife and rushed forward in spite of their distaste for violence, slamming the man back against the dumpster again and sending the knife flying before he could attempt to stick it into Anita. “Sorry,” they said quickly. “Just — I’m not going to let you hurt my friend. Um, so, you should — You should just go home. You know?”

—

“Papito…” Anita said in a tone reminiscent of a mother who had just found out their child had cheated on a test. “I know you did not just apologize again to this man. He came at you with a knife, all because, what? He underestimated you and made a shit bet? I know that you know what would have had to happen for him to win. This man bet on you to die and then attacked you for surviving.” Her hands and shoulders followed along as she lectured Felix in Spanish, the overexaggerated gestures practically flowed through her as if they had a mind of their own but were agreeing with every word she said. 

Felix would need a lot more support than she may have originally predicted, but for now she need to turn her attention back to the fucker who was heaved over trying to catch his breath after being thrown against the dumpster twice. His posture meant that his arms were closer to the ground, and therefore closer to the unaccompanied knife, than Anita’s were. Taking quick steps towards it she kicked it far enough away before he could think about trying to grab it. 

With her leg already warmed up, the lamia decided it was high time for another kick. Placing one hand on each of his shoulders, Anita swung her leg back and then brought her knee up with as much force as she could muster, hitting the man right in the balls. He screamed out in pain before toppling over and onto the ground, unable to maintain his balance. 

—

Felix shifted their weight uncertainly. Anita was right, they knew; this man had been rooting for them to, at the very least, be seriously injured in the ring tonight. And still, the urge to apologize remained. They weren’t sorry for winning their fight, for surviving. In spite of everything, Felix wanted to live. Whether they deserved it or not was another matter, but the desire was there all the same. So why did they feel the need to say they were sorry for doing it? They didn’t know, but they didn’t know how to stop, either. “Sorry,” they said in Spanish, to Anita this time. “I’m sorry. I know you’re right. I just — I don’t like hurting people.” Not physically, the way they had in the ring tonight, the way they were being forced to in this alley now. But not in other ways, either. Even the idea that they might have hurt this stranger’s wallet made Felix a little uneasy.

They watched Anita move back to the man, hovering uncertainly as she kicked him. They wanted to tell her to stop… but they also kind of didn’t. There was guilt in that latter thought, in spite of everything. There was guilt in most things they did, these days. They didn’t know how to stop it.

Anita’s foot made contact between the man’s legs, and Felix winced sympathetically as he fell. “I think — I think he’s had enough,” they said, a little hesitant. Then, in Spanish, “Come on. Let’s just leave him here, okay? We can take the knife with us.” That way, he wouldn’t hurt anyone else… though the risk of that seemed low now, anyway. If Felix had to guess, he’d say the man wasn’t going to do anything more than go home to lick his wounds now.

—

There it was again, an apology. At least it wasn’t directed at the man who had assaulted them. Anita wasn’t the type who never apologized but she felt that there was so much power in the word - power lost in its admission and power gained in its receipt. That would have to be a lesson for another day, though. She had obviously known that he did not like fighting in The Pit,  but it struck Anita as odd that they did not like hurting people at all. 

That apparent feeling amplified by his suggestion that they simply walk away from the man who was now doubled over in pain on the patchy asphalt. That felt wrong, letting someone live who tried to take your life. Anita turned just enough so that she could see both the man and Felix, “If we leave him…he can try again. He can come back tomorrow with more than just a measly knife.” The expression she saw on the balm’s face, however, was riddled with something she didn’t recognize. It was enough to tell her that this was not the time to push murder. 

“Fine,” there was some confusion and frustration in Antia’s tone, but it still remained soft. “But I am taking more than just his knife.” Moving towards the man again, she rooted around in his jacket pockets for a second before pulling out a wallet. Crouching down, so that she was eye-to-eye with the man, Antia opened it up and pulled out his driver’s license before closing it and tossing it on the ground. “Ryan Ellis,” she said his name quietly with a smirk. “I know where you live.” 

Anita then stood back up and slid the ID into her pocket, feeling content with her compromise of not killing him. “Now we can leave him. You want a ride home?” 

—

“He can,” Felix agreed, because there was no sense denying that. “But it’d be kind of predictable, wouldn’t it? I mean, I know he’s out here now.” And they really didn’t think that the man would try again. People did things, in the moment, that they never would have tried with more time allowing them to consider their actions. This man had acted hastily, sure, but it felt like more of a crime of passion than a premeditated attack. And it was a big leap, going from one to the other. It was a huge step, and not one that most people took. He could try again, but Felix would be ready for him. He could try again, but they didn’t think he would. 

Anita seemed frustrated with their response, but she agreed anyway and Felix felt a rush of relief not unlike the one he’d felt when Teagan agreed not to kill the hunter who’d fallen into her trap. They weren’t the sort of person who wanted anyone to die, but they especially didn’t want anyone to die in a way that was manufactured to seem as though it was something that happened in the interest of keeping Felix safe. Their father had excused so many atrocities that way; Felix didn’t want any more blood soaking their name. 

They watched Anita move forward, a little tense but not distrustful. She said fine, and Felix trusted her enough to know that that meant she wouldn’t kill the man. She reached down and pulled out his wallet instead; Felix thought that was smart. It would give the man more incentive not to try again without hurting him. The balam smiled softly as Anita made her way back over, touched by both her concern and her willingness to compromise for his request.

“A ride would be good,” they smiled, falling into step beside her. “I walked to work tonight.” 

[blightts]

𝐆𝐄𝐓 𝐓𝐎 𝐊𝐍𝐎𝐖 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐀𝐔𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐑.

𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞. soap/soapbox

𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐬. he/they

𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. definitely discord! feel free to ask for it, im up for giving it out in most cases. tumblr IMs you can reach me through but i’ll likely be hella late because i don’t get notifications.

𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐞(𝐬). basil from omori, most of the ocs on this blog (hyacinthe, arlo, rue, and spectre especially), adelle and felix. they’re usually bouncing around in my head somewhere. whether or not i write something with them though… usually depends if i have ongoing threads already or if im able to do things on discord. i do also have mitsuru, kazuki, and taiyo, all pokemon muses, that i write exclusively on discord and are even more active than the above muses.

𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞/𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 (𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐡𝐬/𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬?). i’ve been writing off and on since i was 8, so about 17 years? jfc it’s really been that long huh

𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐯𝐞 𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝. neopets, iscribble, forums (proboards and such), deviantart, skype, of course tumblr, and more recently discord. i think i briefly used chatzy as well. might’ve missed something but i think that’s everything.

𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞. it’s hard to say, i definitely used to be more active but i’m a lot happier now. i have good friends and my mental health has significantly improved so i’m going to say my current one.

𝐫𝐩 𝐩𝐞𝐭 𝐩𝐞𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐬 / 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐫𝐬. naturally the stuff that’s mentioned in my rules are dealbreakers but otherwise i cannot with pushy or clingy people. if you rapidfire ims at me and/or expect me to respond right away and act upset when i don’t it will earn you a block.

𝐟𝐥𝐮𝐟𝐟, 𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐬𝐭, 𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐦𝐮𝐭. i loooove both fluff and angst, but i actually lean more towards hurt-comfort so a healthy combo of the two. you will almost never see me writing smut unless you’re a close friend and we write it on discord. i’m hesitantly willing only in that case.

𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐬. i’m quite happy with either, though i tend to prefer to send out memes. i’m not particularly good at plotting, but if you have ideas i’m all for hearing them out!

𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐬. I tend to prefer short ones, they’re easier to match in length, but i’ve done and enjoyed plenty of longer replies as well. in the end, both are fun!

𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞. on tumblr, whenever i’m on my computer generally. i don’t enjoy doing so, but i’m not exactly comfortable making uncropped replies. i’m trying to push past the discomfort and do more on mobile, though. i’m usually busy over weekends— more likely saturday than sunday but some weeks both. it’s easier to say when i’m not available than when i am unfortunately. i’m much more active on discord, usually during early afternoon.

𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐞(𝐬). depends on the muse! i have traits in common with most of them, a lot of headcanons are because of ways i was in the past especially. i tend to project mental health stuff onto the characters i write. it’s a good way to cope with it.

tagged by: @silenthcwl ! thanks for the tag!

tagging: @cardplays oooo you want to fill out the mun meme vale ooOoooOoo. also anyone else who wants to.

[corpse--diem]

The Four Horsemen | Marley, Felix, Roy & Erin

TIMING: Current LOCATION: Warehouse by the docks PARTIES: @detectivedreameater @streetharmacist​ @theshadowandvalleyaremine​ & @corpse–diem SUMMARY: “And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him.” CONTENT WARNINGS: Gun use tw, Head trauma tw

Felix and Marley would be here any moment. Erin hadn’t slept. Couldn’t after the events from the night before. More death--needless death--had befallen innocent lives. How many had been killed in pursuit of one man now? More than she could keep count of, she knew that much, and even more had felt the aftershocks of ever blow. She thought she had readied herself for the cost. Whatever it takes. Another one of her mantras. Her gut twisted stubbornly anyway, a big fuck you to the mantras and the autopilot mode she locked herself up into the past few months. There was a limit to everything and her’s was quickly approaching.

Rather than pace a hole into the floor, she came here, pouring herself into their notes, crossing off businesses and people that were no longer a threat or under Roy’s finger. Made a note of the attack on the witches, the locations he had hit. It was all over the place and trying to figure out where he’d go next was like fumbling through Tommy’s image still sat unmarked. Purposefully. Didn’t feel like her box to check off. Sunlight burst into the dark room, painful for a moment after huddling in the dark for so long. Wasn’t hard to figure out who the silhouette belonged to. “Hey, just in time,” Erin greeted Marley, hunched over the metal table she’d been using for a desk. They didn’t have time for whatever tension remained between them. With Roy’s next move pending, it was nothing but a distraction. Gave a nod to the images on the wall. “I was saving the honor for you.” Marley hadn’t been the one to slay him herself but she more than earned this much. Held out a marker to her, the closest thing to an olive branch as she was going to get right now.

The light at the end of the tunnel was a little too cliche for Marley’s taste, but it really was the only thought she had as she made her way to the docks that afternoon. The three of them were meeting up for a strategy talk, because their two biggest obstacles were now out of the way. It almost felt fake to think, like she’d somehow believed all of this would never end. They’d be caught in the eternal loop of fighting and losing and hitting back and winning. That was how altercations between crime rings and police usually went, but Roy wasn’t just a crime boss, and the three of them definitely weren’t just police. Speaking of, Marley slid her badge into her back pocket as she turned down the lane towards the warehouse Erin had told her about. Though there was no one around, being followed was not something she could allow to happen. She stopped, waited a few minutes by the bus stop, before slipping into the alley. By the time she made it to the door, she was well and alone.

Erin’s voice rang out and Marley glanced around before letting her eyes land on her form, hunched over a table. She was squinting over at Marley, but the dark lighting of the warehouse didn’t obscure Marley’s sight at all. She moved into the room, shutting the door. When she came over to the table, Erin had all their notes splayed out and was holding up the red marker to her. “How sweet,” she said, taking the pen. Things were still a little tense between them, but their little forest foray had eased some of the anger Marley felt. And right now, anger didn’t matter. She needed to save it for Roy.

Her hand hovered over Tommy’s picture for a moment-- her face stung at the image, all the thoughts and worries and strife he’d caused her and the others crowding her head, but something underneath it all bubbled up, something stronger, and she jabbed the pen down, marking off his image with a bright, obtrusive X right over his face. A satisfied smile fell onto her face. She remembered his body, alone in the forest. Remembered the feel of the blade as she cut through his skin. She only wished she could have been there to see Roy’s face when he saw Tommy’s head, packaged so neatly for him on his doorstep. “The honor was all mine,” she said, setting the pen down and turning to look at Erin. “So what’s the plan, now? Felix here yet?”

Felix wanted to take every streetlight that he passed by, avoided, in hand and crush it. Half in light and half in shadow. The fae hungered to paint the whole fucking town black. If he could kill the sun itself, he would climb over every star to do just that. But he couldn’t. He wouldn’t. They weren’t done yet. Soon enough they would be. He felt pretty damn sure of that. Assurance came in the form of a paper thin glass dagger. If it was enough to wiggle between Roy Chambers ribs and snuff him out, good riddance. It would have to do. His head ached as he walked toward their meeting place. He had a feeling the ache might stop when Roy Chambers stopped breathing. It was the kind of thought that would have warmed him under different circumstances. All it did lately was make his steps quicker, his eyes sharper.

The door to their warehouse opened and shut quietly as he stepped through. He snapped the umbrella he had closed and tossed it aside. “I’m here now,” Felix said as he moved toward the table. He deftly undid the buttons of his suit jacket and took out a carefully folded piece of red fabric. His gaze shifted between Erin and Marley as he set it on the table. A hand slid into his pants pocket. “That’s our ace in there. I’m keen to see just how sharp it is.” He kept his tone level even as his disposition shifted back and forth like a ship in rough waters. A brow lifted over the rim of his glasses. “Guess they’re down a bear, huh?”

A once colorless array of images lined that wall, starting with the bossman himself, to Tommy. Many dead, some in jail, and the most cowardice of the few had fled. Turns out fear and money inspired limited loyalty. Even Dale was up there, his stupid grin marked off with a fat, red X - the very first. Triumphs spread slowly, but steadily, the crimson marking them one by one until only the last remained. “Feels pretty good, huh?” Erin asked with the whisper of a smile hiding behind furrowed brows. It was important to remember these moments. To appreciate the wins, big or little, because they sure as hell wouldn’t be forgetting their losses. Helped remind them why it was worth it, why they were doing this at all. “I’ve got a couple ideas, but I’ll wait for Felix to explain,” she answered, smoothing out the corner of the map she was looking over.

Almost on cue, she watched him slip through the door. His demeanour was far different than she usually recalled. Darker. Sharper, like the knife beneath the red cloth. Not even Felix, who’d made a point to keep his participation quiet, hidden in the shadows, had gone untouched in this war. She waited just a moment, eyes bouncing hesitantly between the two until she reached for it, anxious to reveal it live and in-person. The hilt was simple, sturdy, but once removed from the sheath, her eyes never left the glass blade. “This is it, huh?” An image of the blade sinking into undead skin, watching the life slip from his eyes, brought a dark sense of satisfaction she wasn’t prepared to admit or indulge. “Sturdy enough to crack that thick skull, you think?” She asked, teasing a smile for just a moment. “Thank you,” she nodded at him, gesturing towards the dagger. Slipped it back into the sheath and set it onto the table. Took a deep breath. “I know it wasn’t easy. None of this has been. It’s not about to get easier. But we’re almost there,” she glanced between them both, trying to hold back some of the smugness in the curve of her lips. “We’re gonna get him.” It wasn’t a question, or a matter of if any more.

Marley’s eyes went to Felix when he entered. His entire demeanor had changed. She didn’t even need to be a body language expert to see that. But what she did see that others wouldn’t was the darkness in his step. It wasn’t hidden inside of him anymore. After his loss, after everything they’d all given up to get here, it made sense. It was now a darkness they all carried. The three of them together. Marley didn’t move when the knife was placed between them and Erin unraveled it like it was the answer to all of life’s questions. And, for their purpose, it sort of was. It glinted in the dim light and reflected Erin’s eyes. Marley watched her closely. Victory was so close she could taste it, but being hasty would ruin it. She reached out and put a hand over Erin’s. “He’s going down,” she reassured, “we just have to make sure we do it right.” It felt a little hypocritical after what she’d tried to pull with Tommy, but Erin had been her voice of reason back then and now she needed to be Erin’s. “Right?” she urged, giving a little squeeze. She could feel the eagerness inside her own bones as well. When they were finished with this, things would be better. Safer. She wouldn’t have to be looking over her shoulder or worrying if someone was going to show up at Anita’s. The strange anxiety of worrying about other people was still making Marley’s stomach churn with a sourness she wasn’t used to. She’d questioned once or twice whether she truly was cut out to care about others, but if she didn’t try, she’d never know. Never prove everyone wrong. And this? This was the ultimate test, wasn’t it? Her gaze turned to Felix. “We should strike at night,” she said, turning to face the table, “we need to figure out the best place to confront him, too.”

“Don’t mention it,” Felix said with a slight nod. As the knife came into view, he couldn’t help a slim smile. It was the subtle sort of knife. The kind he could appreciate on its own but could appreciate more when it was sticking out of someone, their face frozen in shock. “Consider him dead already.” He said it easily enough, hardly a breath between. He ran his thumb along the line of his jaw as he thought. “It’d be best to get him where he’s most comfortable. A fat cat like that? I’d wager a nightly house call could do it.” He looked over towards Marley with a small smile. They had done one hell of a job before and he was sure they could do it again. As many times as they needed to. The grin widened, sharpened, as he looked toward Erin. “It’s exciting, right?” He shook out his shoulders some. Roy had made it personal for every single one of them. Whoever had said that an eye for an eye made the whole world blind just wasn’t cut out for it. “Whatever we decide, we do it now or not at all. We got all the pieces. We just need to make the moves. Checkmate his punk ass right into the gutter.”

A night attack was the only thing that made sense when your partners thrived in the safety of shadows. Erin couldn’t help the slight twinge of anger that pulled in her chest at Marley’s words. Hard to forget the panicked wallop that had socked her in the gut after Marley ran off on her own, determined to take Tommy down herself. Damn near jeopardized the whole mission. Did Marley really think she’d pull something like that herself now? It was tempting, sure. But she knew better. Wasn’t like she stood a chance against the guy on her own. “Right,” she assured her, a curt nod following. None of that mattered now. There was one goal and everything they had left had to focus on that. Nothing else. Erin squeezed her hand back before jumping right back into it, moving back to the map on the table. “Alright, so, I haven’t been able to locate exactly where he lives yet. The guy doesn’t want to be found or bothered, right? My guess is somewhere on Harris Island or in one of the gated communities in East End.” Felix was right though. This was exciting. Even found herself fighting back a smile as she spoke. “Even if he’s juiced up on someone else’s magic, there’s three of us and one of him. I think my best bet, and our best bet, is to have me slip in at the end with the knife after you’ve distracted and beaten his ‘punk ass’ down enough--”

“Wow. Seriously--wow.”

A loud, slow clap suddenly boomed from the otherside of the warehouse. Footsteps followed with a booming laugh that made every bone in Erin’s body freeze up. She knew that laugh, that voice. Couldn’t forget it if she’d tried, not with the way it haunted most of her waking thoughts.

Roy stopped clapping long enough to slip his hands into his pockets, dark eyes peering not at the three of them hovering around the table. He spared a few glances but he couldn’t stop staring at their board, the notes taped to the wall, like this was a full fledged investigation. He seemed more… disheveled than usual. Manic almost. “I’ve gotta hand it to your rag tag little group here, Nichols. You all have been nothing if not thorough, haven’t you?” A seething smirk lifted the corner of his lips before he gestured with a nod from the way he’d just come. “Although, with that in mind, you’d think you’d remember to lock the back entrance to your super secret club hideout.” He glanced towards Marley, then to Felix. “Or even hide your tracks a little better on the way here. Rookie mistake. You’re new at this, I get that. Mistakes happen.”

He took a few steps closer, slow, never daring a move that could jar them into action. Not yet. Even when he stiffened at the sight of Tommy on the wall. Took more self-control than he initially anticipated but he worked his jaw, regaining his composure. That shit-eating grin replaced the hard line he’d momentarily allowed to slip onto his features. “Mr. Doyle. Ms. Stryder,” he nodded at her two companions. “You wanted me, right? Well, here I am. You’ve got me.”

The chill that ran down Marley’s spine was one she was sure she’d caused others to feel many times. On herself, it felt wrong. Foreign. The clapping had cut through the air around them like knives and she’d turned stiffly to watch Roy stroll from the shadows and straight towards them. Her hand twitched to her gun, but she knew it wouldn’t work. Perhaps slow him down, maybe, but it would not kill. It could not. But it was her only line of defense right now, since the sun sat high in the sky. She swallowed, watched him closely, subconsciously taking a step to put herself between Roy’s path and Erin. Felix was closest to him now. Her eyes narrowed behind her sunglasses-- no, she wasn’t completely defenseless. If he could feel fear, then she could use her ace in the hole. Getting him to look at her would be the hardest part. “Didn’t your mother teach you to knock? It’s rude to just come inside uninvited,” she growled, standing perfectly still, eyes unblinking as she glared him down.

Felix looked at Roy head on as he walked in. His own movements were small, casual, as he reached into his pocket to produce a lighter and a pack of cigarettes. “Don’t they just, old sport.” Flame kissed the end of his cigarette. His anger was barely contained under false human skin. The weight of his head felt uneven as he tipped it to the side. A puff of smoke faded and brought his own grin into view. “You went looking for us, huh? Smart. Can’t blame you at all. You know, we were thinking of doing just that ourselves. Nice to see that we broke even on that one, huh?” He shifted his posture slightly, stood up straight and angled his head once more. The next drag he took of his cigarette was slow and deliberate. He gestured towards Roy with the hand that held it. “Say, we do something to set you off there, pal?”

There was an unsettling fury radiating from Roy. Erin could sense it even from here, could see something not quite right in his eyes. Every step, every word eased out of him methodically. Even the way he rolled the cuffs of his sleeves up seemed tempered, brimming with the same unease she saw in those dark eyes. But she only stood, unmoving, tensing every time Felix or Marley quipped his way, agitating him a little more each time. Slowly, so slowly, she moved her hand towards the clothed knife--

“Ah, ah--I see you, Nichols.” Roy’s dark eyes were firmly on her now. Mid-air, her hand hovered above the knife. Still himself, except for the jostling that loosened his silk tie until his neck was completely bare. That sharp smile returned when he watched the smoke curl loosely around Felix’s hand. “Oh, I’m doing peachy keen, friends. Thanks for asking.” He tilted his head slightly, gesturing towards Marley with one hand as the other sunk into his front pocket. “Well, you know, thank you for asking Felix. I’m doing swell. I mean, outside of the fact that you murdered one of my best men. That one did kind of sting a little.” He shrugged, face and nose crinkling with a feigned apathy. “I’m tired though. Aren’t you guys tired? You’ve been at this for--what? A few months now? Blowing up buildings, fighting, getting people killed.” He put a hand to his chest, the corner of his mouth lifting again. “I’m ready for this to be over. What about you? Hm?”

There was a long pause, as if he was waiting for some particular sort of answer. Satisfied after a moment, he nodded. He pulled his hands from his pockets, fingers splayed outward. “That’s what I thought. Let’s get this show on the road, shall we?” He felt the warmth trickling from his fingertips, the magic pulsing from every dead vein, and without hesitation, his fingers snapped inward, balling into a fist. Every single window in the warehouse crackled, glass bursting out as light poured in. “Much better,” he laughed, though it was swallowed by the deafening shattering. He moved, hands outstretched as he inwardly switched gears, flipping through the coven’s magic like an arsenal. Ribbons of fire stretched from his fingertips, shooting out at the table they all hovered near, very pointedly setting the wall of images up in flames.  

Marley’s eyes watched him closely, every movement, every twitch. It was clear he was going to attack. The only thing to figure out was when. Marley felt her chest tightening, pounding. Tommy was dead because of her, and her face was scarred because of him. She would not reveal her hand yet, though. They needed to play it cool, needed to think of a strategy first. She did not answer any of his question, only stayed poised. When his hands came back up out of his pockets, she knew. The windows shattered around them, a loud booming. The rain of glass sounding like a terrifying waterfall of shards. She covered her head, her face, immediately standing back up once it was over. The fire lashed at the wall they’d put up, setting it quickly ablaze. Marley grabbed Erin and pulled her out of the way, holding up her gun. Fired once, twice, directly into him, knowing it was simply there to provide a distraction. If Felix could get to him, they would be okay. That’s all Erin and Marley were now, distractions. “Go,” she hissed at him, “we’ll cover you!” She shoved the gun into Erin’s hands and reached down for her taser baton. “C’mon, big boy!” she hooted at Roy, “must be tiring being so old and ineffective.”

“One of your best guys, huh? You hate to see it.” The twitch of a smile lifted the corners of Felix’s mouth. That telltale smell of magic was thick in his nose. Reactions in the air, the give and take. It wasn’t quite fire and brimstone. There was too much light in the room with the windows busted but they would have to make do. There was no other option. Marley and Erin would be fine. They had to be, even as glass rained and gunshots fired. And now Roy was alone whereas they were three. But sometimes, numbers didn’t mean much. Maybe that wouldn’t be the case here. They had shit to make even. The fae flicked his cigarette aside and sought out the dark where he could. There wasn’t much. Any sunlight would sizzle him and if he stayed in it long enough… He shed the human skin he wore. It wouldn’t do him any good. Any effort would need to be put into getting close. Close enough to get his metaphorical teeth around the magic that Roy spilled over with. He slipped his glasses off and tossed them aside. As much as he wanted to spit venom, it was counterproductive. He slipped along the walls where the light didn’t touch, his steps light. Roy was close. Close enough that Felix’s blood crackled with potential magic and his mouth watered. But not close enough. Not yet.

The bullets sent Roy back a few steps, like taking a bat to the chest a few times, splicing through undead skin and muscle. “Cute,” he huffed, a thin, razor sharp smirk filling his features as he shot a glare at Marley. Wasn’t his first time taking a shot to the chest. But it was Felix who caught his attention, thick black wisps and bright eyes birthing from the solace of what little darkness remained. “Oh, there he is!” Roy shouted excitedly, peering into the darkness. A lampade. Huh. Seemed Erin had a few tricks left up her sleeve after all. Made sense now, the resiliency of their efforts. She’d only stood a chance because she’d been the only human in the room. Either way, he’d have to be more careful about where he threw his magic around now. “What happened there, bud? Get caught on a chandelier or something?” He smirked, peering over, careful not to look directly into his eyes but it was hard to mistake the space where a second antler should have been. Barely casting the two women a glance, he switched his elemental ammunition. That coven had been a goddamn goldmine.

A gust of wind this time, as strong as a draft from a hurricane, hurtled them both back, sending the crates in the room and shards of glass with them. “Come on! Let me get a good look at you,” he practically chirped. With a flick of his wrist, he used the same current to drag debris and the metal table Felix’s way.

Shit, he’d seen Felix already. Marley went to bolt forward, but in the next moment, she was being thrown backwards by a gust of wind. She landed hard on her back, tumbling a few times over before coming to a stop. Her eyes first searched out Erin, standing despite the struggle for breath in her lungs. “Get up!” she said, grabbing her and hoisting her up. “Get behind something!” The table was flying for Felix, and Marley decided now was the time to act. Invulnerability or not, she had to do something. Felix was their only bet of getting out of this alive-- he was their queen on the chessboard, and that meant Marley was nothing more than a rook or a knight. Perhaps even just a pawn. Somehow, she was okay with that. Despite all of her years of self-preservation, of putting herself and only herself ahead of others needs and wants, she felt in this moment that she wasn’t the most important person in this room. She felt as if her role was already decided. And she was okay with that. She had to be.

She made it up to Roy in no time, swung her baton, and watched it smash into the back of Roy’s head. “Wonder how your bear felt in his last moments,” she chided, purposefully looking to egg Roy on, turn his attention away from Felix. “Do you think he begged for his life? Do you think he felt like a failure?”

There wasn’t enough dark in the joint for Felix to blend in the way he wanted to. Wasn’t that just the way of things? Not going exactly how they wanted them to? He grit his teeth. His eyes brightened by a slim margin as the table came his way and he rolled away from it. With a crash, it collided with the wall. Rays of sunlight burned down on his darkened fingertips and he quickly pulled his hand into his chest. His eyes widened as Marley threw herself at Roy, baton in hand like some warrior. She sure fucking was a warrior but that didn’t seem to phase Roy as he tossed her aside. “Marley!” Roy was a large man with a large shadow, the way he stood with the sunlight pouring in. It was large enough that Felix might be able to fit into it. Something seemed to change in the air as the fae crept closer. It felt heavier.

Erin barely had a grip on the gun before her and Marley both were swept off their feet. This wasn’t the fucking plan. It was the only thing racing through her mind before her back hit the wall. A crack and a seering, burning pain ripped up her chest, making it hard to breathe. Even harder to move even when Marley yanked her back to her feet. Fuck. Hide? She could do that. It was about the only thing she could do. Wincing, she scooped up the gun from the debris and slid into position behind a sturdier looking metal crate just in time to see Marley book it. No, no, no.

Roy let out a low growl of pain when the baton connected, grabbing a fistful of the mara’s hair. A different kind of anguish gutted him. He’d never give the woman the satisfaction of knowing her intentional jabs were doing exactly what she intended them to do. If she wanted to piss him off, she’d done it alright. He gripped her hair tighter, the glamour keeping his corpse-like disposition at bay flickering with the intensity of his anger. Tommy wasn’t a failure. If anything, Roy had failed him. He grit his teeth, pulling her closer, dark eyes boring down at her. “I don’t know, do you?” He didn’t need magic to toss her away, clear across the room. She was nothing. They were all nothing. Gnats that needed to be swatted away, to be crushed under his palm. It was high time they remembered that.

The whistle of a bullet shot by his head. Then another--missed, again. The third one hit right in the shoulder and he turned just in time to see Erin gearing up for one more. So determined, so utterly human in her futile attempts, he’d almost forgotten she was even in the room. That dark smile returned and his hand shot up as he stepped forward. A new magic trickled through his veins, different than the ones he’d stolen from the coven. This was from the boy at the bar. He’d known it the moment he’d siphoned the magic but testing it here and now? It just hit different. He’d have to find him again, get another taste so he could practice. It took more focus than he realized but the pressure enveloping her skull was starting to take hold. When she dropped the gun, his smile widened at the sound of her screaming. Oh, this was fun. He liked this. He could feel the pressure building, as sure as he held her head in his palms. “Give your parents my regards, will you?”

Marley didn’t struggle when he grabbed her hair, yanking her up and holding her still. She just smiled at him, knowing what was inevitably going to happen when he let go. She would not give him the satisfaction of her fear. Like she’d told Erin not a week ago, fear wasn’t a weakness. She was surprised, however, when her feet left the ground and he tossed her away. Sure, she was flying through the air, but he hadn’t straight up killed her. That would be a mistake. When gravity claimed her and she came tumbling back down, it was with a resounding crack as her back hit the ground hard enough to steal all the breath from her lungs. She could feel the ribs snap and splinter inside of her as she finally came to a stop, wheezing as blood curled up her throat. It leaked down the side of her mouth as she lay on the ground, unable to move, her entire body screaming in pain. Fuck, this was bad. All she could do was hope that it had given Felix enough time. Tried to turn her head to look, but a scream from the other side of the room pierced her ears instead.

Erin.

“N-no,” Marley coughed, forcing her body against every protest to move, rolling over. Pain spiked through her chest, her side, her stomach, but she ignored it. Pushed herself up with her one good arm. “No…” She could see Roy’s hands, lifted up as if he were actually holding her head. She couldn’t see what was going on around Erin, but the way he was walking towards her, the way Erin was writhing in pain-- he was doing something to her. He was killing her. Marley’s entire stomach leapt into her throat. A fear like none other gripped her heart, shaking her to her core. Erin couldn’t die. She just-- couldn’t. Marley’s mind couldn’t comprehend it, couldn’t figure that as an option. Erin didn’t deserve to die. She needed to live. She had to live. This wasn’t supposed to be how this ended. They’d fought for months for this, lost so much and so much-- this couldn’t be how this ended.

“No!” Her body moved on its own. She gave one last glance towards Felix, telling him with just a look to make sure he finished this. She would give them the opening to. That was her lot in this after all, wasn’t it? The distraction. The sacrifice. It wasn’t something she’d ever thought she’d find herself thinking that, let alone acting on it. She’d always lived for herself and no one else. Maybe this was to make up for all the bad shit she’d done, then. Maybe this was how she saved herself as well as Erin. Maybe this meant her life wasn’t for nothing. Her body barreled into Erin’s with a heavy step, knocking her out of the way. Shoving her far enough out of his reach that she wasn’t a part of this anymore. Her eyes locked with Roy’s as she felt the pressure lock on to her, increasing around her head. It pounded and tore and folded her up. She let out a groan of pain, the inside of her skull vibrating. Through the haze, she grinned. Blood was already trickling down and out her nose, her mouth, her ears. She needed to make sure he focused only on her. Make sure he forgot about Erin and Felix and everything else. If she could just get him to look at her in the eyes, if she could just get him to look.

“I bet he d-died a-alone and a-afraid,” she growled through the taste of blood, the increasing pain, “I bet he s-suffered.” Let it all egg her on. “All because of...me.” She fell to her knees, still looking up at him, waiting, but he wouldn’t look into her eyes. If this was it, then maybe it was worth it. Maybe her life had meant something after all. God, Anita was going to be so mad at her. “What’d his head look like, in that bad? Was it r-rotted by the time it got to you?” She swallowed a mouthful of her own blood, grinned through the blue staining her teeth, her lips. “All because I sent the hunters after hi--” but she never finished. The crack! of her skull echoed in the warehouse, and her eyes rolled up into the back of her head as her body crumpled lifelessly to the ground.

Roy’s magic cup runneth over and Felix felt greedy. His shadowy skin sizzled as he stepped between light and shadow. It was a matter of time before he was meant to meet the sun. Today wouldn’t be that day. As for Erin and Marley, it wasn’t their time for the sun to set on either of them. They had been through too much, hemorrhaged out people as well blood. The thought of Jane dead alone in the wounds, what she might be had she not been bitten. The second attempt on Bea’s life and the thought of her wrist cold, still under his thumb. Erin’s home had been reduced to ash. Bones had been broken. If it could have, his inhuman shadow would have overtaken the room that had been their sanctuary. As much as they had plotted, they had laughed too. Shared toasts to victories and sat in silence at their losses. Erin’s scream and Marley’s wheezes had him crossing the great distance between him and Roy. If to burn meant victory, he would step into the light unphased.

The air was thick with magic as he waded through it. There was so much of it. He could see the blood trickling from Marley’s face when he crossed over to Roy, the way she went still. His hands grabbed the fext’s face and violently tugged his head over to look at him. Wide, unblinking moons stared into the depths of Roy’s eyes. The fae clawed his fingers into the fext’s human face and as Felix hissed through his teeth, he drank. His blood sang, his grin widened to something monstrous. It felt good to so readily take power from the powerful. To watch them wither.

“Look at me, Chambers,” he said as his eyes flashed. “I wanna see your fucking light go out.”

It was like all at once, Erin’s humanness caught up with her, handicapping her into a near useless form on the playing field. The same one she’d been a formidable player in, behind the scenes, moving the pieces up until now. Her strategies and her will meant shit all with Roy Chambers in front of her. When he set his gaze on her, the powerlessness and the pain was uncomparable. Like someone squeezing her skull, making sure that she felt every ounce of pressure being applied with every grating second that passed. Couldn’t think, couldn’t speak, couldn’t even hear herself screaming. This was it. Checkmate. It was over. This would all be fucking over--

Suddenly, with a jolt and a hard shove from the side, it stopped. It wasn’t over. Not yet. But--no. Marley. Her senses were slowly unclenching, but blurry as everything was, she could see Marley screaming at Roy, falling to her knees. Blinked again. Saw the blood dripping down her chin and the sickening crack that followed.

Marley’s body went limp.

He didn’t--he couldn’t have--no, no, she wasn’t--

Ice filled her veins and red filtered her vision. She wanted to howl and scream, to rush to Marley’s side. Wanted to rip his throat right from his goddamn neck. Felix had beat her to him. Almost instantly, he was rendered motionless, the glow brightening Roy’s face. The knife. Where the fuck was the knife? The red cloth filled her vision just up head. It wasn’t far. Hope struck like lightning in her chest. Gave her the strength to crawl forward, aching ribs bellowing in protest. But her fingers wrapped around the hilt. She could do this. She had to do this. She glanced at Marley, like she was waiting for her to move, to get up, to keep fighting. She wouldn’t--couldn’t. Erin grit her teeth and kept moving.

That bitch. She’d gotten what was coming for her. Tommy would’ve loved the way she fell to her knees, how her gaze gleaned over as her body slumped to the floor. Would’ve eaten his full of the woman. But the satisfaction that came with the crack of Marley’s skull was short-lived. From the depths of the shadows, Felix reared into view and all Roy could see was that intense light. Held firm in his grip, there was no avoiding it. Ensnared like a fawn in a hunter’s trap. He howled, a rage building in him like nothing he’d ever felt. He lashed out, dug his fingers into the lampade’s eyes, what little of his mind that was still tethered in place fighting back. But it was too late. He shed his glamour completely, his decomposing form paling beneath the rays of sun trickling in.

With a resounding, inhuman roar, like an animal gone feral, he hurled Felix back. Magic. He still had some of his magic left. Much of it had been devoured but there was enough of it coursing through his fingertips to finish the job. A swipe of his hand and another crate flew threw the air, slamming into the lampade to keep him down. He stood in front of him, the throws of exhaustion slowing him down. Every little exertion mattered. His hands rose up, slowly, burning with all the magic he had left. “You first,” he growled, though his lips curved into a wicked smile.

“Will you shut the fuck up, already?”

Roy perked at the voice just behind him and then stilled, completely, jerking still with a throaty groan. Not another word. Erin had sunk the knife into his throat, pulled it out, and dug into the soft flesh of his temple. She didn’t have a chance to linger on how good it felt when he grabbed her wrist. It snapped in half with one twist as he flung her off of him. She watched from the ground as he pulled it out, stumbling forward, practically disintegrating before her eyes. He was reaching for her, arms outstretched, but she couldn’t quite meet him in the eyes. Rage burned in those black voids, darker than anything she’d ever seen. Even now it horrified her, sending her clambering backwards. With a final step, he launched himself at Erin, the last of his skin peeling, melting to the floor. Grabbed her ankle, he hauled his rapidly decaying carcass forward, sheer will and pure, unadulterated hatred fueling those last moments on earth.

He knew his time had come but even now, he refused to accept it, desperately clinging onto this plane until his body no longer gave him a choice. His eyes locked on hers when he finally, finally stopped moving.

Felix could see it. The snap, the slight unhinge of the mind. The disconnect. It had been awhile since that old familiar thrill sat on his shoulder and grinned with him. It was a comfort to have one of his oldest friends back in his time of need. Even when Roy rounded on him, tossed him aside like something weightless, he felt grounded. Whatever magic Roy had coursed through the fae, who clutched his wounded stomach and wounded head yet still grit his teeth. He knew he would remember this, the moment when Roy’s lights went out and failure greeted him like a proverbial knife to the throat. As the fext withered and looked at Erin with the eyes of a man who knew he was dying, the fae snapped his fingers and laughed. He wanted it to be among the last sounds Roy heard.

As much as he would remember the fall of Roy Chambers, he would also remember the ones who had started it. Memories were a gift and he vowed to himself as he looked at Erin and Marley, that they would never be forgotten as centuries came and went. The weight against him fell away and he brought himself to stand on shaky feet. He could taste dark blood in his mouth and he blinked rapidly to right himself. Roy Chambers was nothing more than lifeless meat and bone. Bone that might be useful. Profitable. What better way to honor an enemy than by profit. He went to Marley and as he carefully assessed her head, he looked at Erin with dim eyes. Looked past the pile of flesh that rotted into the ground. It’d be impossible to thoroughly clean up.

“Didn’t really go according to plan, huh?” His voice was quiet and ragged. He didn’t smile. “It’s done and done but we gotta get her outta here, Nichols.”

Roy was dead. Erin sunk the blade in herself, twice, and his lifeless corpse sat rotting before her eyes. She kicked away the bony hand clutching her ankle. He was still again. Eyes glued to him, waiting, watching, like she was merely biding time before he spring back to life. When that moment didn’t come and Felix’s voice finally reached her, it took all she had to pry her eyes away. Glass crunched under her as she slowly pulled herself to her feet. Only then did she register the unnatural slack in her wrist and how it screamed in protest at the slightest movement. Her chest stung and every breath felt pricked like knifes against her ribs. Roy was dead. It was done. Felt like more than her brain could properly process, not when--Marley. Fuck. The icy fear that consumed her when she heard that sickening crack returned with a fury. They couldn’t stay here. Felix was right. Erin nodded, the world and most words not coming back to her as quickly as she needed it to. Roy was dead. It was the only thing truly processing, repeating over and over. As if she thought those three words long and hard enough, comfort or relief or anything would follow.

No, no--she didn’t have time for this. Marley didn’t have time for this. Felix wasn’t looking too hot himself but he probably fared better than either of them. “Can you drive?” She asked, rushing to Marley’s side. Still breathing. That was good. That was a good sign. Right? Fuck. Fuck. “Marley?” She called out to her, touching her cheek, willing her to wake up. Nothing. “You don’t get to tap out now, alright? You promised. We see this through to the end. Remember? You promised.” Dread built in her gut. She’d pushed her out of the way, took the blow. That could have been Erin. Should have been Erin.  

Roy was dead but that black fire still roared in her chest, as ugly and hot as ever as she helped Felix carefully lift her unconscious body. Panic swelled alongside fear, gripping her so hard she could barely breathe. Roy was gone and this had to be worth it. This all had to be worth it.

[mor-beck-more-problems]

The White Crest Job || Morgan & Felix

TIMING: Current

PARTIES: @streetharmacist & @mor-beck-more-problems

SUMMARY: Morgan and Felix take a field trip to rescue a very important item from an auction house on Erin’s behalf.

CONTAINS: gun use, violence

Stupidity got people killed. Talking got people killed. Now both in the same suit? They did a bang up job with that kinda thing. As Felix waited and tapped his feet, he had to attribute that to why he had a cooler full of brain on a weeknight. One man’s stupidity was another’s advantage and the fae kept that in mind. There was that telltale jittering under his skin, that sensation before a job and the wonderment at whether or not it would be pulled off. After everything, he felt more than ready to tag in. Erin had gone through enough and she could use a night off of crime. As it worked out, he could use a night of crime. Desperately. With a little luck and pixie dust, he and Morgan might be able to come bearing good news that would make the whole thing sting a little less.

At the sight of Morgan approaching, he stood up from the rickety bench and adjusted his suit tie. It was a special night at the auction house and he wore some of his sharpest attire. He smiled at her and waved. “It’s real nice to see you, Morgan,” he greeted. “You excited?” They were about to walk into the mouth of some sort of beast but as long as they had their eye on the prize, it should be fine. He reached for the cooler and offered it to her. “I got something for ya. One of Roy’s finest. I wanna say the old sport worked at the auction house.” His grin grew. “Not anymore though.”

Morgan could swear her body was vibrating with the need to do something straightforward and easy. Or at least easier than the past few weeks had been. Sure, the primary criminal activity of her life had been charging people for rocks she transmuted from dirt and trash, but Morgan was nothing if not a good student, and being a walking dead girl leant itself to certain advantages. Mushrooms could strike, ghosts could rise from the deep, worlds could fall apart, but Morgan’s limbs would always grow back shiny and limber no matter how many times they snapped off. And this errand, at least, was for a good cause. Morgan rolled up the sleeves of her turtleneck and beamed at the fae waiting for her. “Sorry I’m late, I wasn’t sure what the dress code was for our clandestine date,” she said with a smirk. “Me? Oh I’m ready to dance. It’s been a rough fall, and Erin’s one of my best friends. It’s kinda nice, having something to do that makes an easy kind of sense. All the steps are clear. No back-and-forth, no second guessing.”

She shook her worries back to the far side of her mind and turned to the cooler. “Mother of earth,” she chuckled. “Dinner and dancing? If this is how you treat your friends, Bea’s a luckier gal than I thought.” Flipping open the lid, she fished out the sliced brain, wrapped in sandwich paper like a happy meal burger. Tentatively, hoping that the old whoever had at least been a nice gangster, she took a bite. “Is this to help me blend in?” She asked between bites. “Because I’ll have you know I’ve killed a woman with just my own sparkling personality bouncing around my head.” She took another bite, moaning with pleasure. “Not that I’m complaining, obviously. Think this’ll magically download everything he knew about this place?”

Felix beamed as much as he safely could in return. He intended to save that old song and dance for a special occasion. One maybe an hour or so away, he thought. They would just have to see how the night went. As it was, he was more than interested in seeing an auction hall go off the deep end. The job that he and Morgan had on their docket took precedence over seeing a few strangers lose it for a bit. He smiled at her and was inclined to agree. He did as much with a tip of his head. It did make an easy sort of sense, didn’t it? Easy as snapping a neck. They just needed to get their hands on it first. “Right there with you, my friend. See, I think this’ll be good for us. All of us.” A brow lifted. “I think we got a real nice night ahead of us. As for everybody else in there?” He shrugged.

At the mention of Bea, an easy smile slid into place and his skin warmed. Buzzed even. He didn’t want to think of the night going any way but up for them. He had a gal to get home to. He was sure Morgan could relate. “You know, I’d say we’re all pretty lucky,” he said as he framed his chin with his thumb and index finger. “You, me, Bea, and Deirdre!” As much as he knew that they could spend the rest of the night waxing poetic about their loves, they had some skulls to crack. Speaking of...It didn’t bother him when Morgan took to the brain. Over the years he had developed an iron stomach, of all things. Blood and brain, guts and bone. It all sorta mushed together. He struck a match and lit a thin cigarette. He considered dust briefly earlier in the evening. The more he thought about it, the more he was convinced he wouldn’t need it. Smoke billowed out of his mouth and curled around his glasses as he laughed. “Oh hell, I believe you,” he said with a smile. “I’m not too familiar with how the ol’ brain works, especially in this sorta case, but I think it’ll be a nice thing to have on our side. Y’know, the whole knowing is half the battle thing?” He offered Morgan the crook of his elbow. “Ready to paint this whole gig red?”

“I guess we are lucky, huh,” Morgan mused, smiling into her next bite. Stars above, it tasted so good, she had to ask herself why she didn’t do this more often. She groaned shamelessly as the rich, meaty flavor spread over her tongue. “Felix, you’re making me miss my Texas burgers,” she said, smirking with her mouth half full. “Tell you the truth, I could use a lucky night. I know you’re not supposed to let the bastards get you down, but stars, it’s...fucking hard sometimes. But!” She scarfed down the last of her brain. Nothing felt immediately off the way the urge to listen to a hockey game that night at Erin’s had felt off, but she did feel a little more verve and fire in her bones as she got to her feet. She took Felix’s arm and grinned up at him. “Felix, pal, I’m ready to dance like there’s no tomorrow. I just got one question for ya.” She quirked up a brow at him, nodding to his car and the joint they were about to bust open. “What kinda guns you got stashed in your car? I’m feelin’ like blowing some fireworks.”

“That’s why I’m a big advocate of getting back at the bastards!” Felix said cheerily. Whether it was through bloody footprints or a bullet in the head, things had a way of coming back around. “Nothing really perks up the spirit like some old fashioned vengeance and looking good while doing it. But this is business tonight. The rest can come later.” Heck, would it. The amount of receipts they owed people had started to stack itself high. “Oh, Morgan, I’m so glad you asked. I think you’ll like it,” he said as he looked at her. The tone of her voice, the fire behind it, danced a little differently and he couldn’t help but grin. It reminded him of an old friend. Tommy Toblerone, a fella that had earned his name from the rather unorthodox and sweet ways he could take a person out. “I had to leave the Tommys at home since I don’t think we wanna get the toys taken away early and all.” After he tugged on a pair of black leather gloves as a safety precaution, he pulled out a .38 Smith & Wesson and a .357 Magnum. Without a second thought, he handed her the magnum revolver and a handful of cartridges. “I think you’ll like that one,” he said smoothly as he slid the .38 into the inside pocket of his suit jacket. “I’m more about slicing and dicing myself but I got this one just in case. Old faithful! Been awhile since she’s seen action but I’m feeling good about tonight. You?”

Morgan loaded the revolver. She hated guns, didn’t know the first thing about them except how to hide from one thanks to all the safety videos she’d had to watch for all her shitty jobs. But her hands spun the cylinder and admired the shine of the metal in the night like it was something familiar. Something powerful, even cozy. She loaded the chambers, then popped the beauty back into place. She stroked the frame, smiling at the moon’s reflection. “I feel like a shiny new penny,” she said.

Millie Mayfield didn’t like being interrupted from her movie time, but Roy wasn’t dicking around when he said please, honey, so instead of watching pretty teenagers get cut up by a chainsaw, Millie was getting her boots dirty slipping in to take some delicate goods off the hands of the less deserving. If she could only do it without the B-Squad posse, she might even have herself a good night. “Hey, Mac?” She asked, twirling her bat as she approached the guy behind her. It wasn’t the same as her cheerleader batons, but it killed the time in a pinch. “Can you run and get me some McDonald’s? One of the really sad, dried up specials. You can tell when their tag says FIVE YEARS! With a party hat sticker. Pretty please with cream cheese?”

Mac would, because Roy also said she was in charge, and he knew she’d bust his kneecaps into confetti if he didn’t.

Something rattled at the end of the warehouse. Company. Roy hadn’t mentioned anything about it being a party, but she was an adaptable girl. Millie sauntered into the warehouse, bat held out and ready to strike. She signaled to Mac to get out his gun. “It’s not nice to gate crash,” she called inside, her voice almost sing-song. “If you came to play with the big kids, let’s play.”

As fun as it would have been to crack a couple jokes at the expense of the rich, Felix and Morgan didn’t have that luxury. They had a docket to make a couple checkmarks on. As it went, his patience was thin to nonexistent. Maybe it was because of the mushrooms or maybe it was because things had a way of not going their way lately. He checked over his knives and the gun in his hand. Even clicked his heels for the knife he kept there. All in tip-top shape. The knives were slid back into place. The back of the auction house had a padlock on it but that didn’t matter much as he jimmied it open with a grin flashed Morgan’s way. The chain rattled as the fae toed the door open. From where they stood, there seemed to be plenty of shadows.

Perfect. That good feeling fluttered in his chest again. Even when a voice called out. As a pair of steps entered the auction house’s backroom. Even better. If there were ever a night to have a tussle, it would be this one. He slipped off to the left. Slipped into darkness.

“Do me a favor and let us know when they show up, yeah?” He took his switchblade in hand. “Much appreciated.”

Millie had two choices. Go for the goods, or go for the party crashers. Roy said the merchandise would be small, easy to miss. Not exactly something you could nab with some sleeze pulling your hair. Besides, Millie never turned her back on a fight. “Real funny, Tricky Dicky. Maybe you should run back home to the kiddie p--” A gunshot burned through the air and into her chest. “Ow!” Millie looked down at the scorch mark in her dress. “That was genuine vintage!” She shrieked.

There was still smoke at the end of Morgan’s revolver when she realized her mistake. This dame wasn’t the kind you pinned down with a bum shoulder or a busted kneecap. For all her grousing about the clothes, there wasn’t even a lick of blood coming out of the wound. It had been a rookie mistake, thinking she’d go down easy. This dame wasn’t human anymore than Morgan was. “Sorry, sweet cheeks. I don’t make exceptions for people who get in my way. Equal rights and all that,” she said, stepping into the light. She risked a glance at Felix, who was visible only by his switchblade. She hoped he was watching too, that he saw her little nod to go for the gold. She could keep one little dame busy for him. “You might wanna dance back to your go-go party before this gets worse. It’d be a shame to knock such a pretty block off.”

Millie was already marching forward, bat ready. “Try me, bitch.”

Nothing like the sound of a revolver and the smell of spent gunpowder to remind Felix of home. Let alone a heist! The fae tipped his blade Morgan’s way before he started to climb over boxes and through shadows. What they were after was small, easily concealed. But if he had heard right, it packed one hell of a punch. A bullet that would be real damn nice for them to have in the chamber. While Morgan dealt with the dame with the bat, he’d get what they needed. The light of a waning moon overhead bled through the smallest tear in the roof. Caught on something that shone with iridescence. He sure as heck hoped it was the something they were after. There wasn’t any hesitance to the way he moved toward it, hard-charging if there ever was any.

A hard charge into a forearm that caught him right across the throat. He puffed out a few breaths as he skittered back and recuperated enough to bring him to his feet, back into the shadows. His throat smarted as he looked at what had caught him. A forked tongue flicked out of a fanged mouth. Their head swiveled to follow him as Felix moved. They had a knife too. One with a jagged sort of blade.

“I can smell you, shadow.”

Morgan had seen too much violence since coming to White Crest to mistake the sound of a fight. The smirk on her lips flickered as she turned. “Felix—?”

“You got way bigger problems than that, Dollface,” the same sneered. She swung her bat, hard enough to knock Morgan off her balance.

Her head felt like it was off kilter, but that was just her skull bones bending around the wound. It was right again in seconds and Morgan leveled her revolver again to fire off another round, this one landing square into the girl’s eye. Faintly, she knew she hated guns. The sound, the way they looked, how they went from zero to disaster with just a bang. But something strange in her liked it too. She readied another shot, but the dame was already charging her, anger blazing out of her now ruined face. She was hell in high heels and creamsicle orange. Hell and payback. The bullet hadn’t even moved her an inch. Morgan threw away her gun, useless, and tried to run. A hand caught her by the hair by the hair and dragged her back.

“Zombie, huh? This is gonna be fun.”

“Morgan, ya alright?” Felix’s eyes were ahead but his ears were behind him. His expression wavered from one of confidence to one of concern. He liked Morgan. A great deal. And they had people to get home to, let alone a fucking point to get across. Any wavering halted. When he moved, the lamia’s eyes followed him. They placed themselves as a body between the box full of iridescence and the lampade itching to get his hands on it. Felix slipped his jacket off and wadded it up. It could be said that Felix was a planner but as he rocked off his heels and went forward, not much thought went into it. The lamia struck out, their knife cutting easy through the fabric. The tip nicked Felix’s palm as he let go and danced back. The lamia’s tongue flicked out again as he stepped through the shadows.

The fae hit his heel against the ground hard enough to spring the knife from his shoe before he lunged forward with a kick. The lamia was larger than him, muscle packed tight together, and he felt it when the knife in his shoe clipped through the lamia’s suit pants to lodge itself in. It wasn’t the strongest of knives and it broke off as Felix pulled his foot back. The lamia jabbed at him again with the knife and cut a line of black, ink blood across his chest. Felix hissed then grinned as he rolled up the sleeves of his dress shirt, switchblade still in hand.

“Alright, alright,” he muttered out with a laugh. “So much for working this out, huh?”

The next time, it was the lamia that moved to meet him in the dark. Knives out.

Morgan caught the dame’s hands and twirled in her grasp, getting enough space to knee her in the stomach, get a new grip on her arms, and throw her into a stack of crates. She didn’t run this time, but picked up her opponent and slam her down again. Maybe if she’d been some lousy human, it would’ve broken her in a couple of pieces, but this girl wasn’t the type to roll over easy. She pulled out a knife from the front of her shirt. It wasn’t big enough to lob off her head, not quickly anyway, but her eyes burned red and Morgan realized she was staring down a bonafide vampire.

They tousled, slinging blows with all their strength and all the ruthlessness of two women desperate for a win. No more maybe this times. Morgan was walking out of here with her prize for Erin. With something done the right way. Crates shattered under Morgan as the dame threw her again. Glass and powder spilled onto the floor. Morgan didn’t care, those goods weren’t her problem. She grabbed some of the broken wood and swung it hard enough to crack the damn thing to bits. When she was through, she had a nice stake sized piece, sharp and jagged, as far as the stuff went.

The vampire dame snarled and leapt out of her reach.

“What’s the matter, doll?” Morgan asked. “I thought we were gonna dance.” If nothing else, she sure as hell hoped Felix found this magic blade soon.

It had been a hot minute since Felix had been in a knife fight. After everything that had happened, he supposed it was only a matter of time. As he weaved through the shadows of the warehouse, the lamia was there with him. His glamour had dropped the more that black wisps of blood smoked out of his dress shirt. Knife fights were ugly, feral affairs. He couldn’t help but grin as he ducked back from the lamia’s swipe. Only for him to come to a stop as a painful tug spread pain along the top of his skull. The lamia’s hand was wrapped around the main beam of his right antler, close to the fork. Felix reared his head back and flipped the knife in his hand to stab at the lamia’s hand. The blade nicked skin but it wasn’t much. The lamia who had him locked in place kicked at the side of his leg and brought him down hard to his knees.

His eyes widened and flashed white as the lamia brought the serrated edge of his knife to the bone. Felix frantically shook his head violently and tried to rear back. Dig his heels into the ground to force himself back into the dark. It didn’t matter. The lamia would find him and he wasn’t going anywhere.

The lamia knew what he was doing. Maybe it hadn’t been the first time for them. But it had been the first time for Felix. Breakage. The crack deafened him. Dulled his senses to anything other than pain and pure, undiluted rage. As the antler separated from him, the lamia stepped back from the force of it. Felix was on them in an instant as he threw his full weight into him. The antler clattered from their grasp and the fae took it in hand. Didn’t second guess when he started to plunge it through the lamia’s scales. The ones that lined their neck, their chest, their organs. All the soft parts that made the rest crumble.

He didn’t realize he was yelling until the lamia went still underneath him and inhuman blood splashed his chest. His chest heaved as he sat back, eyes wide and wild. His throat hurt. His head hurt. Momentarily, he forgot what they were there for until his eyes locked on the box and he brought himself to stand. Antler still in hand, he went to it and looked back to where he could hear the sound of Morgan’s own scuffle.

“Morgan,” he rasped out. “Fucking kill her, huh?”

They were bounding through the warehouse, chasing each other like filthy animals. Somewhere between running around crates, the dame found Morgan’s gun and had herself a nice time driving the rest of the bullets into her body. The steam was still on the muzzle when the wounds healed up, but the rounds must’ve sounded like pennies from heaven all the same. She heard the shouting and stopped to turn. It was the wrong move. The dame’s bat smashed against her skull, hard enough to send sparks through her vision.

“Maybe get the fucking knife, huh?” Morgan called back.

She still had a grip on the stake, but the vampire was hanging around her like a goddamn flying monkey. Morgan lost count of how many surfaces she bashed her into befor she let go and slid off. It wasn’t every day you regretted bringing a gun to a knife fight, but that was White Crest for you. Morgan pinned the dame down and decked her with her fist. Felix hadn’t sounded so hot when he called out to her. They needed to end this quickly. The stake came up--and splintered in the vampire’s grip. Morgan didn't even see her arms come up to knock her down, just the view of those damn go-go boots as she ran away. Good riddance.

“That’s gonna be a ‘negative’ on that kill,” she groaned, easing up to her feet. “But she’s out of our hair. Maybe some son of a gun hunter will have a better night. You find it yet?”

“If not,” Felix started as he approached the box. “I’m sure I can hire somebody. Plenty of fucking nobodies that wouldn’t mind getting a tooth or two from her.”

He tried to ignore the splinter ache in his head. Even as he tilted it, it felt lighter. Unbalanced. Uneven. His forehead felt wet and as he touched his fingertips to it, pulled them back, he saw more bloody wisps. His skin felt cold, his nerves even more so. The fae looked at Morgan with dim half-moon, a fist clenched around his broken antler. The knife sat unbothered atop a heap of fabric. With the exception of its glass blade, it was otherwise unexceptional. Bullets and blades for another kind of destruction. What the fuck else was new.

“I did. You alright?” The question was clipped with an aimless agitation. No, it wasn’t aimless. He knew exactly who he was pissed at. He gestured loosely at the knife and leered at it. “That’s the fucking thing right there. It better be worth it after all this shit.”

Morgan shuffled over to Felix, giving a whistle when she saw how worse for where he was. “You had a worse time than me. Guess Roy got the same tip we did, and wanted to get ahead of the game. And now that dame knows who Erin’s friends are. She’s gonna blab to Roy and give him the scoop.” Morgan spat on the ground, shaking her head. She was too small to see from the ground, but one hop onto one of the few crates that wasn’t busted and she could see what all the fuss was about.

The hilt wasn’t anything special, but the glass was a beaut, thick enough that you could spit on one end and not tell from the other, and serrated, brought to a deadly point. Morgan couldn’t imagine you made something like this in any old forge, but what did she know about this stuff. “In the right hands, it’ll stick Roy in the ground for good, and that ain’t nothing,” she said. “Come on, compadre. I’m feelin’ like a cigar. This ol’ brain is a doozie, and you need to get the edge off before that ride home.”

Felix made a low sound of affirmation. “It’s not every day you break an antler,” he intoned. It truly fucking wasn’t and his lip curled. “That sounds about par for the course in this town, huh? Word travels fast.” He glanced at the dead body of the lamia. Whether or not they had been close to Roy, he didn’t care. A dead body was a message all the same. He shrugged loosely as he looked back at Morgan. The night was still fun in its own way, breakage and bullets be damned. “Lucky us.”

“Think I’ll need more than a cigar but I ain’t about to turn that down,” he said with a glance to Morgan as he pieced his human glamour back together. His glasses were somewhere but he wasn’t in the mood to look for them. He wasn’t in the mood for much other than that cigar she offered. “Roy will be in the ground before he fucking knows it and y’know, I like the sound of that very much. Let’s get out of here. We did good and ought to treat ourselves to something nice.”

With the knife in their possession, they could leave the warehouse and good riddance to that. It’d be nice to burn it down, he thought. Burn it all down. His anger was loud and alive in his head. His hate. As they made to leave, one thought crossed his mind. Just how tired he was of only walking White Crest’s streets. He wanted to fucking own them.

[humanmoodring-retired]

POTW: Mima Bam Boum || Alain, Felix, Kaden, Luce, & Nadia

Or: Nadia and crew do The Thing, and it does not go according to plan (as if they had one in the first place)

With: @carbrakes-and-stakes @streetharmacist @chasseurdeloup @divineluce

Sitting in her truck, parked not too far from that fucking mime restaurant, Nadia couldn’t help but wonder, on a scale from one to ten, how bad this idea was. Probably an eleven. Probably higher. She didn’t even know how she’d gotten here. Well, other than driving. At least she remembered the drive. But between the internet and talking with Luce, she’d managed to put together a rather decent explosive, though the fireworks had been relatively useless. Maybe she could throw that barbecue, invite Erin as a thank you, should this thing not kill her. Because what the hell was she doing, anyway? Taking on a mime demon that really hadn’t done anything to her. Except she’d let that thing loose in the sewer, and, no matter what Kaden said, that was still on her as much as it was on him. This whole mime business was fucking cursed, and people were getting hurt because of it. Nadia figured that getting rid of the thing in the alley and the restaurant would be a step in the right direction. Hopefully. She got out of the truck and decided to wait against the back for Alain, Kaden, Felix, and Luce. Fuck, she hoped she didn’t get anyone killed with this thing.

Alain had parked his car far enough from the mime restaurant. The last thing he wanted was to damage his car because of mimes. Sure, this would not be directly their fault, but when did this stop him from blaming them ? The handle of the sword was peaking out of the dufflebag as he stepped out of the car, although considering the hour and the current darkness, he would not have to worry about it at all. He took a moment to take a deep breath. Things would soon get stressful, and heated, and he wanted to appreciate the calm and quiet before it all began. He was a bit early anyway, so why not enjoy that ? Approaching the restaurant, his gaze was drawn toward a truck parked on the sidewalk. He had already seen it at the garage, although back then, it was his employee who had taken care of it. Still, he knew who it belonged to, and he raised his hand to greet Nadia.

Kaden wasn’t sure blowing up a mime restaurant was the best laid plan after that disaster with the cardboard cut out but fuck if he couldn’t use a pick me up after the last few weeks. If that restaurant was going to be destroyed, he was going to be there with front row fucking tickets. He still wasn’t sure what help he’d be to Nadia in this endeavor but that didn’t mean he didn’t come prepared. Guns, knives, holy water. Look, if something like that fucking smoke demon happened again, he was ready. He saw her and Alain around back and headed over, watching his back to make sure no one was following him. He knew damn well he couldn’t trust his hearing with this brand of monster. Kaden was a little surprised to see Alain there but he didn’t mind. And again, the smoke demon shit came to mind. If that was only a small taste of the kind of fuckery that could go down here, they’d want at least two hunters. “So what’s the plan?” he asked. “Are we waiting on anyone else?”

Few things in the world could compare to the smell of dynamite and gunpowder. The only one that might come close would be the ruins of what once was a mime restaurant. Felix sure as heck hoped so as he made his way downtown through the shadows. Maybe a license would be worth looking into but that could come later. The potential for crime had him skipping by fast, more than eager to see a mime place vanish off the face of the earth. He pulled himself out of the dark a block away from where Nadia suggested they meet. Her first crime! That he knew about! Exciting, thrilling. A real adventure hour! He adjusted his tie and straightened out the sleeves of his jacket before he waved to the crew she had assembled. Kaden, the other guy with the face. “Looks like this might be part two to that birthday gig of yours, huh?” He grinned at Kaden before he shifted to look at Nadia. “You excited? Because I sure am.”

When Nadia had brought up the idea of blowing up the mime restaurant, Luce had mostly been joking about doing something like that. And about her pyrotechnic ability-- sure, she knew how to make a molotov, knew how to throw together a pretty basic napalm with acetone and styrofoam. Which, she’d packed up in the backpack that was slung over her shoulder. She’d parked her large 4x4 in an alley a quick run from the mime restaurant. Close enough to be easy to get to, far enough to probably keep people from thinking she had anything to do with the upcoming act of arson. As she neared Yours, Mime, and Ours, Luce’s expression turned to a slight scowl as she took in the small gathering. It was a fucking sausage fest of dudes who she really didn’t care to know about her magical predisposition. “I’m guess we’re gathered here today to fuck some shit up?” She asked, with a wry grin before tilting her head at Kaden. “Birthday Boy out for some revenge? I thought you were a cop, dude.”

Grinning nervously as the last of them showed up, Nadia looked at the group of people around her. Emotions practically radiated off of Kaden, Alain, and Luce, and she could still feel Felix’s excitement, muted as it was. She decided to focus on him, remembering the advice she’d been given that nonhumans were just a bit easier to deal with than humans. She opened up her trunk, first grabbing a pack of bullets for a .50 ae pistol. She tossed them to Kaden. “Happy birthday, though it’s late.” Then she grabbed the explosive she’d managed to put together following a couple of tutorials online. This was the second attempt; the first hadn’t failed catastrophically when she took it out of town to test, but she definitely put a dent in a small field and had to run from an angry farmer with a shotgun yelling about hooligans playing with firecrackers. She’d also figured out that she fucking hated electrical work. But it should work. “I’m, uh, nervous. But this is definitely going to blow something up.” Hopefully none of them. “So, I was thinking we trap that fucker in the alley? Block off one of the entrances, force it to the other end, and boom. Blow it and the building up.”

Alain's eyes went from Felix to Kaden. Raising his eyebrows, the hunter breathed out heavily and took a few steps back to look at the restaurant's menu. Well this was even worse than he thought. Selling crème brulée like it was a luxurious dessert was a crime in itself. When he glanced back at the group, he noticed something in Nadia's hands. Since he had never used explosives, he was not fond of being anywhere near them, although if it had not exploded yet, it was safe, right ? "Are you sure you don't want us to shorten the ends of the fella before we blow things up ?" Yes, he should have been clearer and said that he wanted to cut the hands, feet and head of the fucker to be sure, but that wouldn't have sounded right. "Anyone have an idea on how to block one entrance ?" He looked at the other hunter and shrugged. "We could prevent that thing from going anywhere, I guess?"

“Let’s hope this isn’t part two. No one needs that. And yeah, I am. Kind of. I can’t make arrests, it’s fine.” Kaden hoped that was true. Maybe he should have worn a hat. Or some kind of disguise. Just in case. Too late now. Still, of course both Felix and Luce had to remind him of the single worst birthday party that may have ever existed. He shot them both a glance, but took the bullets from Nadia and shoved them in his back pocket. “Thanks, I’ll be sure to put them to good use.” He took one look at the explosive and knew he wanted nothing to do with that. He was much more comfortable with the task of blocking off that fucking mime moster and hopefully shooting it in the face. That said, he was pretty sure any bullets would bounce off or its head would grow back; it seemed like the type. The satisfaction would be nice, though. Kaden took a look around down the alley and saw a few shipping boxes, a dumpster, there was enough random crap. “That. Come on,” he said to Alain, pointing at the big dumpsters. They worked together to move them down the end of the alleyway, then grabbing whatever boxes and trash he could find. The boxes were a little odd, who left their shipping outside in the alley? And they were.. Moving? Nah, he was imagining it. When they were done, it wasn’t a beautiful barricade but it should make just about anything pause. “We’ll keep post at the other end. Try not to blow us all up,” he told the demolition crew as he and the other hunter waited at the alley for this shit to go down.

“I just want you all to know that this might just make my entire year. What a gift!” The fae’s eyes practically lit up at the sight of homemade dynamite. The plan was all well and good. Just a simple trapping and a couple of boom-booms. Heck, did that take Felix back and he steepled his hands together. If a streetlight glinted off his glasses at an opportune moment, he didn’t notice. He had brought his own supplies. Slow-burning wicks, his own brand of explosives, lighter, a small snub-nosed source of firepower and a knife up every sleeve in case the mime thought about getting handsy with the merchandise again. He sure as hell hoped the mime did. Stealing a fella’s green was a capital offense. As he waited for the barricade to be built up, he could barely contain his anticipation and grinned as he looked over to Luce and Nadia. He glanced down to the explosives in Nadia’s hands and nodded. “How you wanting to smoke ‘em out? Throw a little something-something in the front and they gotta come out here,” he said, gesturing to the alley and the barricade before he leaned back to glance at the front. Glass looked weak enough. “Won’t have anywhere else to go, y’know? Give em the ol’ badabing badaboom.”

“Just as long as you don’t arrest me, I’m good.” Luce nodded at Kaden before watching as he and the other man headed down the alleyway, like some kinda sniper elite shit. She was pretty sure she recognized the old guy from the mechanic’s shop in town. Color her surprised to see him there. Which left her, Nadia, and Felix. A much more reasonable bunch that she’d be fine showing her true colors to. Opening her backpack, Luce held up one of the two molotov’s she had, the pouch of homemade napalm, and her handy dandy zippo lighter. “I’ve got supplies for day, plus a little secret weapon, if we need it.” She said with a grin. She was the secret weapon, of course. “You’ve kinda got a big old explosive there. Let’s not waste it-- we could draw them out with molotovs and then launch yours.” She said, gesturing to the stuff in Nadia’s hands. She’d have to ask her how she managed to rig up that crazy device. Holding one of the bottle aloft, Luce looked at the two. “You guys good with this?”

“I’m ready if you two are,” Nadia said. “We lure it to us and then bye-bye, fucker.” The three of them headed into the mouth of the alley. From there, Nadia could see Kaden and Alain blocking the other end. There was no sign of their friend the mime demon. Good. “I’m going to rig this to a wall,” Nadia murmured. “It’s timed, so when the thing gets close to us, we’ve got, like, fifteen seconds to get the hell out. We just need to make sure it doesn’t follow us.” She set it down, then took a molotov. “We need to get it here. And keep it here. It might try to escape with so many people around. But we need to get it here first.” Not wanting to waste time, she took a molotov, lit it, and threw it against one of the walls. Glass shattered, fire rained, and light filled the alley. She saw it, the creature, lurking in a corner, the light hitting its ghastly, expressionless face. Looking at it filled her with awful dread, and it only got worse as it scuttled towards the three of them slowly, on all fours.

"Feels like Mai 1968 all over again," he glanced over his shoulder at the barricade then back at the fire that was starting inside the restaurant. His hand clenched on his sword as he saw the creature approaching the three others, although something crawling up his back and on his head changed his priorities. Reaching for it with his free hand, his first instinct was to toss this thing away from here, but the thing was clinging to his hand. Okay, this is fine, he thought to himself, putting this thing as far as possible from his face to give it a look. 8 hairy legs, a dark abdomen and a striped thorax. Well he sure hoped that getting bitten by this thing wouldn't have the effect it did on spiderman because this Mime spider (because let's be honest, putain de bordel de merde, this was a fucking mime spider, wasn't it?) had just sank its mandibles into his hand and forced him into crushing the thing against the wall with his hand. And since good things never appeared alone, as Alain turned to warn Kaden about these, an army of more mime spiders appeared from the boxes. “Oh, putain,” he muttered to himself, crushing the next one underneath his boot.

So it wouldn’t just be a simple boom and leave kinda job, would it? Fine by Felix, his schedule for the day was fairly open. Plenty of time in the world to ruin a few mimes. When he laid eyes on the creature Nadia was talking to, he grinned with sharp teeth. The fucker had stolen his weed. Watching it burn alive would be a pleasure unknown before that very moment. “Oh fella, am I glad to see you,” he said to himself as he reached into his suit to grab a small piece of dynamite. He lit the wick and tossed it straight at the creature, who caught it with a swiftness that mildly alarmed. “Got something else for you to smoke, motherfucker.” The wick burned down to nothing and boom. The light from the flame licked against the fae’s triumphant expression. “Well huh, that was--” He stopped. The smoke fell and behind it, an expressionless, untouched face. An intact hand. Momentarily stunned, the only thing that brought Felix out of it was the feeling of something crawling on his leg. One of the spiders had made it down the alley. Outraged, he grabbed it and slid the knife out of his sleeve to stab it in the abdomen and twist. The small creature died with a whisper of oui. The fae brandished the knife as he backed up toward Nadia and Luce. “Well hot fucking dog.”

Kaden ducked a little and shielded his face with his arm as the explosion went off, just in case. Looking up to see that fucking place on fire was a beautiful sight. The sight of a fucking mime spider crawling on Alain’s face was less so. “Shit!” He fumbled and instinctively raised his gun at the thing (and the other hunter’s face). Right. Bad idea. He lowered it and realized he felt something crawling on his arm. His eyes shot down and saw one of those fuckers on him and even more by their feet. Putain. Were they wearing little berets? His brow furrowed a moment, then the thing jumped up towards him. Kaden yelped and flung it away. Fucking shit. He started stomping furiously, trying to squash as many of them as possible. He could have sworn small cries of “non” escaped with every crushed creepy stripey crawly. Cursed. A quick glance at Nadia and crew and saw they had a guest to this party. Fuck. He raised his gun to the beast waiting til it was in view and his colleagues were out of the way. Let out a breath. Aim. Fir— Fuck! A sharp pain hit his ankle, (and a whisper of “oui”). Fucking spider. The shot went wide. He didn’t take time to see where it hit, just slammed his heel down on the fucking spider and took another shot at the monster across the way. Hit. It had to have. But it looked like the bullet was… absorbed more than anything. The creature twitched and catorted it’s head, looking for its aggressor. It seemingly decided on the trio in front of it. Putain.

What a fucking mess. Nadia, not really knowing what to do and running out of options, reached in her jacket pocket and pulled out a handful of salt, throwing it at the creature that Kaden just shot. It was strange. The salt didn’t do a damn thing to the creature, but it did seem… stunned? Like it wasn’t expecting that. Just like she wasn’t expecting the mime spiders that were rapidly pouring out of the boxes. She crushed one under her boot, and then another. A softly whispered, “nooooon” filled her ear, and she shrieked and brushed at her shoulder, one of the fuckers falling to the ground for her to stomp on it. All the while, the mime monster was headed for her, Luce, and Felix. “Shit shit shit shit motherfucking shit,” Nadia said eloquently, wishing she’d packed her gun but, after seeing the fuck-all effect Kaden’s had, knowing it’d be useless. She needed to set up the big explosive, and they all needed to get out. While they could. “Cover me! Or get out! Or something! Shit!” Moving as quickly as she could to the restaurant wall, stepping on mime spiders (one cried out “baguette!” viciously as it’s final cry of revenge) and hoping the big one didn’t follow, she took the explosive and began rigging it to the side of the already burning restaurant. On fire was good. Destroyed was better. And maybe it’d take out that demon fucker and his spider fuck friends as well. At least, that’s what she fucking hoped.

Caught off guard by the horrific fucking mime spiders that were plaintifly saying random French words as they died, Luce hesitated at the shit show unfolding before her. What in the fucking shit was going on? But, before she could really process any of this, the large demonic mime thing whirled around and made its way towards her, Nadia, and Felix. Nose still smarting from her fight against the Fext, Luce knew she had to play smart this time. Grabbing the bottle of homegrown napalm she’d made, she chucked it at the horrible monster. Glass shattered, sending the sticky, clinging flammable fluid all over the thing’s body. With a quiet snap of her left hand, she summoned a small spark, igniting the giant mime monster. The monster roiled and she watched as it seemed to unbend, the black of where it’s stomach should be opening up to display a terrifying maw of jagged teeth. It snarled and stumbled around, smearing ignited napalm against the walls of the alleyway. It definitely wasn’t dead. “Ah fuck. How the fuck are you not dead?!” She said, backing away from the now flaming mime monster.

It was starting to become real apparent real fast that they were in something of a French pickle. A nervous energy compelled Felix to smile broadly in the face of black-and-white striped danger. In all his years, he had never seen mime spiders or whatever the heck the thing with the gaping maw was. White Crest really was the most cursed place on the planet. He couldn’t imagine being anywhere else! The creature contorted in a mass of limbs and a wide, gaping maw where a face shouldn’t be. Might as well have been a layer of hell the humans talked about sometimes. But it was a face of some kind and that meant that it had eyes most likely. Even if the dang thing defied most everything. He wasn’t keen on bringing out the lights in front of mostly strangers, but with all the fire and chaos, maybe it’d go unnoticed. “Well hell. Come on snake, let’s rattle.” As Luce stepped back, he gripped his glasses and slipped them down just enough to expose the bright, blinding beams of his eyes. Looked the striped, French devil in the eyes. The alleyway shifted underneath him and he stumbled back, barely getting his glasses back on. There was light all around him. There was too much fucking light. Was it daytime? When did it become daytime? He needed to go but the alley seemed to be turning, a colorless carnival tunnel that he couldn’t get footing on and he stumbled back. The knife fell out of his hand. The oui in his ears grew louder. He was in too much light and he felt too warm, like he was sitting in the sun. Nervous, what the fuck laughter bubbled out of him. Holy crepes, he might just die there.

The spider mimes kept coming, crying out "non" and whispering "hon, hon, hon," as they crawled up. "Oh no, absolutely not,” the hunter cried out ,throwing another one of these monsters into the flames that were starting to eat the restaurant. The spider squealed “omelette DU fromage,” but now may have not been the time to correct a spider’s poor knowledge of French grammar, especially after seeing Mr.MimeParties performing his best impression of fog headlights and falling right into the burning restaurant. “Putain de merde,” it was clear by now that the mime monster wouldn’t die, but that did not mean that Felix had to die instead. His sword dropped to the floor and shielding his face with his forearm, the hunter walked laboriously between flames and rubble. Even if that guy was definitely not human, he was helping them, and that meant something. Ripping away the spider, that had oui on repeat, clinging to Felix’s head, he put a hand under the man’s armpits and pulled him up against his chest. “Alright, let’s get you out of here, old sport.” Yeah, no, that was not going to do, Alain figured, as he decided to lift the man on his shoulder to carry him out of here. The smoke emanating from the building looking far from reassuring, and the threat of a roof collapsing on the both of them had Alain hurry out. “Any chance with our mime friend?” He called out as he put Felix down on his feet.

How in the fuck? Kaden watched as Luce lit the fucking mime demon on fire and it just. kept. Going. Like it was the energizer mime or some shit. That thought sent a chill down his spine. No, wait, that was another spider in a beret. He reached back and threw it off him. Alain had drug boy who seemed to be hypnotized, it was pretty clear Luce was ready to get the hell out of dodge, and so  was he. But Nadia was still there, rigging shit. And the monster was crawling towards her. Fuck. He rand over, shooting useless fucking rounds at the thing’s head in rapid succession. It did fuck all, as he suspected, but he hoped it bought Naida a few extra seconds. It reared back once more, exposing its teeth jutting out from its stomach. Shit, any moment it was going to come for him. He looked behind her towards the barricade. Another flood of spiders hissing “hon hon hon” were coming. They couldn’t stay there. “Nadia! Come on, let’s go!” he shouted as he looked back at her, hoping she was ready so they could get the hell out of there. Hell, in three seconds if she wasn’t ready he didn’t care, he was going to drag her out of there his damn self. He wasn’t letting anyone die by mime. Not today.

Luce was too busy running away from the shitty napalmed-assed mime fuck to really notice what the fuck was going on with Felix. But, when she saw the alleyway illuminated in strange light, the man fall backwards, and his glasses fall back in place, she frowned. What in the-- A tiny “Pomme de terre,” rang out near her ear and she felt something skittering across her back. Shuddering, she reached behind her and grabbed the awful little mime spider off her and stared at it as it tried to bite and claw at her face. What in the fucking shit. Curling her hand around the mime spider, she let the flames burn through her hand, igniting the mime spider. The spider shrieked in French pain and she hucked it across the alley at the giant mouth-stomach shit. “Fuck you and your shitty kids!” She yelled at the creature before turning around and bolting. She sprinted out of the alleyway, past Nadia, past Kaden, past all of them. She wasn’t about to be stuck here while this place went up in smoke. And she sure as shit wasn’t going to be dying here.

Stressed and interchangeably cursing in English and Spanish, Nadia finally got the piece of shit bomb she’d created hooked up and turned on. “Thirty seconds!” she said, and she grabbed Kaden so that the two of them could get the hell out of Dodge. Mime spiders trailed after them, crunching and ouiing under their feet, but the big one, with its horrible abdominal maw, stayed behind, despite the tick-tick-tick coming from right next to it. As she looked back, she stumbled, positive that the damn thing was smiling, before she righted herself and kept going. Everyone had just made it out of the alley when the restaurant exploded. See, here’s the thing about homemade bombs: you never knew what kind of outcome you were going to get. But Nadia had fucking stuffed that thing with black powder and just about any other explosive material she could get her hands on in a small number of days, and apparently the wall she’d placed the thing on was near the kitchen because when everything went boom, everything went boom. Stripes flew through the air, a baguette rocketed through the sky, and mime spiders rained like confetti. Nadia felt like screaming. Instead, eyes widely and shellshocked, she whispered, “Holy fucking shit.”

[nelllraiser]

bea-day party | group chatzy ft. jack

LOCATION: illusions of grandeur.  PARTIES: @beatrice-blaze, @divineluce, @nelllraiser, @phoenixleah, @halequeenjas, @streetharmacist, @mor-beck-more-problems, @chasseurdeloup, @jane-the-zombie, @whatsin-yourhead, @professoranieves, @harlowhaunted, @themidnightfarmer, and best boy jack. (picture in link courtesy of rhi) SUMMARY: bea’s birthday party goes off without a hitch, apart from one very friendly sea-man. CONTENTS: strippers. (of the non-mime variety.) 

Luce finished off her second glass of champagne, looking around at the party that was in full swing. Literally. Swing dancing, who'd have thought. Setting the empty glass down on a table, she made her way towards the wall of champagne again. A wry smile slid across her face as she took another glass of very expensive champagne. Fuck the coven, fuck their mother, fuck their parents for abandoning them. This was their little revenge, a party fit for a queen, with a bill to match. Glass held loosely in her hand, she glanced over at a person lingering near the wall of champagne. "Help yourself, seriously. We went all out for a reason." She said with a grin before raising the glass up in toast. "Did you watch the show earlier?"

For the moment, Nell had placed herself by the entrance of Grand Illusions, showing those that had been invited to Bea's party to the private box and party room. Now, as she made her way back upstairs to the main events, champagne, and poker tables, she looked over everyone's outfits with a careful eye, trying to spot those that might not have dressed to theme, and preparing some scorching words should they have denied that part of the invitation. But then she spotted something that caught her even more off guard, a certain blonde hanging by the champagne towers. "Blanche?! What the hell are you doing here?" Her voice was loud enough to carry to anyone else in the close perimeter.

Bea had a champagne glass already in hand when she went into the room where the party was truly happening. It was her birthday and she'd get hammered if she wanted to. Taking a long sip, she nodded toward the poker tables in the back. "Anyone care to join me at the table?" She was fully intending on taking her friend's money tonight through the tables and had no shame in that.

Kaden didn't feel a lot like celebrating after what had just happened, but it was for Bea so there was never a doubt that he'd show up for this party if he could. He was also pretty sure there as no way Regan was going to put herself in this sort of big public space with all the stress that came with these kinds fo gatherings. He had her present for Bea with him all the same. A quick look around and the place was immaculately decorated, of course. He hoped his suit was okay, it was all he could manage. But he tried. First thing after dropping of the presents was to grab a thing of champagne from the fucking wall of it before heading towards Bea. "Happy birthday, again. I'll join if you want." He wasn't very good but it was all for fun, right?

There was nothing Jasmine loved more than a good party and she had high hopes that Beatrice could deliver. While her party planning skills weren't quite on par with her own, they'd definitely had some fun in the past. Plus, who didn't love a Gatsby theme? Her flapper headband and red sparkly dress that hugged her in all the right places really was an absolutely look. Some good photos of her Bea, and Leah were a requirement before leaving. She greeted the younger Vurals as she walked in and helped herself to some champagne. "It was quite the show," she mused with a wicked smile, "You don't have to tell me twice to grab some champagne."

Felix had to laugh when he first saw the joint. All they really needed was a couple signs about how silly prohibition was and they really had the theme in the bag. As gilded as the time had been, the party was even more so. He loved it. Bea deserved it. He’d make his way back over to her in time. He sipped idly on his champagne as he fluttered about the party floor, a wide smile in place as he surveyed the crowd. With the way things were going, it wasn’t out of place to keep an eye on anything being just that. Too many parties gone wrong, or right, kept him on his toes. He paused for a moment beside someone and cocked his head. “You lost any money at the tables yet?”

Morgan sauntered in, pleased to have an excuse to wear heels and some of the jewelry Deirdre had bought and kept stashed in their closet all this time. She almost didn't feel the chill of not having her girlfriend on her arm to make the night brighter. The sight of the Vurals excited her enough to make up for coming alone. "Hey, guys!" She called, twirling to show off her black jeweled flapper style dress."Bea, this is for you," she said, rushing over to the oldest Vural, and the crowd gathering around her. "Kaden, looking extra dapper today. I don't know about you guys, but since I can't get drunk, I'm up to blow a ton of money at Texas Hold 'Em."

Anita felt a little out of place at the party. Normally she would be at the bar flirting with any and everyone. But now she had a girlfriend , and it felt weird to continue to flirt with random women given the agreement she had made with Marley. But, surely there were other things to do at parties than just flirt with people, so Anita made her way to the champaign tower and grabbed a glass. Then she just made her rounds, walking around all the elaborate tables and attractions trying to spot somebody she might know. She saw Kaden and Blanche, but she didn’t really want to strike up a conversation with either of them.

Blanche had enough of the hospital after only two nights. She checked herself out early that morning and told exactly no one as she headed home to get dressed, leaving the bandages on her back visible. There was nothing to do about them. Bea deserved to have a good birthday, and honestly, Blanche wanted some time to chill and relax. .... And then there was Nell, yelling at her. "Drinking champagne?" Blanche asked, holding her glass up innocently. "And thinking about winning money by counting cards."

Jasmine eyed the poker tables and decided to follow suit. Was it the best idea when Larry Bob still had a habit of crashing her showings? Probably not, but she was decent enough at poker. Her father always had tables at their parties and she caught on young. She placed Bea's present on the gift table before joining the birthday girl's poker table. "Happy birthday, Bea," she said in a bubbly tone, "You've really outdone yourself with this party."

Jared spotted his two part time roommates and took in Nells face before he even half registered Blanche herself. He made his way through the crowds hover handed appropriately. "Are you...what's going on?"

Jasmine. Of course this bitch wore a red dress too. Whatever. Red was her color and she damn well knew it. Resisting the urge to roll her eyes, Luce shrugged at Jasmine, champagne flute cradled gently in her fingers. "Bea has an eye for talent, she knows how to put on a show and holds the others to those standards too. But, they did good tonight." She said with a nod of her head. As the woman drifted away, Luce spotted Anita through the crowd. What was she doing here? Making her way across the room, Luce cast a crooked grin in her direction. "Hey, stranger. Having fun?"

Leah was never much of a gambler. She usually preferred to watch in the background, silently judging people's drunken risks from afar. But today was different. Today was Bea's birthday, and with a few drinks in her and surrounded by people she loved and was comfortable with, it was easy to lose her inhibitions. She couldn't help but laugh at Morgan's antics, giving her a little clap as she twirled around to show her outfit. "That sounds like a plan to me!" she said with a laugh, holding up her champagne glass. "I'll drink enough for the both of us." She glanced over at Felix standing next to them, shaking her head. "I think I'm saving it all to waste it in one big blow. That's the way to go, right?"

"Yes, join me!" Bea grinned at Kaden, before catching a glimpse of Morgan twirling. "Looking amazing, Morgan, and I love that energy." She wanted everyone to have that spirit, blowing their money and drinking was the name of game tonight. "Thank you, Jasmine. You look great tonight. Nell and Luce helped me plan a lot."

Squinting her eyes ever so slightly, Nell watched Blanche carefully, as if she might burst back into flames at any moment. "Shouldn't you still be in the hospital?" But she knew from experience that if Blanche wanted to be here, there was no way of making her go back to any sort of medical care. It was, tragically, one of the many ways in which the two girls were alike. "You count cards?" The witch carefully left off the too at the end of that sentence, not wanting and unwitting potential poker challengers to be clued in. "I bet we could start a new table," she said, catching the eye of Bea at one of them already. Might as well spread their resources to bring in as much revenue as possible, right? "Then she turned to Jared to explain. "Someone decided to check themself out of the hospital early, but now we're gonna go legally steal people's money. Did you wanna come? Does anyone else wanna start a new table with us?" she asked to those nearest to them, hoping they'd brought a decent amount of cash.

Anita smiled slightly when Luce approached her. For a moment she regretted coming. The only reason she even did was because she felt like she deserved a fun night, and given how lavish a party this was, it was clearly the place to be. “Hey yourself,” she said as she finished up the liquor in her glass. “I just got here, but so far- yeah. You guys really know how to go all out.” Instinctively her eyes trailed down Luce’s body for a second with a small smirk, “And you really know how to clean up.”

Jasmine smiled at Bea. As much as they bickered, this had all the workings of a good party and this champagne was divine. "They did a good job, too. It's still so crazy seeing them all grown up." She turned and gave Leah a wave and noticed there were a few people at the table she hadn't met yet. She looked to the French sounding man and the pale woman who had joined. She extended a hand to shake, "I'm Jasmine. I don't believe we've met before."

Luce watched Anita over the rim of her glass, eyes drifting up the other woman's form. "We're the Vurals, we never do anything by halves. Besides, 30's a big deal." She said with a wave of her hand to the elaborate decorations around them. Tilting her head at her comment, Luce raised an eyebrow. "Mm. Our father made the dresses, so it's his handiwork. Besides, we set the dress-code. What kind of hosts would we be if we didn't stand out, you know?" She said with a laugh.

Kaden nodded. "Thanks. Looking good, Morgan." He settled down at the table and took his cards. He didn't consider himself a great card player, but he was competitive so he was going to try his best to keep his money in his pocket. He gave the new woman's hand a shake. "Kaden. Nice to meet you. How do you know the birthday girl here?" Kaden caught a glimpse of his cards and groaned. Bad hand already. "Putain," he grumbled to himself, under his breath as much as possible before taking another drink.

Felix looked between Leah and the tables. His smile widened. "Oh, certainly! Nothing really livens things up like losing it all in one fell swoop," he said with a sagely nod. "It happens to the best of us. Even Arnold Rothstein!" Geez, the guys from decades back would be rolling over in their graves if they saw the place. "I think Nell's looking for a crew over there. There's worse places to lose but you gotta watch her. She's sneaky." He waved at Nell and Blanche before he wandered over to Bea. He lightly squeezed her shoulder as he smiled at the small crowd she had gathered at her table. "So, she take anybody's money yet? How're the hands looking?"

Morgan beamed at Leah, primping her finger curled hair and jeweled headdress. "What would I do without you, Leah? I hope that's a promise." She said, reaching over to give her hand a squeeze before settling at the table. She gave Kaden another once over, a little impressed he found it in himself to have some fun instead of doing whatever hunter nonsense or fae damage control he normally got up to. It was kind of nice to see him at least trying to have a good time. "Thanks, handsome. You look pretty good yourself. Maybe we can keep each other out of trouble tonight." As she settled in, she caught sight of a new person and shook her hand. "No, I guess not!" She said with a careless shrug. "I'm Morgan. It's nice to meet you! You're looking very spiffy tonight, I gotta say." And Morgan's hand was looking pretty spiffy too, though she tried not to let it show too much on her face.

Jared looked at Blanche in worry, but didn't voice his concerns, she knew her own limits. And while it didn't sound like a very good thing to be doing, he wasn't one for a fight at the moment. Not that he believed he had any say at all, he was far too soft to win a fight like that with anyone let alone Blanche. "I'll come, got no cash to be throwing down though. More for moral support I guess."

Jasmine couldn't help the sly smirk on her face when Kaden swore in French under her breath. "Nice to meet you, Kaden. Bea and I have been friends since high school. We were on the cheerleading squad together." She wouldn't mention that Bea beat her out for captain of the squad. With a small laugh, she added, "You know, you're not supposed to give away the fact you have a bad hand, but hey, no complaints here." She looked over her own cards and kept her face neutral before responding to the petite woman named Morgan. "Why thank you, Morgan. Couldn't show up to a Gatsby party looking anything but. I'm loving your outfit, too."

Bea nodded,"Yeah, sometimes I remember that Nell is twenty three and lose my mind." She let out a loud laugh at Kaden's groan,"You know, you're not supposed to let people know that you have a bad hand." She glanced at her own, mediocre at best, but she'd make it work. She looked back at Felix with a grin, flashing him her cards,"I haven't yet, but I will soon."

"Maybe," Blanche replied with a shrug, giving her friend a small grin. She was still in a fair bit of pain, but it helped to be distracted and surrounded by people she loved and cared about. She glanced at Jared a little sheepishly. "I hate hospital food." Not that she was feeling very hungry to begin with anyway. Blanche waved at Felix as she reached out to grab Nell's hand. "C'mon, let's go kick some ass with our friendly neighborhood cheerleader."

Anita let out a soft laugh, “I gotta admit I’ve never thrown a party that had a dress code. But you’re certainly right. This is a fancy party, and it deserves to have the people in it looking just as smashing.” She took a brief look around the room, finding herself relaxing a bit more when she spotted Morgan. At least there were two people here that she liked. “This is a bit awkward, but could you point out which one is the birthday girl? I’ve, uh, never actually met any of your sisters.”

Leah grinned widely and waved back to Jasmine, fully planning on pulling her and Bea into the photo booth at some point tonight to reenact some of their photos from high school. She laughed at Felix's comment, although she had no idea who he was talking about. Maybe some defamed poker star? She should have studied up before she came tonight. Turning her attention back to Morgan, she couldn't help but giggle again. As if to prove her point, she took another sip from her champagne, holding it out to Morgan like she was toasting to her once she was finished. Felix's idea was as good as any, though, and she called out to Nell, holding her bag up with a bit of emphasis. "I'll join a game, Nell!" she called, maneuvering through the crowd.

Morgan blinked with surprise at how close this Jasmine seemed to be with Bea. It's not every day Kaden got dragged in perfect stereo. "Neat party trick. Now I know you guys are real friends. It's good to finally meet you. Guess you've got your night cut out for you, Kaden. What're you gonna do about it?"

Felix weighed the pros and cons of asking Kaden how this party compared to the last one but thought better of it. With the sound of despair that the man gave at his hand, Felix figured he was already in for a rough night. The corner of his mouth twitched as he looked over at Morgan. "You think he's gonna need any help or should we just see what happens?"

Luce finished off her drink, the alcohol making things nice and fuzzy around the edges. She fucking deserved to get trashed tonight after all the shit that had been going on lately. Letting out a wry laugh at Anita's admission, she nodded. "I'll do you one better." She said tilting her head towards the table Bea was settled at. She could see Leah and Kaden hanging around Bea, which wasn't... ideal, but fuck it. Whatever. Walking over, she took in the cards on the table, lips curling in a smile. Bea was going to clean them out. "Who's getting fucked over this time, hm?" She asked as she approached the table. "Anita, this is the birthday girl. Bea, Anita. She's a... friend."

Nell knew that now wasn't the time to fight Blanche on this, and finally decided to simply watch the girl closely for the night. Tonight was supposed to be fun, and no doubt Blanche wanted a distraction. So just let it be fun. An excited smirk came over Nell as they neared the table, and her head turned as she spotted Leah making her way over. Was she okay winning money from her sister's best friend? Yeah, she was okay with that. "Come and join us!" Would Leah know the Vurals reputation with poker since she was so close with Bea? That might complicate things. Grabbing a champagne glass on her way to the table, she waved at Leah as she settled in. "Great! Come on over. We even brought our own cheering section," she said with a motion towards Jared.

Kaden grumbled. "Well it's clear why you two get along. I was folding anyway." He tucked the cards away and waited for the next round. He shot a look at Morgan and then at Felix. "There's always next round. It's fine." He downed the rest of his champagne. Good thing there was more where that came from. "Hey Luce. Anita. Come to see them take my money, I see."

Morgan beamed up at Felix, batting her eyes fondly. "It's more fun to see the chaos unfold, right?" She whispered sweetly to him. "Parties are more fun that way. But I won't let him get hurt too bad." She elbowed Kaden gently, warmth shining through her mischievous smile. "And hey," she said to the hunter, "A positive mindset can do a lot for your chances. Aim a little higher, champ."

Jasmine let her laughter ring as she looked to Bea. "Guess we have a habit of doing that, huh?" It wasn't surprising Kaden folded, but Morgan seemed to be pretty giddy. She wondered which of them had the better hand. "Just don't ask us to do that one on command. It's gotta be in the moment." Morgan seemed to be sweet. "There's always next hand... though I don't think you magically develop a good poker face." She added with a shrug.

Leah continued her trek toward Nell and her friends, giving Luce a big smile as she walked by. There was no doubt in her mind that she was about to lose all of her money- she wasn't experienced in poker in the very least, and the Vurals were scary good at poker. Still, her vast experienced in, well, ...lying... it might make her a good bluffer. She sat herself down at the table and finished off her glass, pumping her fist at the mention of a cheering section. "Oh man, dude, that's normally my job!". She drummed her fingers on the table, eager to get started. She let her eyes fall to Nell's, pointing to her threateningly. "Are you prepared to get your ass kicked, Vural?", she asked, teasing. Maybe the alcohol was making her more confident than she should be.

Remmy idled. They had definitely gotten ready on time, but the last time they'd gone to a big public outing, it had not gone well. Morgan was already there, she'd gone early or on time or whatever people wanted to call it these days. Remmy glanced down at Moose. "Not this time, bud," cause no one would try something in a room with all three Vurals present, right? And so, an hour later, Remmy had found themself outside the doors, listening to the chatter inside. Someone came out and held the door open for them and Remmy was suddenly forced to scuttle inside. What greeted them....wasn't exactly what they'd thought it would be. If they had the ability, they might have paled. Still, they swallowed and gathered themself, tugging on the lapel of their suit, and made a beeline for the present table. Maybe if they could just leave their gift and go, it would count as having shown up.

Anita followed Luce across the room, dropping off her empty glass and picking up a full one on the way. She didn’t love that Bea was at a table with Kaden, but Morgan was there also, so that balanced things out. Plus, Kaden had a sour look on his face, so maybe he wasn’t doing so good at the card game. “Absolutely,” She shot at Kaden. “Sounds like a fun way to pass the time.” Anita smiled politely at the other people sitting playing poker, winking playfully at Morgan as she caught her eye. “So nice to meet you, Bea. Happy Birthday, welcome to the big 3-0 club. It’s not as awful as it sounds, I promise.”

A right hunk of a man walked into the building, dressed in a basic white long sleeved shirt and long linen trousers, with a black loose next tie and a white sailor's cap. If you looked closely, you could see the velcro fastenings on all his clothes. With an exaggerated strut and a million dollar smile, he walked up to a random individual. "Well hey now good gentlefolk! I seem to have stranded on this 'ere shore. Could ya point me to the captain of this ship, a Miss Bea Vural?" He winked, flexing his arms, but casually.

"Chaos? Here?" Felix's tone dropped into a conspiratorial one. Chaos in the presence of all three Vurals? "Say, Morgan, I think we got a long, eventful night ahead of us." The fae looked over to Luce and her friend. Raised his champagne glass in greeting. "Glad to meet ya and glad you could make it out. Hiya, Luce!"

"Hey Leah," Blanche laughed as she took a seat next to Nell. "You both talk big game, huh? I think - oh my god." Blanche went a little slack jawyed when she caught sight of a sailor. She swatted Nell and pointed. "Who the hell is that??"

Jared raised his arms in a shared cheer for the cheering section and mumbled about his cheerleader outfit before looking at the sailor who'd just arrived with curious eyes. "That's her." he pointed to the birthday girl.

Luce was about to say something to Kaden, make a pithy joke at his expense. But, as a muscled man made his way to the table, arms flexing and clothes far too tight, she resisted the urge to gag. "I think the fuck not." She murmured. Casting an apologetic glance in Felix's direction, she tilted her head away. "I'm gonna go... away from here. Have fun, Bea." She said, squeezing her sister's shoulder before hurrying away from the table. She was not interested in seeing stripper dick. Walking away, she hurried as fast as she could away from the table to one of the quieter corners of the room, the gift table.

Bea let out another laugh,"Aw, Luce, don't say it like that." She raised an amused eyebrow at Luce,"A friend, huh? Nice to meet you, Anita. I'm trying not to think too much about being thirty. Make sure to grab some champagne." She glanced at Jasmine with a grin,"We do that too much." Grinning at Morgan and Felix, she replied to them,"There is never chaos at a party like this!"

Jasmine peered over her champagne flute long enough to see the hot sailor man saunter on over toward the birthday girl. She set her glass down and arched an eyebrow. "I didn't realize this was going to be that kind of party, but I'm not complaining."

"Oh come on, Leah. You know I don't have the attention span for poker," Nell lied easily. "My sisters were always better at it, which is why I put slugs in their beds." Her face was complete with a sense of resentment, as if the words were true. But the arrival of a certain someone caught her eye, and a wide smirk quickly found her lips. "Oh, that? That is Jack. He's nice, isn't he? Very shiny. Very buff. Very good at dancing."

Morgan followed Felix's gaze to Luce and Anita, who seemed to be looking rather comfortable together. She couldn't help the way her eyes bulged at the combination, especially with Remmy finally strutting up the room behind them all. "You sure aren't kidding, huh," she whispered to Felix. She tried to recover quickly. "Hey! I didn't know you knew Bea and Luce, Anita! It's great to see you here. I hope you plan to drink enough for--" her conversation died into a snort as the sailor stripper came in. "Vural parties really do pull out all the stops."

Bea head whipped toward Luce. "What is this, Luce?" She asked as she was being abandoned. She downed the rest of her champagne before holding her hand out for more,"I need more champagne." What is happening? She hadn't planned for a stripper. She supposed it wasn't the worst thing, but this was a whole lot of a lot.

Remmy had successfully made it to the gift table. They could almost pick out their friends' voices through the haze of everything, spotting them all laughing over at a table. They considered, for a moment, joining them, but if they were playing cards, they weren't sure they could stop themself from card counting and that seemed unfair for a birthday party. So, instead, they set the card down they'd made Bea, turned to slip back through the crowd-- and ran straight into Luce. "Oh!" They stuttered, stepping back. "Hey, hi. Hello! Um-- I'm just-- I didn't see you there. You look--" they paused, staring a little slack-jawed at her. Tried to swallow. "This place is--" they tried to pry their eyes away, but couldn't. "I'm just gonna...." but didn't move. "Leave now."

Anita followed everyone else's glances towards the man in velcro clothing. She had to stifle her laugh because this man was clearly about to strip for the ‘captain’, the birthday girl herself, Bea. “This is gonna be fucking hilarious.” Anita said to Morgan as she finished off a second glass of champagne. After she acquired another glass, she sat down in the chair beside Morga, then looked around the party. “No girlfriend tonight?” She whispered as she mentally prepared herself for the horror that was the male body.

Kaden blinked a moment at the goddamn striper that rolled up to the table. And then he started laughing. "At least he's not a mime." He shot a glance to Felix. "This also your idea?" Knowing he was a fae surely explained a lot more of the chaos. He saw some champagne on the table somewhere, didn't care whose it was and handed it to Bea, still laughing at the whole situation.

Jack smiled beautifully as a couple people pointed him over to a table. "Oh I'll be sure to thank y'all properly later." He winked, strutting his way over to the table with a wide smile. He tipped his cap. "Ma'am. I heard someone was in need of the art of seaduction?" He shifted his pose, so under the thin cloth of the shirt his large, impressive pecs popped.

Luce had made a quick exit from the table, practically fleeing from the male stripper. In her hurry to get away, she didn't realize where she was going until it was too late. Remmy-- Fuck. Shit, shit, shit. "Oh. Hey." She said awkwardly. As she stood there, listening to them stutter, she weighed which was worse-- going back to the table and suffering through... that or stand here and talk with Remmy. Honestly? She wasn't sure. "You... look good. Nice suit." She nodded before frowning. "Leave? Didn't you just get here?"

Leah looked over to the new guest, her eyebrows furrowing at the intrusion. This man was not someone she recognized, and her eyes were accusatory as he walked through the guests. Oh, god, was he a stripper? It all became clear when he spoke, he's dramatic tone making it obvious. If she could have shrunk down into her chair, she would have. She desperately hoped that being situated at the poker table would make her go unnoticed by him... she did not want some random dude dancing all over her, no thank you. He'd probably be pretty distracted by Bea, anyway. She turned her attention back to the table, choosing to essentially ignore his presence. "He's certainly something", she said, responding to Blanche and Nell. Her eyes were accusatory again, and it was all she could do not to laugh at Nell's words. "I'll make sure to buy something nice with the money I'm about to win from you", she said, feigning confidence. "Maybe I'll even get you a gift!". She turned her attention around to Jared, winking at him. "Are you our dealer?"

Felix threw back his champagne in record time and took a moment to get a few more glasses for everyone before he took his own seat. He looked over at Kaden. "Nope," he said with a pop. A grin followed as he took a drink. "It's not my fault this time. I'm just happy to be here, fella."

"... Well," Blanche said, glancing at Nell. This had to be her doing. She started to snicker, tipping back her champagne. She was immediately distracted from counting cards and that was certainly fine by her. "He's certainly... a seaman." Blanche made a face. "And shiny??"

Morgan sniggered alongside Anita and used everyone's distraction to advance her hand in the game a little. "No, she's uh, a little indisposed right now. Although she might be sorry she missed this much fun later. She's a fan of just about everything here, booze, friends, counting cards, and a little chaos." The stripper popped his pecks and Morgan had to look away when she started to laugh too hard, even with her politeness reserve. "Kind of a shame we didn't get one of each, huh?"

"I did not do this," Bea let Felix know as a glass of champagne was placed in her hand. "Thank you," She told Kaden, laughing slightly. As his pecs popped, Bea was both impressed and a little startled. That was a sight. "I suppose that someone is me, sailor. Work your magic."

Something was going on over at the table of all their friends, but Remmy was always a one-track mind kind of person. Easily distracted. And Luce was certainly a distraction. They weren't sure if they wanted to stay there, though, when she was looking at them like that. "Oh, uh--" they blinked and looked up, "I can like...I was just-- maybe? It's uh-- I figured I can just go say hi to Bea and then, you know--" scratched their neck, "leave." Tried to smile, turning to look towards the table and-- "Is that a stripper?" they blurted loudly.

Leah looked over to the new guest, her eyebrows furrowing at the intrusion. This man was not someone she recognized, and her eyes were accusatory as he walked through the guests. Oh, god, was he a stripper? It all became clear when he spoke, he's dramatic tone making it obvious. If she could have shrunk down into her chair, she would have. She desperately hoped that being situated at the poker table would make her go unnoticed by him... she did not want some random dude dancing all over her, no thank you. He'd probably be pretty distracted by Bea, anyway. She turned her attention back to the table, choosing to essentially ignore his presence. "He's certainly something", she said, responding to Blanche and Nell. Her eyes were accusatory again, and it was all she could do not to laugh at Nell's words. "I'll make sure to buy something nice with the money I'm about to win from you", she said, feigning confidence. "Maybe I'll even get you a gift!". She turned her attention around to Jared, winking at him. "Are you our dealer?"

Felix threw back his champagne in record time and took a moment to get a few more glasses for everyone before he took his own seat. He looked over at Kaden. "Nope," he said with a pop. A grin followed as he took a drink. "It's not my fault this time. I'm just happy to be here, fella."

"... Well," Blanche said, glancing at Nell. This had to be her doing. She started to snicker, tipping back her champagne. She was immediately distracted from counting cards and that was certainly fine by her. "He's certainly... a seaman." Blanche made a face. "And shiny??"

Morgan sniggered alongside Anita and used everyone's distraction to advance her hand in the game a little. "No, she's uh, a little indisposed right now. Although she might be sorry she missed this much fun later. She's a fan of just about everything here, booze, friends, counting cards, and a little chaos." The stripper popped his pecks and Morgan had to look away when she started to laugh too hard, even with her politeness reserve. "Kind of a shame we didn't get one of each, huh?"

Something was going on over at the table of all their friends, but Remmy was always a one-track mind kind of person. Easily distracted. And Luce was certainly a distraction. They weren't sure if they wanted to stay there, though, when she was looking at them like that. "Oh, uh--" they blinked and looked up, "I can like...I was just-- maybe? It's uh-- I figured I can just go say hi to Bea and then, you know--" scratched their neck, "leave." Tried to smile, turning to look towards the table and-- "Is that a stripper?" they blurted loudly.

Jasmine considered sharing her champagne with the birthday girl, but apparently Kaden already had her covered there. She leaned over and whispered to Bea, "Kudos to whoever picked the stripper out. He's hot." She scanned back over to see Leah's reaction and grinned at her furrowed brows. "Not the classiest party favor, but hey, fun doesn't always have to be classy."

Anita couldn’t help but let out a fairly loud laugh when she saw the stripper talking about seduction and flexing his chest muscles. It was way too over the top. “Well, at least you’ll have a hilarious story to tell her.” She replied to Morgan, motioning over to the sailor. “Uh, could you imagine? That would be a real party.” Anita looked around the table, looking to see how everyone else was reacting to this man. “But hey, since we’re both here solo, we should have some fun, yeah?” She asked, lifting up her glass to cheers.

Jack met Bea's eyes and smiled temptingly. He saluted. "Aye aye captain. I hear this here's some sorta celebration, and I'm your gift." He winked, lifting up a part of his costume, the faux white belt that attached to his trouser. He offered the end of it to Bea. "So maybe you should unwrap me?"

"How could I refuse?" Bea replied with a chuckle, before taking the belt in her hand, sipping on her champagne. This was a hell of an experience, but she would remember this for her sisters' birthdays.

"I'm sure Bea would be happy to see you, but..." Luce grimaced as she gestured behind her, to the crowd that was growing around Bea's table. She watched as the man handed her the belt of his pants and grimaced. "She's got a little bit going on right now." She said before letting out a sigh and rubbing her forehead. "Yeah. Someone got her a stripper and it sure fucking wasn't me." She mumbled. "I need a drink. I need... many drinks." Luce said as she walked over to the champagne wall and took two glasses, downing one then the other in rapid succession. "Good fucking jesus."

Nell watched the stripper events unfold with far too much amusement in her eye, pausing from her game for a moment. "I don't know why everyone's looking like I did something. He's the one docking his ship at my sister!" She had definitely done something. If you could include hiring a secret stripper as doing something. "It's probably all the sea mist that makes hims shiny."

Jared shook his head to Leah. He was not qualified to be dealing them anything other than an awkward smile and a poorly covered astonishment as the stripper made moves towards Bea. The man took a full step behind Nell as if that would protect from from what was about to happen.

Morgan nodded at Anita, taking two champagne glasses from a passing waiter and holding them up in as classy a double toast as she could manage. "Oh, completely. If I manage to win anything, without her help, showing off her presents--well, she'll either be excited or jealous, and that's a win-win for me." She downed one glass in a single chug. "Sorry yours couldn't be here either. Sincerely. But I am all having a good ol' fashioned time without them." She turned over her shoulder to the stripper, "Dance, Magic Mike!" She called, laughing harder than she meant to.

"Okay, yeah," Remmy said, backing away from the gift table, "not going over there. My eye doesn't need to see that." They followed Luce over towards the champagne wall, not bothering to take a glass themself, feeling a little jealous that they couldn't also down two glasses in succession and get rid of the anxiety-- and the image of that large man unraveling his clothes next to Bea-- but decided it was fine. "So...fun birthday, huh?" Morgan's shrill laugh echoed and Remmy fought their curiosity to look over and see what was happening. "Wanna dance?"

Jared was looking anywhere but at what was occurring (he was bi but too innocent for this sort of thing) and caught eyes with someone he vaguely recognised. His mouth bloomed into a smile and he sidled over to Kaden. "No uniform? You didn't get hired for this one?"

Jasmine giggled with glee and gave a little "woop" as Bea took his belt in his hand. "Yes, sailor, we gotta sea this." She turned to Morgan with a wide grin and noted, "I like you, Morgan."

Leah let her eyes lock with Jasmine's, a clear look of panic gracing her features, though there was definitely playfulness laced within them, too. "I will murder you if something like this shows up for my birthday", she warned her, watching Bea and the stripper with masked amusement. "I think I need more champagne!" She rolled her eyes at Nell's joke, grabbing a champagne flute from a passing waiter.

Slowly, Felix slid off his glasses and blinked. That had to be against some kinda sea safety protocol. "...So anyhow, August is an alright month, huh?" He said absently as he looked at the stripper, his expression a little less than amused. Oh heck. It was August. The ring on the table from the champagne glass stared up at him. Oh, it was that time, wasn't it? So focused on crime and whatnot, he forgot about the dang mushrooms. He loosened his bow-tie before he sat back further into his chair. Nope. Not dealing with that today. He occupied himself with his champagne glass and turned his gaze away from the man who, as Nell gracefully put it, was docking ship.

Jasmine feigned innocence. "I would never, Leah!" She had to admit, it would be pretty hilarious to see, but she wouldn't do that to Leah. "I, for one, disagree. This sailor is more than welcome to my birthday bash." She gave him a sly wink.

Jack gave her a sultry wink, and once she held the belt tightly enough, he stepped back, flexing every muscle in his body as the outfit popped off it, one velcro fastening at a time, until it all dropped to the floor. All he was left in was his navy blue mesh thong, and his matching necktie. His dark skin glistened, every inch of him (and he did mean every inch) was toned and muscled to perfection, a physique that could make anyone jealous or horny. He rolled his hips slightly, letting them look and salivate.

Kaden was sitting back and laughing at this whole thing. And hey, still not a mime stripper so it was really still a win. His brow furrowed when the kid with the tractor came over to him. "Oh, hi. Uh, what are you talking about?" A quick glance to the stripper and then back to the kid, it became clear what he meant. He rolled his eyes and shook his head. "I'm not a mime. Or a stripper. I'm Bea's friend. You must be mistaken. Who are you anyway?" He was never admitting that was him the other day. Ever.

Luce made the mistake of glancing over at the loud laughs that rang out from Bea's table. And immediately wished she hadn't. Some things just couldn't be unseen. At least, not without far more champagne. "Fuck me." She said and took another glass from the wall, head already beginning to spin from the alcohol. "Dance? I--" She blinked. Dancing. "I... Sure. Why not." She said, taking their hand and walking with them over to the dance floor.

Oh this was much easier to deal with when this man had his pants on. Bea sent a look over to Felix that she hoped conveyed, Oh dear, lord what is happening? "Wow, consider me seduced." She finished her drink quickly. Was there going to be more after this?

Jared was taken aback for a second and then he made an oh shape with his mouth and grinned at the other. "Riiiiiight, not a stripper! Of course. No worries, I won't out you. Not dressed as a mime can't blow your cover I gotchu." he whispered.

Nell cupped her hands around her mouth, wasting no time it letting a loud whoop mixed with laughter fill the air as Bea undid Jack's attire, revealing his seascape to everyone. "Make him your bitch, Bea!" Maybe the champagne was hitting her harder than she'd thought. Then she turned back to Leah to say, "I'm getting you ten strippers for your birthday! You should be so lucky! I'm gonna get you the whole armada of sea-men!"

Oh. Luce had said yes. Remmy didn't actually think she would have said yes, but she had! They smiled, stealing only the slightest of glances over to Bea's table before turning back around when blue mesh was spotted in a place they didn't mean-- or want-- to look. They followed Luce over to the dance floor, placing their free hand on her hip when they made it there. "It was really nice of you guys to do this for Bea," they said to her, smiling. Maybe if they just didn't say anything weird things could be alright, "she deserves it."

Anita hesitated when Morgan made a loose reference to Marley. Realistically, she knew there was no way Morgan knew that they were actually girlfriends now, but she got oddly nervous. “Maybe a good thing given how our last double date went.” She smiled, then decided to change the topic. “How many drinks do you think it would take to enjoy this for more than just comedic purposes?” It was a tease, obviously, since the answer was infinity drinks. Anita looked over at the woman who seemed to be enjoying it the most and laughed. She was kind of jealous of the people who were enjoying it. Then she overheard someone asking Kaden if he was a mime stripper, and she absolutely lost it, keeling over with laughter. “He’s definitely a stripper! You just gotta offer the right price!” She called over in between laughs.

Bea glanced over at Kaden. "If you start stripping here, I will kick you out. I support you, but not here," She teased.

Kaden pinched his nose. "Kid, there's nothing to out. I work in animal control." He sighed, clearly there was no way to convince him so he downed the champagne he had left. Oh no. Anita heard, too? Which was worse, mime fucker or mime striper? "Putain de merde, I am not a stripper! That's a stripper," he said pointing to the lap dance happening across the way. "I'm a cop."

Jared "RIIIIIGHT I gotchu." He looked at the woman he didn't know and whispered "DOn't blow his cover that's not cool, mimes can't be seen talking." and then he clapped Kaden on the back. "Cop as well huh? Good with costumes?"

Blanche was cackling, laughing so hard that it actually hurt her and her injuries. Wheezing, she swatted Nell, giving Bea her own whoop. "Get it, Bea!!" she cackled, grabbing another flute of champagne. "We know this is your.... Fanta-sea."

Leah rolled her eyes, taking a sip from her new champagne. Of course Jasmine would want this dude at her birthday party. "I'll get his number from Nell", she teased. "That way you can just call him whenever you want. Bad day? Call the Sailor Stripper man, he'll make it all better!" Her eyes widened comically at Nell's joke. It felt more like a threat, to be honest. She wouldn't put it past the younger woman to actually pull something like that off. "Nell, Nell. ...Nell." She let out a breath, shaking her head no. "Nell... I think you know that if you even try that, you'll regret it." Would she ever do anything that might hurt Nell? Absolutely not, and Nell probably knew that, too. But it was worth the threat, if only to avoid the embarrassment and the mere suggestion of what Nell was threatening to do.

Morgan snorted again, some of her champagne flying up her nose. "Kaden, you didn't tell me you had a passion-project second job! You gotta follow your heart, and invest in all of the best props for your set list." She patted his shoulder, beaming, and got up from the table, taking Anita by the hand. "Y'all are swell, but Jacky Boy isn't our type. We'll come back around though!" She slid her arm through Anita's and escorted her around the room, aiming for the dance floor at a safe, respectful distance from Remmy, who seemed to be finally working things out with Luce. "How's that for a save?" She asked Anita.

Bow-tie thoroughly loosened, Felix shifted in his seat before he got up and went to Bea's side. His eyes went to Kaden for a moment. Not you too, his eyes said. "Wow, you sure know how to clear a deck, fella!" His smile was sharp as he looked at the stripper. "You know, I think there's someone else here who could really use the kinda good time you've provided us all with. Hey Nell!" He called over before he looked back to Jack. "That's the one. Promise you'll show her a decent time? She's great. Dynamite. Aces. She deserves it. It's been a tough month."

Jasmine joked, "Oh Bea, that's not fun." The French man was attractive enough he could pull off the looks, but he didn't look like much of a dancer. Still, she poked fun. "So, you do a cop strip show then." She could see Bea was getting a bit uncomfortable, so she sauntered over to that side of table and tapped Jack's soldier. "Hey, Sailor, I think your moves may be a bit more appreciated over here."

Luce 's head was spinning, the bright lights and decorations sparkling in the light. The sound of the band's music was almost enough to drown out the chaos of what was happening behind her, but she could still hear Blanche and Nell shouting words of encouragement at the male stripper, who was no doubt... doing his job. Remmy's hand rested on her hip and she blinked. "I don't know if she deserves that specifically. I definitely didn't pay for that guy." She said with a shake of her head. "Fucking Nell... I bet she hired him."

Jasmine grinned widely at Leah. "Please, do. One of the girls is having a bachelorette party soon and he'd be perfect!"

Jack looked over to Nell with a quick promising wink. He'd definitely be by her seat later. But he had to give the birthday girl his attention first. He turned on the spot, giving Bea a show of every single one of his muscles. She didn't seem as eager as the girl to his side, so when he leant in to ask a question, it was with his normal, quiet voice. "Do you want a dance or do you want me to take myself somewhere else?" But it seemed his question was answered by the others around. He flashed both the hot at the gills looking guy and the pretty lady who tapped his shoulder. "You got my sailor's oath!" He told Felix, and turned over to Nell. "You want me to swab your decks, miss?"

"I'm not stripping because I'm not a stripper!" Kaden started cursing under his breath. The kid, Anita, Morgan, Felix, and Bea, too? Come on. "Someone back me up here. Anyone! Come on, let's go back to taking my money, that'd be great, right?"

Bea glanced between both Felix and Jasmine,"Thank you." Standing, she grabbed Felix's hand,"Do you want to go dance?" She could use a little bit of time away from the chaos of the table, even as fun as it was. "Have fun, Nell!" She cackled as Jack made her way over.

Remmy gave a chuckle, shaking their head. "I meant a good time," they said, stepping in time to the music and moving Luce with them. It was a more upbeat tune, the music drifting around them, and Remmy spun her a little before pulling her back in. "You all deserve a good night to let loose and have--" they flinched at the sound of Blanche's loud shout cutting through even the loud music, giving Luce a sheepish grin, "--fun."

Blanche paled as the stripper turned on Nell. "Oh no. You're on your own." She started to inch away.

Anita followed Morgan out to the dance floor, grinning widely. This was far preferred to watching a man strip. “The absolute best save. You’re my hero,” she grinned widely as she began to dance with her friend. As they danced she noticed Luce dancing with some person she didn’t quite recognize. She smiled softly, they seemed nice together. Turning her attention back towards Morgan, she laughed as she could still hear the things people were saying by the stripper. “This party did not really go how I was expecting… but this does make me kinda wanna hire a stripper for my next birthday.”

“What?!" Nell squawked as the tables were turned, and suddenly there was a whole ocean of flesh coming closer. "Blanche, don't you dare fucking leave me. This is what you get for running away from the hospital!" she said as her friend tried to inch away, latching onto a non-injured portion of Blanche with a vice-like grip. "My decks are good, though! Freshly swabbed! Just got them done yesterday!"

Leah pushed herself closer to Jasmine as the stripper came closer to where they were sitting, all but turning her back to him and Nell with an amused but mortified look. In a supportive move, she grabbed Blanche's wrist and pulled her toward them as well, holding her close.

"We know, Kaden," Felix said with a solemn nod. "The champagne tower is all yours, friend. I know it's a real hard time for ya." He laced his fingers with Bea's and smiled as he led her towards the dance floor. "I don't know how I'll compare to our new pal Jack over there but I'll do my best for you, doll."

Jane had been stealing other guests money at a different table, and went to go see what the commotion was. Jane saw Jack, and snorted as she heard Kaden assuring everyone he wasn't a stripper. She clapped him on the shoulder. "Come on Kaden, everyone here knows you strip to ABBA."

"I don't want to think about my sister having a good time with that." Luce said automatically, shuddering. She let Remmy spin her around, her feet just a bit clumsy underneath her as they danced. The haze of the alcohol was settling in, everything golden and bright around them. Tilting her head, she looked at them, eyebrows arching. "Mm, you're not wrong. You know," She said, pausing for a moment before leaning in closer to Remmy, "I can think of a couple fun things we could do."

"Oh, I'll take your money for free, Kaden!" Morgan called over her shoulder, winking at him. "Is that a promise?" The music was picking up and she took her friend's hand, whirling her around as they came near the dance floor. "Anita, I will hire you only the best, most voluptuous strippers for your birthday. Name the date, and they're all yours." She spun them around again as the music picked up. "Also, fun fact about me no one here knows yet? I know how to do the charleston." She started to demonstrate, working more flare into it than usual. "If you take another drink, I'll even teach you too."

Jared had a lot of people backing up the knowledge that this kaden guy was a stripper. He was embarrassed but Jared pat him on the arm. "Don't worry bud, no one is judging. I'm sure you're a wonderful stripper."

Jasmine cackled as Nell tried to back away from the stripper. There had to be some sort of anecdote about not hiring a stripper if you're not down for a lap dance. "Good call, the kid definitely doesn't need a stripper." Leah was held on to the small girl even though Nell tried to keep her in the stripper's orbit. She wondered if this short blonde girl was even old enough to be here. "I'm guessing Nell's the one who hired our sailor friend here." Good taste, just not Bea's. She nearly spit out her champagne when it was mentioned Kaden stripped to ABBA. "Oh honey, we need to get you a better playlist."

As the world faded from view, and tsunami Jack took over the majority of Nell's line of sight, she raised a single middle finger across the room, pointed directly at Felix.

Remmy looked around the hall-- people laughing, people grinning, people just plain having fun, having the time of their lives-- and decided that not everything in the world was bad. In fact, there was a lot more good than bad. There had to be, right? Luce looked stunning, Bea looking like shew as having the time of her life now that she was on the dance floor, even Nell, though flustered, looked like she was having fun. And Blanche and Morgan and everyone else. Remmy spun Luce one more time before bringing her close, smiling warmly at her drunken words. "Maybe tomorrow," they said back to her softly, "once the alcohol has worn off."

Kaden turned to see Jane behind him. Of fucking course. "Fuck you, Wu." He was going to need something stronger than champagne soon. There was no living this down was there?

"I think you'll do just fine," Bea let out a little laugh. As she looked around the party, she felt warm. Just last week she had been kicked out of the community that had raised her and she had felt alone. Her family and friends were the people here, having fun and celebrating this day with her. "As ridiculous has this has turned out, this has been one of my best birthdays." Even without her parents or friends from the Coven, she was happy. All these people, even Jack, had helped her make this birthday perfect. She couldn't ask for better people to spend this day with.

[mayihaveyournameplease]

TIMING: July 21st PARTIES: Beau @mayihaveyournameplease & Felix @recoveringdreamer LOCATION: The BMV SUMMARY: Felix comes to renew their license. Beau is there. It sucks for Felix! CONTENT WARNINGS: Domestic abuse tw (mention), grooming tw

In all honesty, Felix had no idea what they were supposed to do to get their license renewed. Leo had brought them out of the woods, so to speak, but he hadn’t done much in teaching them how to fit in with society. They liked to think they’d done a pretty good job readjusting by themself — thank you, Google! — but there were a lot of things they hadn’t thought about at fourteen which became much more important at thirty. Renewing a license was one of them.

The last time they’d done this, Leo had more or less done it for them. Their relationship had been a lot of that; Leo did things for Felix instead of showing him how to do it himself, and Felix was grateful instead of recognizing the controlling hand for what it was. They still hadn’t entirely wizened up to it, still sometimes found themself thinking of the relationship with nostalgia or blaming themself for how things ended. And they hated themself for that, too, just a little. 

But they were getting better. They were trying to get better. They were at the BMV, anxious without reason, were marching to the desk, were slamming their expired license down in front of the clerk. “My name is Felix Mendoza,” they said, “and I need to renew my license.” They’d been practicing the sentence in their head on the walk over, and it still jumbled out all at once, a little too quickly. At least they said the right name. That would have been embarrassing. 

—

The keyboard went clickity clackity under Beau's fingers as he stared at his computer screen. It had been a wonderful day at the BMV. Currently, he was pretending not to notice the weeping woman in front of him. "I'm sorry." She whispered. "I'm sorry. I don't know why I can't remember my name. I'm just so stressed. Please. I'm not lying, I'm sure that I filled out that form correctly. I'm just stressed. I've been under a lot of pressure and - " Beau lifted a singular finger, the universal sign for be quiet. A look of superior smugness washed over his features, bearing his teeth in his usual and well-practiced smile. 

"I would be so cheesed to help you. It would be my absolute cheddar to help you if I was able to, but without confirmation of your name, I just can't." Beau's smug smile failed at being comforting or pacifying. Beau ripped up the paperwork the lady had placed in front of him and tossed it in the trash can under his desk. The woman sobbed harder, being escorted away by the always-put-out security guard, Nick. "Next!" Beau looked down at his lavender cashmere sweater while he waited for his next victim, er, customer to come up. A piece of torn paper was stuck to it, he swiped it away with a scowl, quickly replacing his smile as his next patron came up.

"Nope, nuh-uh." Beau waved a hand in front of the person's nose. "We don't do names yet. One step at a time. You have to wait for me to ask for it, that way I can confirm you're the right person." Beau smiled. It was a genuine smile, he thought the person standing before him was cute. Brawny and toned, like they might be a fighter or something. Beau stood a little straighter on his stepping stool, doing his best to appear his tallest and most handsome self. "Now, let's take a look at that paperwork." Beau raised an expectant eyebrow, "You brought the paperwork, right?" Considering Felix Mendoza had just slapped their licenses down in front of him, and exclaimed their name, Beau made the leap and bounds in his thoughts to decide they didn't have it. Beau started typing and printing, and within moments he plopped the paperwork in front of Felix. "You can fill it out here, I won't send you to the back of the line again. I'm nice like that." A larger smile. He also planned on getting Felix's name. 

—

A sobbing woman was escorted out of the BMV by a security guard who looked more resigned than surprised, and the anxiety building in Felix’s gut grew. Was this a common experience at the BMV? Was he going to leave in a similar state? They hated how they felt when they grew frustrated, hated the way the jaguar in their chest always seemed to rumble when they felt this way. The jaguar was a protective spirit, but its idea of protection wasn’t always what Felix needed. Especially not in a BMV.

With the sobbing woman gone, the man behind the counter was waving Felix up to take her place, then silencing them when they went to say their name. Their mouth snapped shut quickly, and they looked a little sheepish at their mistake. “Sorry.” All that rehearsing, and they’d still gotten it wrong. Not only that, but they’d apparently forgotten the proper steps. There was paperwork involved? Hadn’t the paperwork been done when they’d gotten the license, or when it had been renewed before? It occurred to them, with a moment of dread, that they actually had no idea if their license was legitimate. What if Leo had just… used his fae tricks to get one without going through the proper channels? Would Felix get in trouble for that?

Their eyes slid over to the security guard, who’d returned to his post now that the sobbing woman had been led outside and sent away. The BMV was a government entity, right? Did that mean the security guard could arrest them if they had unknowingly done something wrong? Their eyes slid back over to the man behind the counter, not wanting to look overly suspicious.

“Uh, yeah, no, I can — I’ll fill it out. Sorry. My boyfri — ex boyfriend used to, uh, handle this kind of stuff for me.” Now if something was wrong, he’d know it wasn’t Felix’s fault. Right? Whether or not that would make any kind of difference remained to be seen. “Uh, can I have the, um… the paperwork?” 

—

Beau watched the person in front of him, their eyes slid from the security guard, then back to him. Beau smiled. Nothing new. Beau was always smiling. But this was Beau’s extra big, extra charming smile. It was a smile that said, you can trust me, I’m here to help you. Beau knew that was what the smile said because he had spent hours sitting in front of a mirror getting it to say that. Because smiles were not words, smiles were not bound to the same fae magic that bit his tongue every time he even thought of telling a falsehood. Wasn’t that fun? Smiles could say anything, and they didn’t have to sit behind cheese puns to hide true intent.

“Don’t worry about her. She’s just having a bad day.” Nothing there was a lie, the words flitted out of his mouth easily. “She’ll be back when she feels better. The BMV is a tough and stressful place for some people. Not me. I think that this is the best place in the world. The work I do here is so important. Helping people is such a rewarding job. I’ve never been more rewarded than when I started working in this field.” Because the rewards he gave himself were the names plucked straight from the mouths of those just trying to fill in their paperwork. Beau forced his smile to go even wider, because Beau was a predator, and the bearing of teeth would always be a threat.

Beau straightened up, straightened his sweater, and ran a hand through his hair. “Well, just call me your new boyfriend because I am here to help handle this for you.” Beau let out a belting laughter that caused multiple people to look up from what they were doing and look over at him. Beau slid the freshly printed warm paperwork in front of his newest victim. Then, with a flourish that was absolutely unnecessary, Beau pulled a flower from the pot on his desk. Except it wasn’t a real flower, it was a plastic flower firmly attached to a pen. He offered the pen with the smallest bow. “A pen will make filling out the paperwork much easier, don’t you think?”  

—

The clerk behind the counter was smiling at them in a way that was a little too big to feel natural. Felix felt like he was being sized up, somehow; it felt a little like when they first entered the ring to face off against a new opponent, when they circled one another just before the first bell went off. And in this corner, we have our reigning champ! The vicious animal from deep in the woods, the feral jaguar with jaws of steel. Give it up! Tonight, they’ll be facing off against… Some guy who works in a BMV! All they have to do is make it through a social interaction without making an ass of themself! Whaddaya say, folks? Can! They! Do it? 

No. No they couldn’t. Give them a boxing match any day, it was so much simpler. 

Apparently, this happened often. The BMV was tough and stressful, the clerk told them. The kind of place where people ran out crying. Felix didn’t belong here. Felix would have simply left, gone back out to live in the woods by themself where things like BMVs and security guards really didn’t mean anything, but Felix had a contract and Felix was stuck and Felix needed a stupid license to go to their stupid job so the stupid contract didn’t stupidly kill them because they were stupid. 

At least the clerk seemed nice.

But… maybe a liiiiittle forward.

“Oh. Ha.” The discomfort was clear in Felix’s laugh. “That’s, uh… That’s nice of you. I’m — I’m gonna be honest, I’m too stressed out to reciprocate.” Stressed about the BMV, stressed about work, stressed about Leo, stressed about life. Felix was having a bad time. So it went. “A pen,” he nodded, reaching out to take it. “Thanks, man. Uh, can I fill it out here, or should I go sit down…?”

—

“Right, of course, hahaha, I just…” Beau flicked a hand through his hair, looking away from the person in front of him. “I was just making a joke. You know. To ease the tension of the BMV. Because it's rough in here. Haha. Sorry! I didn’t mean for you to take it seriously. You know jokes right? You like jokes right?” Despite the constant stream of rejections Beau found himself facing on a daily basis the familiar sting still burned in his chest. Never good enough. Always rejected. The idea of getting to know each other, the idea that other people didn’t know him, the idea that relationships were work and not just things handed on a silver platter never crossed his mind. 

“You can fill it out here. If you leave my booth, you’ll have to go back to the queue.” Beau looked down at the numbers displayed on the screen. We are on 324 out of 639 tickets. That would make you 640 in que.” The ticketing system the BMV chose to employ wasn’t one that made sense. A lot of numbers were skipped in different orders, that way the BMV patrons never knew where they actually were in line, and they were just grateful when their number seemed to appear faster than they thought it would. It always seems like good luck to see a ticket go from five to twelve. It really made people feel like things were going their way. Just in time for Beau to crush those dreams underneath his little fingers as he stole their name.” 

Beau switched his gaze back to his computer. His fingers flew over his keyboard as he pretended he was getting work done. Normally Beau had no problem with sending people back into the queue. There was a delight in seeing their faces drop as they realized their long wait was about to be repeated, but as the day got later, more people filed in, so the wait would be longer than previously. However, Beau wanted this pretty stranger’s name. It felt right. He could play along. “Please hurry, I don’t want my supervisors to catch me being nice. Haha” 

—

Oh, no. They’d hurt the BMV guy’s feelings, hadn’t they? They’d been too harsh in their rejection, and that wasn’t fair. The BMV guy was being nice, was helping them out, was trying to do them a favor. Maybe Felix owed him a little bit of flirting in exchange for that. In their last relationship, after all, things had been transactional. They owed Leo for bringing them out of the woods, owed him for putting a roof over their head, owed him for loving them even when they were messy and unbalanced and difficult to be around. And he got so angry when he wasn’t given something he was owed. The last thing Felix wanted was a repeat of that here. Their eyes shifted to the security guard again, heart pounding. “Uh, no, not — I’m sorry. That was really rude of me. I like jokes, I’m sorry. I’m just stressed out right now. But you’re helping a lot, and you’ve been really nice. I thought your joke was nice.” 

The idea of going to the back of the line was almost sickening, and the relief when the employee assured them that he wouldn’t make them do it was intense. They offered the employee a grateful smile, looking down at the form as they filled out the information. Some of it, they left blank; they didn’t think they’d been convicted of violating any major motor vehicle laws in the last ten years, but what if they were wrong? Their eyes flittered over to the security guard again, which, yeah, okay. They were in Full Anxiety Mode here. They got that. The security guard wasn’t going to drag them out for answering a question on a form wrong.

Finishing up the form, Felix nodded to themself and slid the paper back to the BMV clerk. “Sorry. Yeah, it’s done. Uh, I think I got everything.” He hoped he had. Being sent to the back of the line — and worse still, getting the kind employee in trouble for helping them — sounded like the absolute last thing they wanted to do. “Uh, what, um… What’s next?”

—

Finally Beau was being given the praise he deserved. The cutie in front of him was praising his jokes. Beau preened like a bird, smiling and turning side to side ever so slightly. Pleased with the result of his actions. “Yes, my jokes are nice, aren’t they. I’m glad you’re smart enough to recognize that.” If Beau was his optimal self he would have fifty pairs of lips, that way he could keep adding smile upon smile. Instead, he was forced to let his smile grow bigger, stretching his cheeks to uncomfortability. “I’ve got a lot of jokes, you know.” He added, leaning forward, chin on his hand as he batted his eyes towards his newest most hopeful companion. “I’m a silly guy.”

Beau watched, enraptured, while Felix Mendoza filled out their paperwork in front of him. The little flower at the end of the pen swayed back and forth on the pen. After a while Felix was done and asked Beau what they did next. Now it was Beau’s fun time. Beau smiled harder, again. Beau slid the paperwork back to him, and slipped on his half-moon glasses. He didn’t actually need them to read. He just thought they made him look more distinguished. Beau was a distinguished gentleman, after all. 

“Now we’ll go over some details, confirm it's you, then renew your license. Easy as that.” Beau let out a small laugh, tapping the paper. Beau did note the lack of the thank you, but decided not to think too much about it. Some people just had no manners. Felix Mendoza was stressed, after all. “Okay, the first security question is the easiest, it’s so silly that they make me ask it, but you know how bosses are.” Beau drew out the moment of joy, the moment he’d been waiting for this whole time. “Alright. Security question one, can you give me your name?” 

—

The clerk seemed happy… or, he was smiling, at least. But it was difficult to determine if it was a genuinely happy expression or not. There was something unhinged about it, like he was a moment away from breaking. Felix had never worked customer service before — they’d been just on the cusp of being old enough for employment when they were plucked out of society by their father, and Leo had never wanted them to work during their relationship, so their first experience with a ‘job’ was at the Pit — but they knew it was stressful. Their older brother had done retail for a while before their father moved them all out into the woods, they remembered how angry it made him. Felix imagined working in the BMV was similar. The poor clerk was probably frustrated, probably spent all day being yelled at and abused. Maybe something as simple as laughing at his jokes could really help him out. 

“Well, uh, if you want to tell more jokes, I can listen. I like jokes.” They could… pretend to understand the clerk’s jokes, even if they weren’t sure they actually would. They’d gotten good at laughing at things they didn’t actually find funny, gotten skilled in the art of keeping people happy by pretending to understand them. The moment the thought crossed their mind, Felix felt guilty for the comparison. It wasn’t right to put this stranger in the same category as Leo. He seemed like a nice guy. He didn’t deserve all that.

Letting out a nervous chuckle, Felix nodded. “Right. Easy.” Was anything ever? Just existing in society felt overwhelming sometimes, like they were waiting for some inevitable other shoe to drop down and crush them. “Yeah,” they chuckled again. “Bosses are the worst.” At least the BMV probably didn’t make this guy maim people for them. Felix glanced to the security guard again. Hopefully. “Right, um, my name is Felix Mendoza.” 

—

“Of course you like jokes. What a relief. I can’t stand people without a sense of humor. They are so annoying, don’t you agree? Like learn some thinking. They’re always like “that’s not funny.” But what are they upset about? Huh? It’s just words. It's not like it can hurt them. If it bothered them so much, maybe they should lock themselves indoors and shelter themselves from the real world.” Beau let out a string of laughter, as if anything he’d said had been funny. Beau’s secret was that deep in his heart of hearts, he hated people. 

The words were said. Beau could feel fae magic, the magic of the world and its make up, shift around them. The threads of Felix’s life rearranged themselves and a crucial thread was snipped away and stitched into Beau. Another day, another name. Beau’s smile instantly changed from forced to genuine, reaching up to his eyes and shining down at everyone in the BMV. This was the moment that he lived for. 

“There seems to be a problem with your paperwork.” God he relished this. The anxiety that ran over their face, he knew that this would only cause their heart to race and panic as they realized they didn’t know their name. “I don’t think that's your name.” Beau leaned forward again, sliding the piece of paper towards Felix. Beau pointed to the words. “You’re not lying, are you? I can’t stand liars. It would really suck to know that I am going out of my way to help you, only for you to lie to me.” Beau let his smile falter, he let himself play the part of hurt victim in the scenario of his own creation. “I like you, you know that right? I’ve done nothing but want to help you. So why can’t you be honest with me?” It was a game of cat and mouse, and Beau was a cat devouring his mouse. 

—

“Oh, I…” Felix didn’t agree with that. They didn’t think it was right to suggest that anyone lock themselves away for not liking a certain type of humor. Again, they thought of Leo and his tendency to rage the moment Felix didn’t see something his way. And again, they felt tremendously guilty for comparing a stranger to the ex who had picked them apart so meticulously. Why were they assigning Leo’s faults onto a man who seemed to be trying to help them? It wasn’t at all fair. Were they so damaged that they couldn’t have a normal conversation without that nauseous feeling seeping through? God, they felt ashamed of themself. “I guess it is a little annoying. But everybody’s got their own sense of humor, right? Some people’s just don’t vibe with each other.”

Something strange washed over them as they said their name. They almost didn’t realize it at first, almost didn’t clock it until the clerk spoke. Their brow furrowed as they looked down at the paperwork, the words strangely blurred where they’d written their name. Like they couldn’t quite make out what they’d put there. Then the clerk was asking them if that was really their name, and — and they didn’t know. They didn’t know what their name is.

“No!” They stammered, anxiety clinging to their chest. “No, I wasn’t — I didn’t lie. I’m not a liar. I promise, I’m not a liar. I’m just… There’s something wrong. There’s something wrong with me.” Panic seized their chest, breath coming quicker than it ought to. They felt wrong. Something was wrong, and they didn’t understand what. “Please, please help me. I like you, too, you know? I — Please don’t kick me out. Please. Please help me.” The world felt like it was closing in on them. They knew they needed to calm down before the jaguar mistook their panic for danger and reared its head, but they didn’t quite know how. “Can we go somewhere? Um, me and you? I need — I don’t — I need to go somewhere.”

—

"Having your own sense of humor is one thing, but ruining it for everyone else?" Beau asked, eyebrows raising high into his hairline. "What gives them the right? You can think a joke isn't funny, but that doesn't mean you should take away other people's jokes. Listen, all I know is if you're going to go boohoo crying all sensitive as a snowflake over a little tiny pansy ass joke, then you don't need to be in the real world. You can stay safe and sheltered in your own home and away from anyone else with common sense." Beau let out a loud as if everything he'd said had been hilarious. As if implying that people who were sensitive to others' jokes were the joke. "How about they get sensitive to ruining my vibe?" Beau threw the word vibe back at Felix, adding a harsh emphasis to it. 

None of that conversation mattered though. Not when the true prize was reached. Beau watched as the realization that Felix didn't know their name washed over them. Panic distorted all of their features. Beau, personally, thought they looked cuter when they were panicked. Much more interesting. Definitely, like someone they wanted to get to know. "Are you sure you didn't lie?" The question was condescending, but not as condescending as the voice that he said it in. Desperation was a good look on so many people. It tore the options from before them and gave them one linear path. A path that led them straight back to Beau, and his mercy. Beau's smile softened in the way that a knife's edge is soft. 

"Go somewhere? I'm on the clock?" Beau looked down at his computer and started typing things. "No, I'm a good guy. A kind guy. I do want to help you. I can take my lunch break early. Where are you taking me?" This was fun. Delightful. The fae hadn't had this much fun in a while. Most people started crying or screaming or a combination of both. Not once had a person ever asked to go somewhere with him. That was disappointing, wasn't it? Beau was great to go places with. People should love doing things with him. Where would the human formerly known as Felix take him? Excitement drummed within him. He exited behind his desk and made the one-minute trek around all the work station to the door to the waiting area. Then the one-minute trek back. "Alright. Lead the way, let us go wherever your precious heart desires." 

—

He seemed… really worked up about this. Felix had learned not to argue when someone was this impassioned about something, knew that disagreeing with the wrong person in the wrong moment never led anywhere good. This man wasn’t Leo, and it wasn’t fair to compare the two, but he still reminded them of their ex. They still couldn’t help but think of the consequences they’d face when disagreeing with Leo during times when he was this worked up about whatever it was he was saying, and they didn’t want to repeat that now. So Felix shifted, shrunk in on themself a little. Mumbled a quiet, “You’re right, sorry,” that was more instinct than it was anything genuine, and hoped it would be enough.

They almost missed that feeling of smallness when the panic washed over them, when their name was a thing they could no longer grasp. “No,” they said quietly, shaking their head. “No, I didn’t — I didn’t lie. I didn’t, I swear, I don’t — I don’t. I don’t lie.” This, too, was the ghost of an old conversation, an argument Leo had started often. You lie, Felix. You’re a liar. You know you are. You lie all the time. How can I trust you? You’re probably lying to me right now. But they weren’t. They were sure of their name when they’d said it, they just couldn’t remember it anymore. How could they explain that to a stranger? 

“Sorry. No. Yeah. No. Sorry. You are. I know. Sorry.” The words tumbled out, the sorries like punctuation marks at the end of each stilted sentence. Panic was clawing at their throat, choking them. What were they going to do? They couldn’t even go to the BMV and get a license renewed without royally screwing something up for themself. Leo had been right, hadn’t they? Felix was useless on their own. But the BMV clerk, far more accommodating than Felix deserved, agreed to take his lunch break early. The relief felt like a physical thing, nearly knocking the balam off their feet. “Is there — Is there somewhere we can sit? Please, I’m sorry. I’m just — I don’t know what my name is. I’m sorry. Please don’t be mad. Can you help me? Please, I’ll give you anything you want, I just need help.”

—

Felix rolled over easily, so easily that Beau didn't notice there had been any disagreement at all. Because that was how all people should treat him. That was exactly what he deserved at all times. Unquestioned and one hundred percent agreement. Beau let the trace of that conversation disappear. He had nothing else to add, Felix had already agreed with his obviously right opinion. 

"You don't lie?" Beau cooed the word, Beau dragged out the simple sentence as if it was a kindness to Felix and not a blatant manipulation. "Of course, you don't lie." Patronizing, demeaning, dehumanizing. It said, I want to believe you but the evidence is before us and the evidence doesn't lie, does it? The evidence speaks the truth and the truth is Felix isn't your name. "You know you never have to lie to me." Soft, kind, as if Beau didn't know he was purposely grabbing a knife and twisting it deep within a panicking Felix's heart. 

"I accept your sorry, but sorry doesn't fix this situation, does it?" Beau placed a gentle and affirming hand on Felix's back, leading the panicked individual out of the BMV. The day was bright and warm, a gentle breeze pushed at his brown hair letting the tips of his greenhorns peak in and out of view. Felix was making a lot of big claims as Beau steered them to a bench and sat them down. Beau didn't sit down. Beau stood because when people sat Beau got to be taller than them. Beau liked how powerful that made him feel. Beau loved the power he held in this situation because he held it all. Felix was nothing without Beau. Felix was crumbling away, and only Beau could save them. Beau was indulgent on this delectable power. 

"Anything I want?" Beau repeated what Felix had offered. "I'm not mad, just disappointed. When I saw you I thought you looked respectable. Like an upstanding citizen in this town. But listen. I want that for you, I want to believe that about you. I think you have just made a little mistake and we can fix this. Together." Beau was grabbing Felix's hands in his own perfectly manicured ones. Felix's hands were rough and coarse. "If you promise me you will give me anything I want, I can fix this for you. But you have to promise." 

—

The clerk’s tone was soft, but with an edge to it. It was so much like Leo, so much like the arguments they used to have. You know I love you, Fe, but you’re being really stupid right now. It’s okay. I know you didn’t finish school. You don’t have to be smart. I’ll be smart for you, okay? Just trust me. Do you think I’d lie to you? Do you really think I’d do that? Felix felt their heart in their throat, pounding against their pulse point in a desperate thrum. They were being stupid here, weren’t they? They were so anxious, so terrified, and for what? The BMV clerk was trying to help them, and they were still comparing him to Leo. 

“I’m — I wouldn’t. I wouldn’t lie. I’m not.” For a moment, it was like they were back in that apartment they’d shared with Leo. They were trying, so hard, to convince the clerk that they were telling the truth. Trying to convince themself, too, even though they knew they were being honest. But, like Leo, this clerk had planted that uncertain seed of doubt in Felix’s mind. Were they telling the truth? Had they gotten confused somewhere along the way? It happened sometimes, didn’t it? Felix wasn’t smart, wasn’t good at remembering, wasn’t good at much at all. Maybe they’d gotten something twisted along the way. Maybe Felix really wasn’t Felix after all.

The nameless person leaned into the clerk’s touch, desperate for something to ground them. If they’d been looking a little closer at the clerk, they might have seen the horns peeking through his hair. They might have even known what that meant. They spent plenty of time with fae at work, after all, knew the spriggans on staff and the nymphs who sometimes fought in the ring. But they were beyond paying attention now, beyond recognizing much of anything. Panic gripped their throat, and panic was all that existed.

So they missed the rest of it, too. The familiarity of the request for a promise, the way it was so like the contract they’d signed. “I want to fix it,” they said desperately. “I’m not a bad person. I’m not.” They wanted to believe that, too. But it was so hard to believe things when they were the only one saying them. If the clerk said it, maybe it would be easier to accept as truth. “I promise. I promise, I’ll give you anything you want. Please, just help me get my name back. As long as you do that, I promise.”

—

Promise. Poets wrote so many poems about love and sorrow, but not enough about promise. The word was beautiful. Intoxicating. Powerful. It stripped people away and built others up. It armed Beau with more power than a spriggan should have. Fae magic was in effect the moment Felix made a promise. Threads of magic wrapped around Felix binding them, then waited, it had to wait. The bind would only tack effect if Beau followed through with his end. "Your name is Felix. It's your name, and I return it." The thread of magic wrapped itself around Beau, binding them together through promise. Til death do them part. The death would be Felix's, of course. If they ever chose not to follow Beau's instructions. Because Beau held all the power here. 

"All fixed." Beau pat Felix on the cheek. As if he was still doing Felix a prolonged and gentle kindness. As if Felix should be thankful that Beau was so kind to fix all of this, this problem that he had created himself. "Now come on and get up. You have a license to finish renewing." Beau led Felix back into the BMV, back to his desk, and back to work. As Beau typed away at his computer, he barely registered what he was doing. Felix had supplied Beau with such a potent promise. There had been no limit to how many times Felix would do anything Beau asked. There had been no stipulations. 

"I want you to hop on one foot while we wait," Beau told Felix, just because he could. For his own joyful amusement. Beau made sure to drag out the paperwork he was doing just to keep Felix in a prolonged state of obedience. So other people in the BMV could take in the sight. They didn't know - they couldn't know- just how much power Beau held in this situation, but he wished he could tell all of them. Revel in this victory. It hadn't even been a hard-fought one. Felix had been pathetic, sad, and giving. That was going to make this all the more fun.

Eventually, the new driver's license was printed and Beau was sliding it over the table to Felix. "Here you go. I want you to keep me in mind always. Visit me soon. Stay in touch. We'll have a lot to talk about. I just know it." 

—

The nameless person was unaware of the magic that bound them. One might think that, after dealing with binds in the Grit Pit for so long, they’d have some way of sensing the shackles they’d placed around their own wrists, like some strange instinct that could warn them of the dangerous deal they’d entered into. But, unfortunately, no such thing existed. There were no warning signs, no alarm bells. There wasn’t even a sense of deja vu to fill their stomach with dread. They had no reason to suspect that the helpful BMV clerk was anything but that.

Especially not when he returned their name to them.

It flooded them all at once, that quiet realization. Felix. Their name was Felix. Of course it was. How had they forgotten that? How had they ever thought differently? The relief slumped their shoulders, and they offered the clerk a grateful smile. “Thank you,” they breathed. “Wow. I can’t believe I forgot that. That was — That was really stupid of me. I’m sorry. That was stupid.” They were stupid. Leo always said so, didn’t he? He’d been right. This was proof of it.

Without really knowing why, Felix lifted one foot off the ground as the clerk prepared the paperwork. It wasn’t that bad of a request, anyway; with their distinctly cat-like reflexes, Felix was plenty capable of balancing. Still, they got a few weird looks as they stood, waiting patiently and obediently for the paperwork to be finished. It seemed to take a while, but Felix had no real concept of how long it should take. 

Finally, the clerk slid the license across the table, and Felix lowered their foot back to the ground. “Okay,” they agreed. “I’ll, uh… I’ll talk to you soon.” They were friends now, weren’t they? Felix and the kind clerk at the BMV.

They thought it was going to be really nice, having a friend. 

[rocket-remmy]

And Then You Fight||Solo

Immediately follows this chatzy

Fighting is a one man game.

Remmy made their way around the back and to the cage entrance. If their heart had been working, it would’ve been pumping a million miles an hour right now. As it were, it wasn’t, and that was part of the reason they were here, wasn’t it?

The crowd was absolutely roaring as the announcer called out the appearance of a newcomer. A ‘zombie with a bone to pick’, he said. The words crackled and died out in Remmy’s ears. Without their hearing aid, it was more white noise anyway. 

They stopped at the pedestal that led into the cage and pulled out the little vials Felix had left in their locker. They made sure Nell couldn’t see as they slipped the syringe in. When they looked up again, they were at the entrance to the ring. There wasn’t anything in it yet, except for a door at the other end that presumably had the creature behind it. Remmy tensed, felt their body narrowing in. Tunnel vision, focused solely on what was behind that door. The crowd somehow fell away, as they stepped into the ring. Their were hundreds of faces and eyes focused on them, but all they saw was the door. Hands wrapped, they stopped once they were in the center of the ring, and waited.

The announcer said something. The crowd cheered again. The hairs on Remmy’s arms stood on end. The door began opening and Remmy’s eyes searched the crowd a moment.

There, Nell. And way in the back, Felix.

With them here, Remmy was suddenly sure they could do this.

The door opened and a creature burst from behind it, big, and bat-like and angry. It screamed and crawled around the cage, trying to claw its way out. The crowd stepped back a moment, but all Remmy did was watch it. It was somehow familiar. Like they’d seen one of these before, but they couldn’t place where.

Probably just some old movie.

The bat stopped suddenly, realizing it wasn’t alone in this cage. Eyes focusing in on Remmy, it launched itself. Remmy’s tunnel vision suddenly set it.

Steady. Still. Wait for it. Side-step.

A fist collided with the creature’s face and it flipped onto its back as Remmy brought an elbow down on it. Staring eye to eye, Remmy could see their own reflection in the creature’s. They remembered what Felix had told them in that moment:  When they call you monster…Promise me that you’ll make them feel it. 

A sudden wave filled them. Fist clenched, eyes turning angry. Make them feel it. A punch, harder this time. The creature shrieked and tried to wiggle free of Remmy’s grasp. It clawed and swiped, but cuts healed in moments. 

Remmy picked it up and threw it across the ring. More cheering. Everything was falling away now, even their vision. Only a rage. A gunshot echoed in their head. They leapt forward and pinned the creature again, ducking under its claws. Another punch. And another. And another. Shot after shot after shot. Anger building in their chest, flowing into their fist, and out into the creature every time bones connected.

Draining out, slowly, like the blood from the creatures head. More roaring from the crowd. It snapped back to Remmy like a punch to the gut. They stood up quickly, hands dripping with blood, and looked down at it. Unmoving, dead. 

Just like them.

Then someone was in the cage with them, holding their hand up. People cheered. They cheered for Remmy and sound crashed into their ears. They couldn’t help but smile. Held up their other hand.

They’d won. Of course they had. Why had they ever had any doubt? People always underestimated Remmy. Told them they were too soft, too kind for this world-- but the truth was, Remmy was hard. Remmy had seen the painful truth of this world, held a scope to someone’s head and pulled the trigger. Watched children and mothers and families die and be torn apart. Watched the world crumble. And in all of that, they’d chosen to be soft when they got back.

But that something inside of them, that something that had woken up with them when they’d come back, it was there, too. Just as the softness was there, so was this pain.

And here, in the Ring-- neither of those existed. Just Remmy.

And that was enough for now.

[gossipsnake]

A Shift in the Atmosphere || Anita & Felix

TIMING: Current LOCATION: The Grit Pit PARTIES: @gossipsnake and @recoveringdreamer SUMMARY: Anita meets up with Felix backstage after a fight and expresses her distain that a superior being such as a shifter is bound to fight at the whim of others. A plan is set in motion. CONTENT WARNINGS: N/A

The Grit Pit always lived up to its name. It was gritty and it was a pit. Anita didn’t always go around to the Pit, but she did on occasion. It was a nice place to be and sort of live anonymously. People didn’t pay much attention to anyone around that wasn’t in the ring. She liked that. And she really liked the violence of the sport. And she loved seeing her fellow shifters give everyone else a thorough beat-down. And if she turned a bit of a profit in the process? Well, who would turn their nose up at that. 

Tonight had been a thrilling adventure in why shifter species were innately superior to nearly all others. There were several of the underground fights that held a shifted champion - though sadly none were lamia. Anita often wondered why she never saw lamia fighting in the ring. Maybe it was because this colder climate didn’t tend to draw in other lamia or maybe it was because they knew that fighting while bound to a fae was simply beneath them. 

One of the fighters, however, caught her attention more than the rest. She was fairly sure she had seen them fight before - a particularly brutal balam. Anita won a sizable amount of money betting on him and decided that it was finally time that she met the man in person. She slipped a bit of her winnings to the guard who let her slip into the back area where the fighters went after their matches. The whole space smelled of the sharp iron scent of blood. “Quite the night you’ve had.” She said to the balam in spanish when she arrived, trying to gauge if he knew the language like his name and species suggested he might. 

Nights like this weren’t ones Felix particularly enjoyed. Granted, they didn’t like any night which saw them at the Grit Pit, but on nights like tonight? He’d been put into several fights back to back, one after another. Part of him wondered if it was because of the argument they’d had with Leo a week or so back, just before tonight’s schedule was finalized. They couldn’t even remember now what the argument had been about, but Leo never liked it when Felix spoke his mind. He never really had, even in the beginning. 

So nights like this found the balam aching, lying on their back on one of the benches in the Pit’s makeshift locker room and searching for the motivation they’d need to pull themself together and collect the envelope full of cash waiting for them in the front of the building. He could lay down a few moments longer, he knew; the money wouldn’t even be available to him until after the spectators were gone. It breaks the illusion if people see the fighters walking around the floor, Leo told them once. Felix couldn’t bring himself to care how much of the statement was true and how much was some careful manifestation of the facts.

Someone approached them, and Felix removed the arm he’d thrown over his face to squint up at her. Not one of the fighters, at least not from tonight’s matches; her clothes were too pristine for that, and none of tonight’s fighters had gotten away without visible bruising. “Night like any other,” they responded, slipping into Spanish easily enough. It had been their mother’s first language, and spoken in their childhood home just as often as English up until her death. After, Felix and his siblings had used it enough to keep from losing it, but not as much as they once had. It felt familiar on his tongue all the same. “I don’t think you’re supposed to be back here.” 

There was a noticeable grin that spread across Anita’s face when the fighter replied in Spanish, although there was something in his tone that told her he was American by birth. Either way, a fellow shifter who also spoke her mother tongue, the night was already turning out better than she could have wanted. Admittedly, she didn't have much of a game plan with regard to what she planned on doing next. There had just been a pull, an urge, to speak with the balam that she didn’t question. 

“Probably not. I go to a lot of places I’m not supposed to be though.” Anita wasn’t clueless about this place - she knew about their predatory contracts and the fae who enforced them. Hell, if it weren’t for those contracts she may have hopped in the ring once or twice herself just to show these people how superior lamia are. It was hard not to wonder how desperate a person had to be before they put their name down in ink here. 

“Several brutal fights in a row is a night like any other?” She had no way to know of course, but Anita hoped that carrying on in Spanish might cause them to open up more as she presumed that there weren’t many ears listening in who would catch what they were saying. She wanted to get a better read on this guy, see what he was all about. “Maybe I shouldn’t be surprised, though. You’re superior to everyone you’ve stepped into that pit with - and you put on a hell of a show. Makes sense they’d want to utilize you as much as they can.” 

She seemed pleased at his response, and Felix supposed that made sense. There was something comforting about hearing your first language, they supposed. It wasn’t something they’d ever dealt with themself — as an English-speaking American who still lived in his country of birth, most people spoke in a language Felix understood — but his mother had always seemed happier speaking Spanish. Felix made a note of it now, filed the stranger’s face away into memory with a reminder to default to Spanish when they saw her.

“Ah. Not a rule follower, then?” There was a hint of amusement to their tone, despite their typically sour, post-fight mood. Felix liked anyone who went against the Pit’s rules, even if they were rarely able to partake in such rebellion themself without consequences. It was like seeing someone kick the cage you were trapped in; it didn’t help you, it might even shake you around a little… but the principle of the action was exciting all the same.

Shrugging, Felix pushed himself up into a sitting position. His ribs ached. In moments like this one, the balam found themself wishing they had the same accelerated healing that werewolves boasted on full moon nights. Healing at a human pace when you spent most nights in a fighting ring was excruciating. “In this job, it is,” they replied. Her words were a little perplexing, and Felix furrowed their brow a little as they sunk in. Superior was a strange way of putting it, wasn’t it? “Not sure they see me as superior. I think they’re just fans of my ability to throw a punch. Some of it’s luck, too. Lots of people here are good fighters.”

“I take rules as gentle suggestions, not absolutes.” Anita responded, wondering if the fighter felt the same way. Sure, one might presume that anyone who competed in an underground supernatural MMA fighting ring didn’t care much for the rules, but people do things outside of their comfort zone with exceptional frequency when the situation is dire enough. 

She saw the struggle with which he adjusted himself and Anita wondered if balam’s did not have the ability to heal themselves at a quick rate. Or maybe they simply could not do so while in their human form. Interesting. “It doesn’t matter how they see you, really.” Anita offered with a shrug, opting to take a seat on the bench across from him as she decided this conversation was now worth her while. 

“And you shouldn’t discredit your success as simply luck.” It was necessary to be somewhat delicate in her wording here, Anita could tell by his response that he did not yet see the world the way she did. He did not fully recognize his place in it. “Certain creatures, well, we’re meant to loom largely over those beneath us. There’s no shame in recognizing that.” She paused for a moment to try and see how that last bit sat with him before continuing, “After all, there is a reason the jaguar was worshiped by the Mayans and not the other way around, no?”  

“A woman after my own heart,” Felix replied, mood lightening even further. They liked this woman, they decided, albeit tentatively. It was hard to fully trust anyone who came round the Pit’s makeshift locker room considering the way he’d been mocked by such a large portion of the staff after signing the contract Leo had tricked him into, but this woman didn’t seem like staff. And she didn’t seem like she was here to mock them. Just… talk. 

Felix didn’t like talking as much as he used to, of course. It felt like they were always on the edge of something, balancing some tightrope whose rules they still didn’t understand. Don’t make promises, don’t thank people, don’t give things away… It was hard to keep it all straight, and they found themself slipping up so often that they thought they might be lucky that the Pit’s contract was the worst bond that had come of it so far. “Easier to say from the outside,” he said with a wry smile, looking down at his hands.

They had some skill as a fighter, of course; if they didn’t, the Pit wouldn’t be holding onto them quite so tightly. But what she was saying? About looming over those beneath them? Felix wasn’t sure he understood all that. “Jaguars don’t worship much of anyone,” they confirmed with a nod, feeling the low rumble of the spirit inside of them as it growled its agreement. “But I’m not sure that puts me above anyone. The jaguar lives in me. I’m not him, and he’s not me. Two minds, one body. You know?”

It was clear to her from the responses that she was getting that Anita could work with this person. Work with them towards what? Well, she hadn’t figured that part out yet. She had time though, for now she just knew that this was the kind of person she wanted on her side. After all, the idea of a fellow shapeshifter being bound to fight for the amusement of fae didn’t exactly sit right with her. 

“Lots of things are easy to say from the outside, you’re right. I don’t pretend to understand the situation that you are in. Here to lend an ear if you’d ever care to explain, though.” Anita took a moment to look around the room they were sitting in, looking around at the Pit’s staff and the other fighters. They were paying some attention to her, which was not surprising given how out of place she looked, but none of their looks made her think they understood the conversation that was being had. 

It was intriguing to hear the dichotomy that the balam described. She had heard the descriptions of the creature within them being somehow… separate from their own self, but admittedly she never knew how much she believed that. She knew that like lamia, balams were born with their innate gift and could transform into the jaguar absent external forces such as the moon. Anita had never quite considered that the connection was so different from her own. “Two minds, one body.” She repeated, as if she truly did understand. “That doesn’t change the fact that…” she paused, leaning in a bit and lowering her tone to truly ensure she wasn’t overheard, “... that you’re better than this place. Better than these people. You see that, no?” 

It was a tempting offer. They’d been at this a while, but it was hard to find someone to talk to about it. After all, they didn’t really know anyone in town aside from Leo — he’d made sure of it. And it wasn’t as if he’d lend a listening ear. He might pretend to, sure; he did that sometimes. But at the end of the day, anything Felix said could and would be held against him at the next available opportunity. 

A more paranoid person in his position might have wondered if the woman was a honeytrap of sorts. Sending in ‘undercover agents’ to convince their fighters into saying things that could be used against them later wouldn’t be the cruelest trick the Pit had ever pulled. But Felix, in spite of everything, was trusting. “I might take you up on that,” they decided with a small, grateful smile. “I don’t really have a lot of people to talk to. Most of the fighters here are either afraid of me, or… in a better position.” Most contracts weren’t quite as tight as the one that had Felix bound. They’d never known if Leo had intentionally made their contract that way as an additional means of control or if it was a decision made by some higher ups who saw opportunity. 

Whatever she was, she wasn’t balam. That was evident in the expression on her face as Felix explained the connection. He got the feeling she was some kind of shifter, though it felt intrusive to try to figure out what kind. Not kitsune, and she didn’t strike him as a wolf. Those were usually a little less… at peace with their nature than she seemed to be. A siren, maybe, or a lamia. They could see either one. “Yes,” he confirmed. “It’s different than other shifters. The jaguar protects me, and I protect him. It’s symbiotic.” They smiled at her statement, though the expression didn’t quite reach their eyes. “If I am or if I’m not, it doesn’t change anything. I’m not in a position to leave it, and even if I were, I’ve nowhere else to go. But it is kind of you to say.”

It wasn’t much yet, but Anita felt pleased with herself that she had gotten them to confide in her even just a little bit. In just a few sentences she had learned a fair amount: they were alone, they did not have a clear support system, and they felt that others had more power over the situation they were in. “Well now you have people to talk to.” She said nonchalantly with a slight wave of her wrist, as if that motion made her declaration so. “I’m Anita Nieves. Pleasure to meet you.” She desperately wanted to know how wrong life must have gone for the balam for them to wind up here, but knew this was not the ideal spot for such a conversation.  

The way they explained how the dynamic with their other side worked made it clear to Anita that they certainly did not mistake her for the same beast. She didn’t mind that they figured that out but she hoped that they had at least been able to realize she was of similar kind. The idea of being a distinct and separate creature from her lamia form was not something she ever cared to experience. “I don’t say it to be kind. Please do not mistake this conversation for simple niceties.” 

Still, however, Anita was unsure what he should be taking her conversation as. Like with much of her actions, she just sort of impulsively had decided to strike up a conversation with the fighter unsure of what it was going to lead to. But even in just their brief exchanges, she wanted to know more. “Creatures like you are not meant to be caged… are not meant to fight or kill on command or be beholden to the whims of others.is not the end of your story. If you let me, perhaps I can help you write a different ending” What she meant was that creatures like them should be able to fight and kill at their own whims and pleasure, but she wasn’t exactly sure how that idea would go over just yet. “This,” she said gesturing around to the space they were in, “.”

 Was it that easy? Meet someone in a locker room once, and that’s all it takes? Felix was a little hesitant in spite of their trusting nature, unsure how much to reveal to a stranger. But he was lonely, to the very core. They’d been in this position for so long now, and there was no one they could really talk to about it. Any friends they’d managed to make were outside the Pit and had no knowledge of it; most people didn’t even know Felix wasn’t human. This woman — Anita Nieves — she might not be a balam, but she was a shifter. And that went a long way, when it came to trust. “Felix Mendoza,” they introduced themself with a small smile.

“Then why do you say it?” Realizing how it sounded, they held up their hands. “Sorry. I’m not trying to be rude. I don’t often speak to people who don’t have some ulterior motive. I’m not saying I think you do, but… Better to know someone’s intentions up front sometimes, isn’t it?” If they’d been more careful about thinking of other people’s intentions in the past, they wouldn’t be in this position now. Instinct often still pushed them to be trusting, but they were trying to be better. Smarter. It was just… a bit of an uphill climb. 

But god, it was tempting to take her at her word here. They wanted so badly to believe her, wanted to think that what she was saying was true. That they deserved better than this, that they shouldn’t have to be a gladiator forced to fight for the entertainment of others. But what choice did they have? They’d tried to go against their contract before. They knew what kind of consequences it wrought. Felix didn’t want to die. They knew what a coward that made them. “Endings aren’t so easy to write, sometimes. It’s not so easy to get away from this. I’ve tried, you know. How do you plan to help?”

It was good, Anita thought, that they were finally seeming a bit skeptical. Even if the question was preceded by unnecessary rationalization. It was time for her to be quick on her feet, she still didn’t really have any sort of plan or any solidified intentions, but that didn’t change her overall convictions. “I say that you are better than this place because it is a simple universal truth.” At least, it was in her mind - even though she lived among humans and other creatures, Anita knew that shifters were superior. It felt important to phrase that position delicately, however, given that Felix viewed himself and the jaguar as distinct persons. 

“I have no ulterior motive in that assertion.” The statement felt mostly true, true enough. “I was raised surrounded by our kind, raised to be skeptical of how others perceived us. Often, they cannot see beyond the creature inside. Even others who are part of our world or who appear sympathetic… they will always try to suppress us because they fear what may happen if we take control of our own power.” As Anita spoke, she hoped that what she was saying would resonate with Felix. 

She would have to figure out later why she felt so compelled to help get them out of this position, and whether or not she did have a not-so-altruistic reasoning for it, but for now Anita was simply enjoying the concept of sparking a rebellion. “I’m not going to lie, I have no answer to that question right now. I don’t have a plan and I don’t doubt that it’s not easy to get away from all this. But I see you want it and I have resources… and as we already established, neither of us are big on following the rules.” 

A universal truth? Felix wasn’t sure how much stock they could put in that. It was strange, hearing her speak like this after years of hearing the opposite. Even when their relationship was at its best, Leo hadn’t particularly cared for the jaguar. It was animalistic, he’d said, unnatural. It was something that, perhaps, made a little more sense after the revelation that he was fae; in Felix’s experience, fae seemed to view anyone who wasn’t fae as lesser. (Though that could have been their bias speaking; they weren’t exactly a fan.) Hearing someone imply that they were superior because of their nature instead of the opposite felt… strange. Like wearing someone else’s clothes — it itched in the wrong places.

“And what kind are you?” It seemed fair to ask, didn’t it? She knew what Felix was, had seen it in that ring. It was another thing the Pit had taken from them. There used to be intimacy in showing someone a piece of th someone in hopes that they would still accept you for it. But now? Those sacred parts of him were on jaguar, like opening up a long-hidden part of yourself to wrfull display to strangers, night after night.

Getting out was all they really wanted. It had been all they wanted ever since they’d realized the weight of the contract and the restrictions of it. Trusting a stranger seemed risky when trusting someone they loved was what had gotten them into this to begin with, but… It wasn’t like anyone else was offering to help, was it? It wasn’t like anyone else cared if Felix was free or not. “Okay,” they said quietly. “Okay, yeah. If you really want to help… I could use it. Um, what do you need to know?” 

Anita smirked at the question that she had been wondering if he would ever ask. It had been her experience growing up that some in the supernatural community did not care for lamia. As she made her way through her various higher educational pursuits, Anita had rarely been surrounded by others in the community and kept that part of herself so tightly hidden. Throughout her time in this town, however, she had begun to learn that people without a community of their own tend to just gravitate to similarities. “Lamia.” She’d share the specifics about her precise lamia self at a later time, especially since she knew that word - no matter what accent she said it in - was recognizable to those around them. 

“Right now, I just need to know when you have some free time to meet with me in … well, in an environment more conducive to this conversation.” While plotting a rebellion within the locker room of the beast’s belly was rather exciting, Anita knew that even carrying on in Spanish, this was a bigger risk than they needed to be taking right now. Introductions had been made and they had time to figure things out at another location. “For now, just keep yourself alive until we can meet again.” She pulled out a business card from her bag and wrote out her cell phone number on the back of it before handing it to him. No matter what happened with all this, Anita had a feeling it would be a bit of fun. For her, at least. 

Lamia. She sounded proud of it, and Felix could relate. They’d always been taught to be proud of what they were, too. A spirit of protection chose our family, their mother used to say. It’s an honorable thing. And it was. They still believed that, even if it didn’t feel like much of an honor when they were in the ring, bloody and aching. “I’ve only ever met a few lamia,” they said. There were a couple at the Pit, though Felix wasn’t often put against them in the ring. “It’s good to meet you, though. Really good. I’m always happy to meet more.” Shifters felt safe in a way few other species did. Call it a side effect of growing up the way they had. And Anita, with her words of comfort and her offer to help? She felt even safer than most.

“We can get in touch later,” they promised. Making any plans here ran the risk of having someone know when and where they were meeting… and coming to intercept them. The last thing Felix wanted was to drag Anita into his mess. They offered her a small smile as she asked them to keep themself alive, nodding their head. That wouldn’t be a problem; Felix was good at keeping themself alive. For better, or for worse. When his hands were bloody and his heart was pounding, it often felt so much more like the latter. Reaching out, they took the business card and tucked it away into their shirt pocket. “Thank you,” they said quietly. “For listening.” They hadn’t realized quite how much they’d needed someone to do just that.

[themaceyburke]

chatzy | news

date: 6/7/17 characters: Avery, Macey, Nadia, and Chiron description: Chiron and the Ares cabin have to break the news of what happened to Macey. Her response is not a surprise to anyone.

Nadia sits at a table in the Big House with Chiron and Avery, fidgeting with her thumbs. "I literally have no idea what her reaction's going to be. It's a toss up. Do we have like, a back up plan?"

Avery is sitting on the chair, her feet on it so that her knees are brought up to her chest, resting her head on her knee. She hasn't slept much since the incident. "I don't either, how does one break this to her lightly? She probably already knows something is up. She'll know the minute she walks in too to see Brent not here. I don't blame her if she completely blames me."

Chiron frowns at the table, his arms crossed. "Whatever happens, we can't let her or anyone else leave without a plan. I think the first thing we have to do is find, roughly, where he is and then find the fastest and safest way to get to him." He pinches the bridge of his nose. "I assume they'll be contacting us soon enough, if they made such a show of taking him." After a few more moments of thought, he looks at Nadia and Avery. "This was a situation outside of anyone's control. No one is at fault and I think it's better to focus our energy on getting Brent back."

Macey was running through all the possibilities of why Chiron would've called her to the Big House. Possible options she'd come up with on her walk from her cabin were either that he needed her help (very unlikely), her siblings had done something absolutely ridiculous (very likely), or....well, she wasn't sure what else it might be. She checked her phone one more time as her hip bumped open the Big House's screen door. She hadn't heard from Brent in a while, but dismissed it to the fact that he was probably fighting off monsters with his sisters. Which made looking up to see Nadia and Avery sitting with Chiron all the more surprising. Even more surprising was the obviously lack of the third and tallest member of their cabin. She stopped, blinked, and slowly put her phone back into her pocket, unsure of how to respond, "Um...hi?"

Chiron regards Macey solemnly. "I'm glad you could join us. Please sit."

Macey very quickly got wind of the vibe in the room, and her heart immediately picked up its pace. "Saying I need to sit always means something bad happened." She says, not sitting.

Nadia sighs. "Just sit, girl."

Avery looked down at her nails, biting her lip. "Macey, please, just sit."

Macey does not like the looks on everyone's faces. She frowns, folds her arms, and finally sits down.

Chiron takes a deep breath before speaking. "Macey, something unforeseen happened on this quest and... Well, I'll just be blunt. Brent has been taken."

Macey stares at them with blank eyes for a few moments, processing the words. When she finally speaks her words have an edge to them, "What do you mean he's been taken? Who took him?"

Avery took a gulp. "Felix," she said, softly.

Macey blinked, letting the name fully settle in her brain. "I'm sorry, did you just say Felix?" A simmering feeling of anger began to seep out of her chest, "You mean his psychotic, traitor ex-boyfriend who also has magical powers? That Felix?"

Chiron sighs. "Yes."

Macey looks around at the three of them, her face difficult to read. "How in the hell did that happen?"

Nadia watches Macey carefully. Her words are spoken with care, "We stopped to eat and he appeared out of thin air. He took Brent, the object we were delivering, and the car, and disappeared."

Macey "Okay," She glances around at them again, unsure why no one's getting up or doing anything. Another part of her is being consumed with a dire need to murder a certain son of Hecate. "Well, are we leaving to go get him, then?"

Avery avoided eye contact with Macey. "We need a good plan first."

Chiron "We have no idea where he is, at the moment. It would be unwise to go out and wander blindly."

Macey raises her eyebrows, "Um, I have him in Find My iPhone, we can get his location in like, 2 seconds. I don't know why we're just sitting here and moping right now."

Nadia "And Felix probably knows someone does and will have taken the phone the moment he got him. It's not that easy."

Avery "And what are you going to do when you use it? You can't just walk in blindly. That's not the smartest move. That's like setting yourself up for failure. Like Nadia said, it's not that easy," she replied.

Chiron "Even if you find him through those means, we can't leave unless we're prepared."

Macey throws her hands up in frustration, "Okay. Then lets get prepared and get out of here. Literally every second we're wasting just sitting here talking Felix could be doing fucking gods knows what."

Avery "Brent would kill us if you went," she said.

Nadia rubs her hands on her thighs, "We're all too close to this situation for any of us to be part of the rescue mission. Our close ties with him could jeopardize it."

Chiron nods. "You weren't here when I explained that earlier, but yes. None of you can go."

Avery "Which I know is complete bullshit," she said. "But it's true. Felix could use us to get to Brent."

Avery "We need to come up with a plan not go in and start punching."

Macey doesn't know if it's the jumble of feelings in her stomach or the stress of the situation, but she lets out a laugh. "Sorry, but if you think I'm not going to help save my boyfriend from potentially dying you're fucking kidding yourselves."

Nadia "Do you think me and Avery don't want to go and save our brother? It's just taking precautions. This way less people have a chance of getting hurt, and Brent has a better chance of getting out of there quicker."

Chiron stares at Macey curiously. "You sound just like him," he mumbles. "Macey, this is for the best, I promise."

Avery "He'll use you Macey," she said, letting her legs drop off the chair. "You said it yourself he's psychotic. He'll be a step ahead of you if you do that. We need to be strategic, and you'd be stupid if you run in there to save Brent. I want my brother back just as much as you want him back. But you're blinded right now."

Macey feels the simmering anger from earlier grow to a boil inside of her. Fighting won't help. She purses her lips and looks between the three of them, clearly angry, and after a moment of contemplation, pushes her chair back and stands, "Fine. Whatever. Let me know when you come up with a rescue plan or something." She turns on her heel and walks out of the room, abruptly slamming the door behind her.

Nadia watches her leave, then immediately looks to Chiron, "If we're going with the very déjà-vu-y feeling I've been having this whole time, I'm pretty positive she's going to be leaving camp in about, uh...ten-ish minutes." She sighs, "Do you want us to go after her?"

Chiron heaves a sigh, then nods. "Yes, that sounds like a good idea."

Nadia looks over at Avery and stands, "C'mon, Aves, this probably isn't going to be pretty."

Avery gets up, running her hand through her hair before nodding. "Okay, let's go get her, if she really is pulling a Brent, she'll try to get there as soon as possible."

Nadia nods and walks out of the Big House, making her way back to their cabin as quickly as possible. She bounds up the stairs once inside and, as she expected, finds Macey in Brent's room, throwing all of her belongings and all of the extra weapons she could find into a duffle bag. Nadia glances at Avery and leans on the doorframe. "Going somewhere?"

Macey doesn't look up at them and continues to throw things into her bag, "Technically, I'm not going on camp's rescue mission. So, I'm not actually breaking any rules here."

Avery "You can't do this, Macey," Avery replied.

Macey "If we sit here and take our sweet-ass time coming up with a plan, by the time whoever gets there, Brent will be dead." Her voice is flat; Focused and serious, "I can't let that happen."

Nadia sighs, "God, it’s like I’m living in a never-ending time loop." With purposeful strides she walked over and snatched up Macey’s bag. She held it over the smaller girl’s head and watched as she swiped for it, unable to reach. "You’re not leaving," Nadia gripped the duffle bag tightly, "You know what happens if you leave?" She didn’t wait for a response, "You’re gonna get yourself caught. If you head out of here as some one-woman army, you're gonna get taken. You know how I know? Because what you’re doing? Right now? He did the same damn thing when it was Rae who got taken. So if you do this and get caught, he’ll know it, because he knows you, and he’ll hate himself more for getting you into it. So, you’re not leaving."

Avery froze when Macey said 'Brent will be dead'. "And you don't think, I don't want that to happen? This is my fault. But if you leave, if we let you walk out of this camp and try to be a hero, that's stupid, Brent will kill all of us for that and you know that. You're not an army, Macey, because you not rescuing him doesn't make you any less of a girlfriend, or make you any less caring, it's just makes you reckless."

Macey reaches up and tries to snatch her bag from Nadia one more time, without success. She glares at the both of them, "I don't care. I'm not just gonna sit here and twiddle my thumbs, I have to do something."

Avery walked toward her. "Then help us come up with something instead of fighting us. I know your angry Macey, I'm angry too. Hell, I'm scared, seeing Felix return I thought I was in a nightmare."

Nadia "Also, if you're gonna keep fighting us, I'm gonna have to lock you down in this room so I know you won't leave and I don't feel like doing that."

Macey "You don't—" She jumps for her bag again and gives a loud, agitated groan when she can't reach, "—You don't get it! Fuck. I can't just—Sitting here and planning won't—After everything he—" Her eyes are angry and sad and terrified all at once. "Dammit!" She lets out a shout and tries to shove the two girls out of the way, "I just need to go, okay?! I can't let him die because I just sat here. I can't—!" Her words failed her and quieted down, "I can't live with that."

Avery put her hands on Macey's shoulders. "Listen, Brent will not die," she said. "And I will stay up every second until I figure a way to bring him back here. This is Brent we're talking about. He's been through hell and back way more times than I can count." She fidgeted anxiously, looking at Macey finally in the eyes. "He's strong." That's what she needed to tell herself to not freak out.

Macey stomps her feet on the ground a few times, as if her body doesn't know how else to expel all of its energy. All she keeps seeing in her head is the night Jack got hurt over and over again. "You don't get it, that's exactly why I need to go. He doesn't—" Instinctively, she presses the heels of her palms into her eyes sockets as hard as she can, keeping the rising feeling of tears from going any further. She sighs, hands still to her eyes, not shaking Avery's hands off of her shoulders, "He doesn't deserve this."

Nadia slowly lowers Macey's bag as the other girl speaks, fairly certain they're in the clear.

Avery "No, he doesn't," she said, wrapping Macey in a hug. "We'll find him, if it's the last thing I ever do, we'll find him. No time to waste right? We need to get crackin' on a plan, the sooner we get a perfect fool proof plan, the sooner we get someone to him."

Macey can't help her natural response of stepping out of the hug rather than hugging back, finally lowering her hands from her eyes. She turns and kicks at his bed frame a few times, "This isn't fair. This isn't fucking fair. He's been through hell and it's fucked him up and he doesn't talk about it, and now he'll be even worse."

Nadia feels awful seeing Macey so distraught, and she's hurting, too, but, someone needs to be the voice of reason, "Contemplating and speculating won't help. If we're gonna save him as soon as possible, we all need clear heads and to be focused." She drops Macey's bag onto the floor and steps closer, "Maybe we should all lay low and get a good night's sleep, then come back to this in the morning?"

Avery dropped her hands to her sides when Macey stepped from her. It broke her heart to watch Macey like this. She sighed. "I don't think I'll be able to sleep," she said, though she was clearly exhausted, she then looked to Nadia and then back to Macey, her hand fooling around with her bracelets. "But Nadia's right, having a clear head would work better for this."

Macey shakes her head. She had to pull herself together. "No." Her fingers slide under her eyes, trying to fix the eyeliner she previously smudged, "We don't have that kind of time. I mean, if you guys need until the morning, that's fine. I'll start brainstorming or whatever. I just...need to take a shower or something. Gimme like, a couple hours."

Nadia sighs, then nods, "Do whatever you need to do, girl. We're with you. I know I definitely need to sleep on this, though."

Avery "Honestly, I probably won't be able to sleep, I'll be here, thinkin'," she replied. "We'll get him back Macey, we will."

Macey presses a hand to her lips and nods. "Yeah. Okay. Um," She nods again, walking around in a circle before finding the bag by Nadia's feet. She grabs it and places it back on his bed, "I'll text you if I come up with anything. Um." Macey looks between Avery and Nadia, "Thank you. For telling me."

Nadia gives the best little smile she can muster, knowing from Avery's attempt at a hug touching probably wasn't the best idea. "Of course. I'll see you in the morning." She gives a little head jerk to Avery, motioning for them to probably give her some space.

Avery saw Nadia and gave her a little glare, though it was telling her that she got the message. "Wouldn't ever keep it from you," she said, before starting to walk out of the room.

Macey watches them go, and, when the door shuts behind them, drops face first onto the bed. She squeezes her eyes shut and waits for a moment, thinking maybe Brent will walk in and tell her it was all a joke, but he never does. The room is silent and his bed smells like that stupid cologne he likes. She stares at a picture of them on his dresser. It hurts. Macey gets up, grabs some new clothes from her bag, and walks out the door.

[corpse--diem]

An Offer You Can’t Refuse | Felix & Erin

When: Very shortly before Big Felix Featuring: @streetharmacist Summary: During a drink to celebrate a job well done, Erin and Felix decide they’re not quite finished after all.

It wasn’t a conventional location by any means, but the way Felix saw it, they had left convention behind a few miles back. Dale was dead. Bea was alive. There was plenty of reason to celebrate. And what better way than watching humans embarrass themselves at the Siren’s Serenade? With an Absinthe Hemingway in hand, he sat at one of the tables farthest from the karaoke stage. He didn’t mind a spotlight or two in the slightest but...time and place. It could come later. Roy Chambers. The name Erin had mentioned. It made sense why it lingered in his dome for so long. It was a familiar name. The kind that bears repeating. A few utterances invoked the spirit of old connections and he was nonetheless eager to share. If only to see where the threads all went to. Felix took a sip and eyed the door as he waited. The way things were, it was a matter that certainly demanded to be discussed.

Finding Felix in the Siren’s Serenade crowd didn’t take long. Hard to miss the only guy in the place with sunglasses and Erin made a mental note to sensitively bring that up someday. She took just a moment to ready herself, straighten up, shake the tension from her shoulders. The job had been taken care of - Dale was dead. No cops were breaking down her door. Felix was being paid in full again. Generally speaking, things were that surface-level kind of okay that made meeting up for drinks not nearly as terrifying as it could have been. “Some real beauts in here tonight, huh?” She greeted him with a warm grin. Thank God he’d picked a table far, far away from that mess. The whiskey she ordered when she passed by the bar came as she settled into the spot opposite him, and was quiet otherwise until the plucky server left them alone. “How’s business?” Erin asked over the top of her glass, watching the curve of his lips in lieu of black glass. “Running smoother, I hope? Now that you’ve got that big ol’ bald roadblock out of the way.”

“You really missed out on a winner earlier,” Felix said as he sat up a little straighter as Erin approached the table. “Just when you thought folks got tired of Bohemian Rhapsody, bam, there it is again. Just a pitch higher and a pitcher more drunk too. You gotta love it.” He adjusted in his seat, propped an ankle up on one knee as he settled. At her question, he smiled and took a sip of his absinthe. “Business? Well, it’s business and business is booming. I think it’s the encroaching summertime. Really gets the people in a certain sorta way, y’know?” It wouldn’t do to mention how much he and Blaine had discussed how sad the youth of White Crest could be. It was an off time for most and when that was the case, it was an on time for them. At big ol’ bald roadblock, he gave a loud laugh and set his glass down. “Well heck, I can say that the push and pull is making a lot more sense and that’s always real nice to see in my line of work,” he admitted with a tilt of his head. “And yours? It’s not, ah, going under, is it?” He smiled. “Surely it’s not. Certainly not after a loss like that, huh?”

Erin spared a glance at the travesty on stage and immediately winced. “Does that mean that A Whole New World duet I was looking forward to with you is off the table?” She asked playfully, trying hard not to watch his smallest gestures and movements with too much scrutiny. Something had changed. She wasn’t sure what exactly, and it wasn’t something she’d be quick to call it trust. Maybe she should have been more unsettled by how easy it was to joke with a man who was basically an accomplice to the murder she organized. “Yeah? Glad to hear it. I’ll take it that means all is well.” She shook her head, eyes dropping to watch the ripples slam against glass. Oh boy. She’d need an emptier glass before she asked him to shine a light on any of that. Wouldn’t be good. She looked up again at his question. “Well, losses are my gain, generally speaking,” she shrugged. She sat back, tapping her finger against her glass as she contemplated her next words carefully. “Honestly?  Retirement is starting to look pretty damn good right now and I gotta tell you--the packages available in our line of work? Not great. I know our buddy Dale would agree.” Warmth flooded her cheeks and suddenly she swore she could feel the heat brimming from the crematory chamber that very same man had left this world in. She paused, pushing past it and ease into another smile. “I’m hoping maybe you do too.”

“Oh, I won’t turn down a duet but let’s see how things are a few weeks from now, huh?” Felix said, mouth more in a curved line of knowing than anything close to a smile. “I’m nothing if not in it for a chance at some old-fashioned theatrics.” He loved his shadows without question but put the right spotlight on him and even a guy like him wanted to shine. And on the off chance it was the light of an interrogation room, he could make do. If he were someone else, gifted with the same knowledge, maybe they’d be put off by the way Erin smiled post-murder. Maybe even by how he did. They’d certainly be put off by the way they laughed and clinked glasses. Their stomachs wouldn’t handle it. Some people were just hungrier. A fact of life that his teeth fit around just fine. He could smile around it and he did so. “Oh yeah, very well but things could always be better,” he said with a thoughtful hum. “But ain’t that just how it is? Place like this, with what it has going on, it’s hard to ever really be satisfied since the work is never really done. I mean, you get it, right? All things considered, you got job security for life.” He tipped his glass towards her with a low laugh. As she spoke, he considered what she said carefully. There wasn’t any buzz in his chest other than the absinthe on his tongue. Words were everything to fae. They meant the slimmest difference between being in or getting out of a bind. “Hoping I do too, huh? Sounds to me like you’re looking for a newer, better deal. Very FDR of you, I dig it,” he said as he leaned forward intently. “Since we’re on the subject and all, I’ve got some information you might like to hear. About the ol’ bossman of yours.”

Old-fashioned. Erin had to laugh at that. Seemed to be this guy’s MO. It worked for him. “Why am I not surprised by that?” But he wasn’t wrong, about any of it, and part of her wondered if Dale had done them both a favor. He’d been the catalyst, the wild card that had spurned all of this on. Pissed Felix off enough to darken her doorway that fateful evening, stirring up tempers and trouble for them all. She could admit she’d grown comfortable, almost complacent in her rage, stewing and simmering. Now it was boiling over almost recklessly. It’d brought her here. If there was any hope to be had, it was right in front of her. Felix was quick. More knowledgeable than he let on. And sharp. She could tell that much already. Judging what side of the blade she fell on here was harder to distinguish but she knew she wanted to one the right one. “There’s always a better deal,” she nodded at his words, matching his dry smile. “Just ask any of my vendors though--I’m a hell of a negotiator.” Her eyes jumped from her drink to his sunglasses, momentary uncertainty flickering across her well set poker face at the mention of her boss. So much for that. “Do you? And how much is that gonna cost me?” She asked, shrugging nonchalantly. If she’d learned anything, it was that nothing came free. “If it’s worth anything at all. If you’re about to remind me that he’s a son of a bitch, trust me. I’m well aware.”

“You’re not? Dang, I gotta keep working on my front then.” Felix said with a smile as he unfolded an old matchbook and lit himself a cigarette. He waved the match out, breathed in nicotine, then breathed it out the side of his mouth. The karaoke choice shifted to something poppy that he didn’t recognize. It was bold what he and Erin were doing. Discussing dark things in the dim light of a karaoke bar. That was half of the thrill, really, the likelihood of being seen by the forces they discussed. Even if they were, no one would think anything of it right then. They were just chatting. See them now, but when the knifepoint touched to a neck with a pulse that hammered so hard the knife trembled, they might have wished they looked harder. Death granted a keen hindsight to the dying. One last gift. “Oh, I believe it. Death is an awful expensive business and while dirt naps are cheaper sometimes, can’t fault someone for wanting to rot in mahogany,” he said as he pulled the cigarette from between his lips and tapped it against the ashtray. “But gotta say, it’s good to know that you ain’t satisfied with all this business yet because I ain’t either. I think we can get dealt a better hand here.” He smiled. Erin was sharp. Quick. That was good. He appreciated the kind of company that could cut thin but cut deep. “Not much,” he admitted vaguely. “As for what I know, this guy, Roy Chambers? He ain’t just here. I’ve got some fellas in New York that know the name. He’s got his fingers in a lot of pies. A lot of pies that other people have made. Now that? That doesn’t sit right with me at all. Between you and me, guys like that shouldn’t have so much. It’s unseemly.”

There was something so incredibly appropriate about Felix lighting up that cigarette. Shadowy booths, shady conversations, smoke billowing around them in the dimly lit bar. Theatrics, case-in-point. Erin shook her head slowly, barely suppressing the smirk that lifted the corner of her lips. All they needed now was a black and white filter and a costume change to truly set the mood. “New York?” she echoed, raising her brows. Shit. This guy was a bigger deal than she anticipated with a reach like that. She could practically see the cogs and wheels spinning behind Felix’s glasses. “Of course he did. He probably thinks he’s the Elon Musk of White Crest,” she said, rolling her eyes. Didn’t surprise her though. Greed fueled monsters like Roy Chambers. He was a glutton, and a comfortable one. Constantly hungry, constantly devouring. Already trying to take bites out of her with her mother’s bones still stuck in his teeth. Her jaw set tightly and she glanced up from the napkin corner she was picking apart. “That’s a lot of pie, though. Sounds like you’re thinking about taking a few slices for yourself, yeah?” They were tiptoeing around it but there was no mistaking what Felix was implying. “If you’re offering--I could eat.”

Felix nodded through the smoke. “Yup. Makes sense. White Crest isn’t exactly a hub for this kinda work. Not really,” he said as he raised a hand and spread his fingers out. “He’s got a nice web here, sure, but a guy like this, it’s always bigger.” He smiled to himself then as he shifted forward and lifted himself from the shadow of the wall. He grinned. Erin got it. He had a feeling she would. She was tired of it and when people got tired of bullshit, they got restless. Proactive, even. And they made it known in ways that wouldn’t readily be forgotten. “Precisely, precisely.” His word manufacturing slowed as he got to thinking, his tongue pressed against the top of his mouth. “You see, I’d be fine taking a figure off or two, free up some space,” he admitted with a shrug, his tone easy. “Could do that, sure. It’d make things a little easier, you know, for you and me.” He gestured between the two of them. The grin he wore lessened by the second. “But I don’t think we’d be satisfied. Half-measures don’t sit right with me. Half-measures get you right back where you started.” He shook his head and looked at Erin. There wasn’t any concern or doubt in him. She got it. “Nah,” he said as he stabbed his cigarette into the ash tray. “We take off the whole fucking hand.” He laced his fingers together and sat up. “These debts you inherited? A couple Roy phalanges ought to cover it. With interest.” Money was a motivating factor in plenty but getting a guy back, that went further. It lived longer. “We do this? Really do this? We’re square for life. So yeah, Ms. Nichols, I’m offering.”

There it was--the proposition Felix had been inching toward since Erin had sat down across from him. At some point she knew it was coming. Maybe he needed someone low on Roy’s radar, capable of stomaching the hard jobs with a motivation matched his own. He sure as hell looked at her like he’d found someone to fill that slot. She could do it. He just needed to say the words and make it real. When he finally did, something dangerously close to hope woke with a hard start beneath her ribcage. She hadn’t expected that but she couldn’t pretend that it didn’t feel good. Her mind had been made up long before she finally spoke. 

“Let’s really do this, then. Let’s cut off the hand. I’ll take the whole damn arm if that’s what it takes,” she answered without hesitation. Bit back a big, sharp grin. If they failed, they died. That wasn’t lost on her for a second. She’d been in survival mode for so long now though that it was easy to forget what she was doing now was purely existing. It didn’t sustain or nurture. Just kept her alive enough to trudge through the next day. It was time. She was ready to live again, even if trying was the last thing she ever did, and she met Felix’s hand halfway across the table. “I’m all in.”

[thenadialbright-blog]

chatzy | thanks, utah

date: 06/05/2017 characters: Brent, Nadia, and Avery description: The Ares children experience a slightly very unfortunate hiccup on their quest.

Nadia pushes her hat out of her eyes, failing at her attempts to nap, and sits up. "Please tell me we're out of Wyoming by now."

Avery "You asked that like 20 minutes ago, it's still a no," she replied, sending a quick text back to Mikey on her phone before going back to her drawing she was working on.

Nadia mutters, "I hate Wyoming.”

Brent squinted past the sunlight at the sign ahead. "One more hour. I think."

Avery "You know you guys didn't have to do this," Avery said, probably for the hundredth time since the trip began. "I would've bit the bullet and done it."

Brent "I would've never let you go on your own," Brent said, looking at her through the rearview mirror. "You're stuck with me no matter what."

Nadia waves her hand, "Ditto."

Avery sighed. "Why the hell did I have to go? Was that what it was like with your quest?" she questioned Brent.

Brent shrugs. "Ares said he picked the two of us specifically, but he probably just did that because he knew we were on bad terms and he thought it would be fun, or whatever." He glances back to his sister. "I bet anything he was just being an asshole because he felt like it. Don't think too hard about it. We'll be done soon enough."

Nadia "He just likes picking on all of us." Her next words are purposely a little louder than need be, as if he could hear, "Because he's an asshole."

Avery "I don't know what going on a quest means, does it mean it's getting bad again or it's just Ares being an asshole," she said.

Nadia "Technically they're a thing that's supposed to happen often. So it doesn't mean anything's getting bad. They're just annoying."

Avery sighed and went back to her drawing. "Well, it sucks."

Brent "It does," he said, turning up the radio. He drives in relative silence for a while, eventually making it into Utah. "We're close to where Wyatt and I crashed," he mused, looking at a directional for the Great Salt Lake "We can stop and get some food in Salt Lake, if you two want."

Avery "As long as there's something gluten free, I'm in," she replied.

Nadia "As long as you don't drive us into the lake, I'm also in." She smiles.

Brent rolls his eyes, cracking a small smile. "I think I can make that happen," he said, pulling off the highway.

Avery "Can we take a road trip one of these days, non-God related?" Avery asked, popping her head in between the seats. "We could get Wyatt and Mikey and Macey and Jacob and Rae in on it too. Staring at that package fuckin' bums me out and totally ruins this whole driving across the country vibe. I never got a real road trip in my life, I want that."

Nadia thinks about it. "I think Macey and Rae would like, bicker the entire time, but besides that it could be fun?"

Brent "I don't think they'd...." He pauses. "Well... You're right. It sounds fun, though. Maybe the three of us can take a slightly more scenic way back."

Avery "Yeah, but it's not like we'll leave them in a room alone, oh my Gods, would Macey kill me if I left her in a room alone with Rae?" Avery smiled jokingly. "But taking the more scenic way back sounds nice, some what sibling road trip, that sounds okay I guess."

Nadia "I mean? I don't think she'd kill you, they'd just probably see who could out-annoy the other?" She nodded along with Brent's idea, "I'm cool with the scenic route back, too."

Brent "Great. Anything is better than driving through cornfields for twelve hours."

Nadia "TRUE."

Avery "I feel like I'm in like that Children of the Corn movie. Granted I've never seen that movie, I'm just guessing it's a scary movie about children in a cornfield."

Brent drives through the city for a bit until he finds someplace promising. He parks and immediately steps out of the car, stretching.

Nadia stretches her arms over her head and hops out of the car, turning her baseball hat around so she can see. "So, this is what Utah looks like."

Avery got out from the car, stretching a little also before throwing her hair up in a messy bun. "You know, I thought it would look different than this."

Brent laughs as he walks to the restaurant. "What were you expecting?"

Avery "I thought it was going to be more dull," she replied with a shrug.

Nadia squints at the restaurant and the parking lot, "Um, is this place even open? We'r like the only car here..." She jogs ahead of them to check the hours listed on the door.

Brent is about to follow Nadia when he hears something behind him. He turns but sees nothing, but his hand hovers to the hidden sword in his pocket as he checks the other side of the car.

Avery "It's like 4pm," she says. "What restaurant closes that early?"

Brent doesn't find anything on the other side of the van, either. He hesitates, then starts to walk back around when a blinding pain spreads from his abdomen through his entire body. He gasps and crumples to the ground, stars in his eyes.

Nadia whips around when she hears a thud and sprints back over to Brent, "What happened?"

Avery is closest to Brent, and she barely has enough time to process a thought before she's running toward him. Her hand on a dagger. "Brent, what's wrong?"

Brent grabs one of their sleeves and holds on tightly, squeezing his eyes shut. He tries to say something but only succeeds in making a pained noise as he writhes on the ground.

Avery gripped her dagger a little harder, surveying around them, taking deep breaths as she walks a few steps from Brent, her heart pounding.

Nadia reaches down and puts a hand on his arm, "Avery, help me sit him up."

Avery returns to Brent and helps her sister with him, biting her lip anxiously. "What's the hell is happening?"

Nadia "I don't know, but I'm guessing something bad. Probably monster related. Be ready."

Brent goes still as the pain suddenly subsides, gulping for air. "Fuck," he whispered, pushing himself up. "Fuck."

Avery is there to help Brent. "Are you okay?" she questioned, quietly, her dagger still in hand.

Felix appears out of thin air behind the three. "Hiii," he chimes, waving his hand. He grabs Brent by the shoulders, and in the same instant, disappears with him. The car, at the same time, vanishes, leaving Nadia and Avery alone.

Nadia has no idea what just happened and spins around approximately three times in shock.

Avery eyes widened. "What the fuck just happened?" she asked letting out a shaky breath. "Was that just...? Am I having a nightmare?"

Nadia stares where the car was, as if it's gonna reappear somehow. When it doesn't she presses a hand to her forehead, "Fuck! Fuck, fuck." She pulls her phone out of her pocket, "I'm calling camp right now."

Avery’s hands shake, staring at the spot where Brent was sitting. She takes out her phone, fumbling with it, tears welling up in her eyes trying to attempt to call Brent, hoping somehow that would magically make him show up. "He took him, He took Brent, Nadia," she rambled out, trying to type in the right number on her phone. "This can't be happening. What are we going to do? Shit, this is my fault, I should've went on this stupid thing alone."

Nadia walks over to Avery and puts her hands on her shoulders, taking in a deep breath, "Okay, Aves, I need you to stay calm. The first rule of a quest is to stay cool, even during shit like this. We're gonna call Chiron and get back to camp as soon as possible. And then we're gonna go rescue Brent."

Avery "How the fuck are we going to get back, the fucking car is gone," she said, not staying calm, she could stay calm but the moment her siblings were in trouble was when Avery lost it. "Half our weapons were in there, the package was in there, our things were in there."

Nadia does her best to keep her chill and not snap. She pulls her phone from her pocket and gently lets go of Avery's shoulders, "We're demigods, Chiron has connections exactly for this kind of an emergency. Let’s just call camp, and then head to a store and see what we can do about supplies."

Avery nodded slightly, taking a hard gulp. "Okay, okay," she agreed, looking from Nadia to the spot where the car and her brother once was, before looking at her phone, hoping this was just a horrible another nightmare like the ones she used to get after the war ended and she'd wake up soon enough to find everyone safe.

Nadia gives her a little smile. "Good, I'm gonna call camp. Do you wanna like, Google nearby stores around here?"

Avery nodded. "Sure," she responded quietly, doing as she was told by Nadia, struggling to type it in her phone with trembling hands.

[jfc-its-felix]

project e.l.f [chatzy]

featuring Ezra, Luther, Felix, brunch, a shootout, accidentally sentimental nicknames, and a Backstreet Boys poster

@ezracarsonx @kinglutherofsousa @ghost-with-no-name

[ezra] Ezra had settled and arranged the outing with Luther and Felix - separately, of course. The truth was that Ezra had never actually witnessed the pair interacting, despite how close they seemed to be. He was curious to see the Luther-Felix dynamic in action. And Ezra was also incredibly grateful to have this little (hopefully little) mission to get through. Get Felix to the depository and create enough of a diversion to get Felix into the building long enough to get all the surveillance set up. From there it was just keeping an eye on the guards and making sure they didn't do anything too unconventional, ensuring Felix gout out safe and no one the wiser. Oh, and of course, going to brunch and possibly dinner with Luther. Two rather separate outings, blended into one full day. Why not - Ezra found himself trusting Felix as a greatly competent person, marveling internally at just how well (he thought) Felix had bounced back into full recover from losing an arm. The kid was resilient as fuck. And Luther was...well he was Luther. What wasn't there to enjoy about Luther Sousa?

Ezra arrived at Luther's penthouse, knocking on the door at the appointing time, already kitted out. The surveillance equipment was already packed in a small black ruggedized case, which Ezra wore as a little tidy backpack for now. This way Felix wouldn't have to carry it in his hand when he broke into the depository.

[luther] "Felix, just put the goddamn leather pants on! We're going on a MISSION! You can't be in your shitty sweatpants for something so important," Luther yells all the way through opening the door. "Hey," he smiles at the older man, expecting him. "Come on in, we'll just be a minute. Felix is struggling to put his turtleneck polo on. Among other things," the comment made by Luther turning a head towards his bodyguard.

[felix] Luther seemed to have this /idea/ of a very specific kind of 'mission clothes' -- and it apparently consisted of leather pants and polos? Felix wasn't even sure where he'd gotten that shit from, maybe Hollywood. "I'm not wearing fucking leather pants, holy fuck," he called back. Honestly. The /squeaking/ alone would be a problem. So, no, he was wearing fucking normal clothes, like a normal person -- if a bit tighter and darker than usual, because, y'know, sneaking. Just not /leather/.

By the time he was dressed and managed to get out to Luther and Ezra, he's scowling as he tugs a glove over his prosthetic hand. He wants to ask why Luther is even coming on a mission, but honestly, he doesn't want to imply Luther is useless, so. He avoids that question for now. Luther's feelings are delicate. "'sup, peaches," he greets Ezra. "Sorry about Luther, I think he thinks spies wear leather catsuits? Which isn't to say I wouldn't look /rad/. You got everything we need?"

[ezra] Well...it is sort of true that Luther is useless. Or rather (as Ezra likes to view it) he hasn't yet seen Luther in action. Frankly he was surprised that Luther agreed to this when Ezra extended the casual offer. And since Felix didn't exactly protest, Ezra decided maybe Luther had some secret hidden badassery that he liked to keep hidden under a veneer of richboy snottyness. He smiled at Luther and grinned at Felix. "Hello Eartha Kitt," he wryly greeted Felix. "Don't worry - you both look beautiful. I ah...I figure we should head out a bit early to recon the place just to make sure nothings changed from my last check. If it all looks normal, then we can get...some," Ezra's gaze flicked to Luther. "...brunch?" The idea felt so wonderfully absurd, but then, they would be in Brooklyn, and Brooklyn prided itself on hipster eateries that proudly served 'brunch'. He showed Felix the briefcase/backpack and then turned to head out.

[luther] Luther breaths in through the nose, trying to compse himself. "You know what? Fine. Wear the clothes you wear every day. I know you'll regret this half an hour from now anyway." Because that's how Felix works --- he hates stuff, then later decides he wants the hateful stuff in his life. The exchange between the two men isn't as steamy as Luther hoped it would be, but that's alright. They have time, passion will awaken in them by noon, when there's food around. "Brunch, yes," Luther nods at Ezra, giving him a bright smile. "We have time to stop for Starbucks on the way, right? I just woke up, I need my caffeine." He puts his sunglasses on and grabs some monoculars, along with the keys. "So what's this job all about again?"

[felix] Felix still isn't sure why they're stopping for fucking brunch in the middle of this, but, whatever. Luther probably wants to watch a first-hand account of how he flirts with Ezra, so Felix will make sure to really bring out his Innuendo A-Game. "Yeah, yeah, we can get your weird shit coffee," he snorts, leading the way out of the suite and down to the garage. And steals Luther's sunglasses and puts them on, just because he can. "Shit, I need some caffeine too, we might as well. Ezra, you wanna fill Luther in on the job while we walk down?"

[luther] So predictable. Luther pulls his second pair of sunglasses out of the inside pocket of his jacket and puts them on, hoping Ezra doesn't try this shit as well, because he's out of pairs. "I'm not what he wants to fill, as far as I know," he snorts, feeling so smart and funny with his joke.

[ezra] "Isn't there coffee at the brun...? You know what never mind. Coffee at Starbucks then," Ezra said, glancing at his watch. Which was a passive-aggressive move, but he figured it would be lost on Luther and Felix would just snicker. Luther's joke was cute, although it did get Ezra daydreaming slightly about 'filling' Luther...perhaps the opposite effect of what Luther intended. As they rode the elevator, Ezra summarized the mission for Luther's benefit, but Ezra figured most of his role would be babysitting. As for the diversion part of it, he unslung the backpack with a smile. "To create a diversion in order to get Felix access into the depository, I've acquired something rather fun from the MacNamara R&D. Maybe that Asset Lochlan fellow watched Ocean's Eleven recently, but--" Ezra tugged out what looked like a toy car remote control. When they got to the garage, he stepped out, and used the controller. Eventually, a sleek black sports car towards them, parking gently in front of them. "Neat hm? Luther, you and I will use this car to make the diversion once we get down there. Men can't resist mysterious expensive sports cars - the guards will be distracted and Felix can get inside and do this thing." Ezra handed the control to Luther while he turned the open briefcase towards Felix, letting him see the surveillance equipment within. "Does this sufficiently meet your needs, Mr North?"

[felix] Clearly, Ezra has yet to learn one very important thing about Luther: when you're around him, you're working on Luther Time, in Luther World. Felix has just learned how to adapt. He takes a glance at the equipment in the briefcase, another at the remote control car, and makes a noise that might be approval. It's hard to tell. Felix is a fucking tough sell when he's gearing up to mission mode. "We'll drive in Luther's car, you remote-control the car to follow us," he says, getting into one of Luther's less ostentatious cars. "Since I assume by 'distraction' you mean 'blow it the fuck up', we'll need the real car, too. Please tell me you're gonna blow it up."

[luther] Luther notices the watch move, but only because he wants to check the type of watch a man like Ezra woulf wear (a cheap and ugly one, fyi). "Pfff," he snorts, putting his hand up to cover his mouth. "Mr. North," he repeats in Ezra's tone, elbowing him playfully. "Or, you know, instead of blowing something up, /I/ can be a diversion." Luther is certainly pretty enough to distract a man from the sunset, in his humble opinion. "No, Felix, I don't want that car today. Let's take the pink limo."

[felix] "No and no," Felix says, very nicely. "Get your ass in the nice black car."

[luther] "What do you mean no!? I can be a distraction if I want to be," he argues, entering the car, because due to his limited attention span, Luther can only argue about one thing at a time.

[ezra] "I wasn't planning on blowing it up..." Ezra said with some slight petulance as he gazed as his shiny new toy. He paid a lot to liberate it from the clutches of R&D. Granted, he had equipped it with an explosion device as a contingency - but that was what it was: a /contingency/. Ezra was hoping to drive the beautiful thing away unmolested, for him to play with another day. Damn Felix and his love of big explosions. Since he assumed Luther and Felix would sit up front, Ezra stretched out in the back seat of the sedate black car. "We could blow up this car instead. No need to waste the...ah...pink limo in a diversion. And Luther, I don't want you distracting these guards, the less they realize they're being duped, the better. If they see your highly-recognizable face, that could spell trouble." The elbowing from Luther puzzled Ezra, but he didn't pay too much mind. His mind was too focused on the mission - and of course the remote control car. "Vamos, fellas."

[felix] "I'm not letting you get near these people," Felix tells Luther. "They're assholes." Probably? Felix assumes so. "So you can stay in the car and watch, from a safe distance, the nice big explosion Ezra's gonna make." Felix gives Ezra a Meaningful Glance in the back mirror as he pulls out onto the road. (Shut up, he loves explosions).

[luther] Felix is being a jerk. Because of that, he abandons his spot in front and crawls back to sit next to ezra --- a far more deserving of Luther's close proximity man. "I don't feel like watching an explosion today," he yawns. "Ezra, lets not destroy the car. It's nice. Lochlan probably worked on it for a long while, so we should keep it for something really special and important."

[ezra] How could Ezra glare at Felix when he was giving Ezra the 'caring Mom look' at him in the rearview? Honestly, Ezra was a sucker for Felix, even if he wouldn't admit it, no matter how much Luther elbowed him and arranged for chaperoned playdate brunches. He gave Felix a quick nod in return, then smiled as Luther joined him in the backseat. Ezra pat Luther's shoulder reassuringly. "Well we'll see how it all pans out. Luther, you'll stick with me. We're going to set up in an abandoned building a city block from Felix's drop point, hm? We'll wait for him there. We'll have a good vantage point from there, don't worry. I have binoculars and we'll have mics to talk to Felix if he needs us."

[felix] "We'll have to come up with codenames," Felix says absently, scouting out for the nearest Starbucks as he drives. They don't actually need codenames. But he's pretty sure Luther would love to have them. "Luther, you can be... I don't know, what do you want to be? Something with Leader in it. Or Eagle. Or Commander!"

[luther] "Can you not sound like my dad when he's taking me out on a field trip?" he asks, lifting his glasses up to give Felix a look. "Leader Eagle Commander is fine, but I didn't know you turn into such a tight ass when you go on a mission."

[ezra]  "Is that what your dad sounds like?" Ezra asked Luther as he concentrated on guiding his fancy remote car. "Leader Eagle Commander is too long. It needs to be short and concise like...oh I don't know. Optimus. Felix can be Bumblebee, and I'll be Starscream."

[luther] Luther laughs, looking at Ezra like he's a kid. "Starscream? That's cute. Is it, like, an inuendo about how much you scream in bed?"

[felix] Jesus. Christ. "Don't even compare me to your dad, that's the worst insult," Felix grumbles, doing an about turn as he spots a Starbucks that looks slightly less horrendously busy than the others.

[luther] "Oh my God, what!? My Dad is wonderful! You're giving Ezra the totally wrong impression of him! What the hell?"

[felix] Luther Sr. is /not/ wonderful, but Felix relents anyway. "Fine, okay, he's the best dad ever. Hey, Starscream," Felix muffles a laugh, "what's your coffee order? We'll go drive-through."

[ezra] He looks up at Luther with a slight grin. "No they're Transformers, you know. The old cartoon? Never mind - I want to hear more about Dad." But they were at a Starbucks and the car conversations fell to the wayside when one needed to pick your perfect Starbucks cuppa joe. "Christ I still don't know why we can't get coffee at the restaurant. Alright ahhhhh..." Ezra gazed at the fancy menu, trying to decide what would go well with his flask of bourbon. "Get me a caramel latte, but ask them to use coconut milk."

[felix]  "/Coconut milk/," Felix says, barely managing not to screech it in his horror. What the fuck even is that? Is that a thing? Why is Ezra drinking it? Why is he stuck in a car with two people with weird coffee choices? Long-suffering, he rattles off Ezra's order, Luther's order (which he knows by heart now), and his own. A plain fucking black coffee. "Why does it not surprise me that you love Transformers," he drawls. "Between that, your bike, and this remote control car, I'm starting to think you're a vehicle fetishist, man."

[ezra]  "Coconut milk tastes nice when it's all sweet. A perfect blend," Ezra said, leaning forward and giving Felix a light cuff on his shoulder. "Bumblebee is a coffee snob, jesus. He buys the most obnoxious fucking cocktails he can design but then butches it up when it comes to coffee?" Ezra psh'd, then smiled at Luther's wonderfully elaborate order. That Felix memorized, what a good bodyguard and friend. Really, he was looking forward to hearing the specifications required to please Luther Sousa. "Just remove 'vehicle' from that and you got it in one, Felix. What're you a fetishist about? Everyone's got /something/."

[felix] Felix could give so many answers to that question, either serious or funny. But since he's not about to get all serious talk about kinks right here and now, Felix glances in the rear view mirror, puts on his most winning smile, and says, "Mustaches."

[ezra] His face split into a wide grin at the unexpected response, and Ezra put down the remote control long enough to mime a rim shot on a drum set. Ba-dum /tish/. "You cheeky fucker," Ezra said at the rearview. It occurred to him belatedly that - Felix was an Asset. How was he paying for the coffee? But then of course Felix had access to the largest source of money he could ever need: the Bank of Sousa. When he got his coffee, Ezra added his tipple before taking a drink. "Alright, we're on a schedule, so let's got something to eat, I'm starving."

[luther]  Luther checks to see if Ezra got a boner from that line/smile. "It's not a cartoon, Ezra." Poor old man is confused by all the high tech animation in the Michael Bay movies. "We're eating after the mission, because F-bomb is ticking from excitement, here. Sorry, I meant Bubble-bee."

[felix] "Who says I'm joking? The height of the hipster era with all those fake mo's was boner hell for me," Felix drawls, putting his coffee in the cup holder, handing Luther's back to him. "Brunch after the mission, then? Make up your minds, jeez."

[ezra] When the hell does Luther think brunch is? It was currently 10:30 in the morning, the ideal bunching time. "Brunch now, mission, dinner afterwards. The mission's going to take a couple hours, Luther." Ezra pitched an eyebrow at Felix. "Fake moustaches, really? And it's Bumblebee, not...Bubble-Bee." Ezra muttered into his cup, "Might as well just call him 'Bubble-butt'."

[luther]  "He does have an awesome ass, ezra. You're in for a treat." There's the elbowing again. Poor Ezra is coming out of this with bruises all over his sides. "Thanks," Luther tells Felix when he takes his drink and slurps up from the straw. "Fine, then, Felix," Luther gets between the two front seats, unintentionally giving Ezra a full on ass view, "Turn left here. We're not going to that place where I fainted. You have my credit cards, right?" he asks, double checking.

[felix] "I accept Bubble-Butt as a nickname," Felix says graciously, following Luther's directions. He has to suppress a smile at the memory of That Particular Restaurant. "Yep, I've got them. My prosthetic's pulling double duty as a wallet, there's a hatch on there, it's rad."

[ezra] "You nearly fainted? Why?" Ezra said, focusing his alarm straight at Luther's pert skinny butt. But then Ezra remembered: this was Luther. He had a tendency to opt for the most...dramatic scenario. Once they got there, Ezra double-parked the remote car with Luther's since they'd be moving as a unit anyway. "Fine fine, Bubble-butt it is. Although I've yet to see it without the inconvenience of clothing."

[luther] "You guys, we can totally do this thing another day, if you'd like to stay in the car," Luther says, being oh so subtle, as he slurps and exits the car.

[felix] "Gracefully avoiding the fainting story, I see," Felix says dryly, getting out of the car as well. "C'mon, tell Ezra about it. He can pull double duty, he can listen to the story /and/ imagine how great my ass is without pants in the way. He's talented like that."

[ezra] "I am a good multitasker," Ezra said, letting the young 'uns saunter ahead as he checked out both their asses. Sometimes it felt good to embrace the whole 'dirty old man' stereotype. They got inside, landing a table once Luther dropped his name (Ezra assumed, anyway. Maybe dropped a couple Benjamins as well) and Ezra ordered himself an omelette before he looked expectantly at Luther. "So you fainted?"

[luther]  Luther sadly did have to drop some Benjamins, because Felix always looks out of place in these establishments. A bribe is a must. "I--- A little. But Felix unhooked his arm and there was some splashing and my shirt got stained while people were looking---" Luther stops talking and inhales deeply. He's feeling faint just thinking about it. "Anyway. So what do you like best about Felix, Ezra? Besides his ass, apparantly."

[felix] Ah, yes, there it goes. The story about how Luther can feels social shame so keenly that he actually faints from it. Felix loves it. But he does have to stifle a groan at Luther's new topic, and covers it up by looking smug as fuck, leaning back in his chair. "Yeah, Ezra, what /do/ you like best about me," he deadpans, amused.

[ezra] The tale was disjointed and led Ezra to just assume that the young Sousa was like a fainting goat. Besides, Luther was good at diverting to a topic that really did please Ezra. He leaned back in his seat, legs sprawling as he looked at Felix from across the table. "Best? That's a hard choice, there's so many things to choose from. Are we talking purely physical here, or you know. The internal blood and guts stuff?"

[luther] Since ezra asked for it--- "One of each," Luther smirks.

[felix] "Oh, yeah, please do make sure to pick which of my organs is your favorite," Felix snorts.

[felix] Luther gives Felix a warning look. A stop-mocking-and-start-t​aking-this-flirting-thin​g-seriously-dammit.

[ezra] God he wished he could have a smoke right now, just for something to do. As it was, Ezra took his napkin, rolling a corner of it, up and down. "Ahhhhh fine let's see. He's got a lovely mouth. I like watching it talk." Ezra grinned at Felix, knowing the kid was just taking the piss - that was perhaps the best thing. "I like Felix's bones, they seem very sturdy. Especially when he's punting some pendejo around."

[felix]  "I'd tell you to pick a favourite bone, but we both know which you'd pick." Heh, boner joke. "Now stop putting the poor guy on the spot, Luther. Our flirting has to happen /organically/. You know what you wanna order yet?"

[luther] Ezra gets his shin kicked under the table. "You two are impossible together. But at least you're bonding." Which is the desired effect in the end. "Well, I think Felix is really handsome and funny and sweet. I like those things best about him. You do too, right, Ezra?" Luther snaps his fingers like a prime A asshole and orders for them all, because he didn't ust pick his own meal --- he picked all of the meals.

[felix] "I am not sweet, oh my /god/," Felix mutters mutinously.

[ezra] "I don't know about the sweet, but then I don't have a sweet tooth. I'm more of a salty sort of guy," Ezra replied, but then looked alarmed. He really wanted the omelette, dammit Luther. "Is that what we're doing, flirting?" Ezra leaned forward towards Felix, nodding his chin over at Luther. "Your turn, Felix. What do you like about Luther, inside and out? Boners notwithstanding."

[luther] "You're supposed to ask what he likes about /you/, Ezra." Gosh. It's like flirting 101 and the old guy is failing already.

[felix] "When we first met, Luther said that bacteria like me shouldn't be around superior beings like him, and then called me a dirty prostitute. That's my favorite thing about him." Felix beams fondly over at Luther. "And my favourite inside bit is your spleen. I'm sure it's... a great example of a spleen."

[ezra] "No now you Luther, can tell me what you like about me..." Ezra glanced from one to the other. Motioning his finger between the three of them. "This /is/ supposed to be a hook-up for a threesome, right? I mean, that's what I'm going for. Why limit our fun?" Of course Felix would go for the most useless organ inside Luther, which was strangely endearing. "Bacteria...that's creative."

[luther] Luther leans over the table, elbows on top, hands connected like he's about to close a business deal. "I guess the kick under the table wasn't hard enough for you. I'll definitely aim higher when I swing next time." They can't be joking, Luther is pretty sure he is smelling sexual desire in the air. Unless--- is it directed at him? God, the last thing he wants is to steal Felix' potential hook up and future boyfriend. "I like your..." Crickets can be overheard in the silent pause, "Hair. It's still there, which many men your age can't brag about."

[ezra] Ezra rubs the bridge of his nose with his fingers. "Ay dios mio..."

[felix] "Luther thinks you're my future husband," Felix says, darting an amused glance at Ezra. "He's just trying to nudge you down that path. Right, Luther? You're such a great wing man. Even if you're, like... really bad at giving compliments."

[luther] "Luther /knows/ you're his future husband," he says, blushing a little at the comments. "I'm not bad! Having hair at forty is really really great for most men!"

[ezra]  "Luther I'm sorry, I don't think Felix is the marrying type," Ezra said, totally throwing Felix under the bus for this, because why not. He waved a hand at them both. "You're both terrible, I'm done with the both of you." Fortunately the food came though, and even if it wasn't exactly what Ezra wanted, it was still warm and delicious.

[felix]  ...Did he just get /fake rejected/? Felix isn't sure whether to feel miffed or not. "Yeah, the whole Class C asset thing kind of gets in the way of marriage," he says dryly, staring down at his plate. "Also, what the fuck is this? You know I don't know what fancy food is."

[ezra] Ezra paused and looked up at Felix thoughtfully. What an interesting why to deflect the marriage topic. Did that mean...if he could, Felix North would want to marry Matteo D'Ignazio? The thought of Felix being as romantic as that made Ezra somewhat dumbfounded. The kid was an onion.

[luther] "It's Lobster Frittata and you will love it." If nothing else, Felix has to trust Luther with his taste. It's then when he notices Ezra and how he's lovingly gazing at Felix. Perfect. Except Felix is pigging out, looking disgusting and very non-fuckable. "For fuck's sake, use the fork! Chew!"

[felix] In the middle of picking up said frittata with his hand, Felix blinks owlishly at Luther. Why does he need to use a fork? The food is perfect hand food. (Every food is perfect hand food as far as Felix is concerned). "Nah, I'm good," he says blithely. "Thanks."

[luther] "This is why I tip extra," Luther whispers not so quietly to Ezra.

[ezra] "What about you, Luther? Do you want to get married someday?" Ezra asked, intrigued by the idea now. He ate with a quick efficiency, giving a nod at Luther as Felix massacred his frittata. "It's obviously delicious. Good choice, chico rico." Ezra was surprised by his eggs benny too; the hollandaise was exquisite.

[felix] They're both just lucky that Felix hasn't made a sea food joke yet. "I better be best man if you ever do," he garbles around a mouthful.

[luther] "I'm not getting married. Love is a sham," he says politely, stabbing whatever's in his plate.

[ezra] Ah, now Luther is starting to make sense, and Ezra grunts in agreement. "There we have it from Mr Sousa himself. Felix, my dear, I'm afraid I can never love you. Love...is a sham."

[felix] Felix gives a depressed sounding sigh. "There goes our amazing future marriage and 2.5 adopted kids."

[luther] Crap. "No, not for you guys! It's just me, marriage is a sham for. I'm cursed. You'll be fine, it's going to be awesome."

[ezra] Ezra finished his meal, wiping his mouth on his napkin before he sat back to finish his coffee. "Double standards, Luther. If we have to get married, then you have to get married too..." Ezra looked over at Felix giving the kid a brief wink. "Then we'll all be a little less jaded. A double-wedding, how lovely would that be, hm?"

[felix] "As long as I can pull double duty as groom and best man," Felix muses. "I can't even imagine a Sousa wedding. It'd probably be bigger than a fucking royal wedding."

--

[luther] Luther uses the time Ezra is in the bathroom to corner Felix into The Talk. "I think he's into you. You two should totally go on a date when the mission is over."

[felix] Felix spends half a second wondering if he can 'accidentally' spray food at Luther when he talks, thus driving Luther off this particular topic -- but he decides not to, for fear of making Luther faint. Again. "I'm starting to think you're projecting, man. Maybe it's /you/ who wants to go on a date with Ezra," he says blithely. "Ever read Freud?"

[luther] Come on, Felix. You know Luther doesn't read anything besides magazines and social media update posts. Get real. "No, but I know he has an obsession with his mother. Which ---even if I did have it too--- isn't relevant to this topic?" Luther uses the dirtiest trick in his book and slides his half eaten desert over to Felix. No way the asset can resist complying now. "Me and Ezra aren't like that. But you two? I really think he's into you. Like, who wouldn't? You're amazing. And he has a mustache, which is a kink for you." As Luther learned today. "What do you really think of him, F-bomb? Hm?"

[felix] "Who has an obsession with his mother? Freud or Ezra?" Felix asks, bemused, eyeing the dessert he's being presented with. He's not going to cave to Luther's whims just for tiramisu. Even if it does look like... really good... tiramisu... Felix misses most of what Luther says next because he's too busy staring like a dog with a bone. "What? Oh. Yeah, mustache. Cool. Can I have that tiramisu?"

[luther] Luther casually slides the plate with his dessert right, then left, smirking when Felix's eyes don't even notice the movement --- they just stay glued on the food, while the mouth is busy collecting saliva. "Yes, of course, man. But you'll have to ask Ezra on a date after the mission is over. Like, a real date. With a kiss in the end. Okay?"

[felix] Like watching a tennis match, Felix's gaze goes left and right too, tracking the dessert. Or, less like a tennis match, and more like that one gif of the row of kittens all avidly swiveling back and forth in unison as they stared. "Uh-huh," he agrees absently. "Fine. Dessert, gimme."

[luther] Luther notices Ezra finally making his way back towards the table. "Eat fast, we need to go," he tells Felix, giving him the food. "Ezzy, check is covered and if your bladder is empty we can finally go."

[felix]  "Ezzy," Felix repeats, amused and probably incoherent through the triumphant way he's stuffing his face. Tiramisu is like the food of the gods, man, he's allowed to be gross while he's eating it. "ETA thirty seconds. Just gotta lick the plate."

[ezra] Ezra notices the empty plate that was once tiramisu and looks just slightly envious. Who can ever resist tiramisu after all? Regardless, it looks like the boys are ready to up and at 'em, so Ezra doesn't sit back down, and instead gets his jacket on, eyes still lingering on the empty dessert plate. "Ready?" he asks, but just heads out anyway, leaving them to gather themselves while Ezra lights up a quick post-brunch smoke. He looks at Felix, who's the first to emerge. "Is Luther primping?" He looked at his watch and grinning slightly. "I allotted time for that."

[felix] "Yeah, I told him he had some broccoli between his teeth. He had a panic attack and ran for the bathroom," Felix replied, shoving his hands into his jacket pockets. Of fucking course Ezra allotted time for that -- he probably had everything planned down to the minute. "How much time did you give him? Because if it's anything under ten minutes, you've underestimated him."

[ezra] He looked up at Felix, genuinely worried, the smoke bobbing between his lips as he said, "Shit. Five isn't enough? Was he even /eating/ broccoli...?" Ezra started to ask, then suddenly chuckled to himself, shaking his head and looking down at the gum-stained sidewalk. "I'm sorry, gato. When I invited him I honestly thought he'd refuse because it was too...dirty or boring or gruntwork or something. I had no idea Luther was on a mission to matchmake." He pitched an eyebrow at Felix. "He did rant some alarming things about Matteo, though. What can I believe and what should I chalk up to Luther just being Luther?" Obviously Luther's heart was in the right place - looking after his friend Felix - but Ezra realized by now that Luther's mind tended to get a little creative in his perception of things.

[felix] No, Luther hadn't gone anywhere near broccoli, which just made the lie and the reaction even funnier. At the apology, Felix just lifts one shoulder in an idle shrug -- sure, Luther is slowing the mission down, but really, it's entertaining, if nothing else. And Luther needed to get out of the tower and stop moping over Salinger, so, win-win. "What do you mean, alarming?" he asked, curious despite himself.

[ezra] Felix certainly had a way of letting things roll off his back, but then it's understandable all things considered. The Tower wasn't really conducive to letting things get to a person, especially if they were an Asset. Especially-especially a class C Asset and...well we all get the point. Felix's life was rougher than most. "Ahhh let's see. I think it was the beating-up part that alarmed me the most. Luther said you two called it sparring so I assume that is what it is: sparring. D-Ignazio's a ring fighter, right?"

[felix] Felix groaned, letting his head fall back against the wall they were leaning up against -- if only, somehow, by smacking his head against it, he could somehow smack the truth into Luther's thick skull. "Did he tell you Matteo's abusive or some shit?" For fuck's sake. He glanced over at Ezra, eyes narrowed, hoping he didn't find anything resembling belief or misplaced sympathy on his face. "Yeah, it's sparring. He's a boxer, I'm... y'know. Me. Luther's weirdly horrified by it, I don't even know why."

[ezra] Really, Ezra just wanted to be convinced. He held a neutrality until he got Felix's opinion. And really, it wasn't as if 'abusive relationship' really had too much merit in a place that kidnapped and enforced sexual slavery. So Ezra just nodded, exhaling smoke through his nose. "Alright." He looked away from Felix, people watching from across the street. "I suppose Luther just needs to ensure you're happy...according to his specific terms. Why he chose me to guarantee that is beyond me." He paused and then added, "And he said D'Ignazio smacked him around too."

[felix]  "If by 'smacked him around' you mean 'punched him once in the face because Luther insulted Gus and Matteo really likes Gus', sure," Felix drawled dryly. On a whim, he stole Ezra's cigarette and took a drag, handing it back. "Whatever reason he chose you, it's clearly a compliment." He stifled a laugh, nudging Ezra with his elbow. "He's /incredibly/ picky."

[ezra] Ezra let out a small 'ahhhhhhh' and at the reference to the other Sousa, now Ezra was content to let the conversation drop. Family business that seemed a little more sticky than Ezra had realized. Which was fine - everyone had their interpersonal drama. God knew Ezra was currently embroiled in drama of his own, much to his discomfort. Hence this mission. What a convenient way to escape and avoid all the bullshit happening back n the Tower. "It is a compliment. Only the best for his Felix North, hm? Caviar tastes and champagne dreams, our Luther." He handed the rest of the cigarette to Felix to finish up, blowing out another stream of smoke. "Who knows, maybe he'll grow to accept D'Ignazio, eventually." Ezra snorted; as if. "You just /had/ to go be with the literal MacNamara enemy, didn't you. Just to make things harder on him," he tutted.

[felix] Felix didn't particularly want the rest of the cigarette, so he took a look at the people passing by, and flicked the cigarette, sending it flying in a neat arc to land in someone's open coffee cup. "Yeah, I make all my decisions based on how hard they make Luther's life," he agreed airily. "Now, we've got five minutes before Luther deems himself acceptable and re-emerges. One of us should have a hickey by the time he gets out. It'll make his week." Felix beamed a shit-eating grin at Ezra. "You wanna do the honors, or should I?"

[ezra] Ezra looked genuinely surprised at Felix's suggestion. "When you're dedicated to a prank, you go all the way, Felix. We better not eventually end up fucking just to have a laugh on Luther. I mean if we to end up fucking it should be for a better reason that messing with Sousa's mind, hm?" Ezra admired the way the cigarette arced, and then the aggressive stockbroker suit took a deep drink while yelling on his phone, only to spit the coffee out over some other guy. Then, an argument ensued. As per usual, where ever Felix was, pandemonium ensued. "Alright come here," Ezra said, motioning for Felix to come closer. He looped an arm around the kid and nuzzled into his neck, kissing at a spot of delicate skin first before he sucked in hard, adding just enough of a bite to make the skin bloom. Ezra loved marking people after all, so he was rather efficient. A brush of his tongue to seal the little bruise, before he leaned back to inspect his handiwork. "He looks at you more, anyway. Mm, bueno. He'll definitely notice this."

[felix] Over the sound of an aggressively Texan asshole yelling about how his ten thousand dollar suit was ruined, Felix just very sternly reminded himself that they were in public. Which, y'know, he normally wouldn't care, but they had a mission, and Luther was getting back soon, so Felix didn't want to get /too/ into getting a bruise sucked into his neck. (It was really fucking nice, though, goddamn Ezra). Felix prodded at it. "Good location," he approved. Some idiot walking past jeered at them to get a room. Felix gave him the finger. "I'm beginning to learn you're strategic about pretty much everything. Including hickeys."

[ezra] Brushing his thumb along the curve of Felix's jaw (he really couldn't help himself, Felix had that blonde peach-fuzz around his jaw that was just so enticing), Ezra smiled in satisfaction. "Oh here's the man of the hour," Ezra announced as Luther stepped out, in his usual Luther way. Rather hilariously oblivious to the hickey though, for the entire car-ride to the abandoned building. The longer the hickey when unnoticed, the more exciting Ezra found the prospect of Luther /eventually/ discovering it. But they were here, on time, and they had a mission to complete first. Ezra took about ten minutes to inspect the depository through his binoculars and fortunately everything seemed normal. Three guards at the front, a fence to scale, but there was a locked side gate that Ezra pointed out to Felix, for him to squeeze through. "You're skinny enough," Ezra said to Felix. One guard patrolled and the other two were stationed at the only door that led in and out. The windows were small and clearly renovated with thick glass, hiding what lay inside. "There might be an exit on the roof, but I couldn't see for sure in the recon, unfortunately. This should just be a straight in-and-out though, hm? There shouldn't be anyone inside, so just work fast and work good. If you run into any trouble --" Ezra tapped at the bluetooth he had affixed to his ear. "Let me know when you're in position and then I'll...." Ezra huffed slightly. "I'll drive my remote car over and blow it up."

[felix] "I'm not skinny," Felix grumbled, but it was just a token protest -- he was more interested in scoping the place out, watching the movements of the guards. Luther seemed bored as fuck, practically squirming in the backseat. Poor guy. Felix hopped out of the car, pulling the backpack of gear on, and pulling his hood up so it at least covered some of his hair, staying behind the car as he got ready. "I'll be... let's say an hour. I like to give myself some wiggle room. Hey, Luther." Felix tipped his head, oh-so-subtly (read: not) showing off the hickey. "You gonna be cool to sit here for an hour?"

[luther] Pop quiz time --- is that a hickey or a bug bite? Luther narrows his eyes, trying to figure it out. "Sure, sure. I'm always cool," he mutters, giving Ezra a glance in an attempt to figure it all out. "Where's my ear piece?"

[ezra] "Your...earpiece, right of course..." Ezra didn't pack one for Luther, whoops. So instead he tugged out his phone and got the bluetooth on his phone and put it on speakerphone (because that's who technology works right? It does now). "There we go. Now we can both talk to Felix." He handed the phone over to Luther, then looked at Felix. "Everything ready?" Ezra said, then looked a little 'shocked' to see the hickey. "Oh my..."

[luther] Nice try. With a huff, Luther steals Ezra's earpiece and settles back into his seat, monocular in hand. "Good luck, F-bomb. Don't blow anything up," especially not another limb, since Felix is already short on those.

[felix] While it's tempting to just shout IT'S A HICKEY, YOU DUMBSHIT, GAZE UPON EZRA'S WORK, YE MIGHTY, AND DESPAIR, Felix doesn't do that. Sadly. Instead, he plays along, looking mildly embarrassed as he tugs on his jacket to cover the mark up. He even makes himself blush a little. "Nothing's getting blown up. Except the car!"

[ezra] Unbelievable. Felix is doing a bang-up job, even managing to look...shy. Felix North, shy?? If it was lost on Luther, honestly Ezra would be mildly disappointed. Then again, it was worth it because Felix's skin tasted really nice. Bright and citrusy. "No blowing up anything. Go on let's get this done," Ezra said, taking the phone back from Luther, and giving Felix a quick nod. No 'good luck', it seemed too trite. But he did clutch Felix's forearm briefly before the kid departed. Ezra sat back, looking over at Luther. "He'll be fine. He's always fine, isn't he?"

[luther] Instead of consoling Ezra, Luther immediately jumps on him with questions. "So, a hickey, huh? You animal. Where'd you do it, because it wasn't in the bathroom. Were you so hot for him you did it in /public/?!" Luther gasps, doing a bang up job with sound accommodations to his own story. "Are you dating now? Felix plans to invite you to a date when this is over, you lucky asshole. He he he." It's all great, because the ear piece is totally working, so Felix is getting a live stream of the show --- sound wise at least.

[ezra] Dammit. Ezra bristled, annoyed that Felix wasn't here to reap the rewards of his own damn prank. Luther was actually waiting to get Felix out of the car, like Felix was some blushing bride in an arranged marriage. He tugged his jacket tighter and shifted in his seat, giving Luther a sour look. "Shouldn't you be asking for the details from your bee-eff-eff," Ezra said, the term 'bff' coming out a little awkwardly in his mouth. Once Felix gave the signal, Ezra took the remote. "Let me concentrate I need to get this done just right...." He steered the car out in the front of the depository, driving it around in front like waving a carrot in front of a burro. Eventually as it drove slowly away, Ezra sighed and let the thing explode. Such a pity. But it did the trick - the guards went running and Felix had his clear to get inside the building. Ezra replied to Luther, hoping Felix was hearing them talk, at the /very/ least. "While you were in the bathroom, and yes in public. We're in Brooklyn, no one cares here."

[luther] "Oh, trust me, Felicity and I will talk about this a lot later," not that Felix will want to talk, but Luther has ways of making that happen ( it usually involves food, or hugs, or nagging ). Luther isn't even impressed by the explosion, because Ezra is stalling! "Okay, so here's the thing --- you need to be very nice to Felix, because he likes nice people. He's just a little dumb and doesn't realize it, or if he does, he denies it in his own head. He's not a fan of flowers, but if you want him to ever forgive you --- use food."

[ezra]  'Felicity'. Christ almighty. The longer Luther talked, making actual plans for Ezra and Felix, the more agitated Ezra got. Felix needed to be here to diffuse everything! The mission was the important thing right now! Ezra took the bluetooth back from Luther, taking it off of speakerphone so that Felix didn't have to hear anymore. The kid needed to concentrate on his work right now. Ezra raised the binoculars, as he answered Luther. "You've tried giving him flowers before?"

[luther] "Hey! My earpiece..." Luther rubs his now empty ear, feeling like he just got scolded. "Yeah, when he was in the hospital. I had Bob bring fresh flowers every day. It's good for lifting up someone's mood, usually."

[felix] He hadn't gotten to see the explosion, which was sad, but he'd sure as fuck heard it, and it had given him the opening he'd needed to get in through the roof. It turned out these assholes were terrible interior decorators. Like, really bad. Also, on the topic of things that were really bad: Ezra and Luther chattering in his ear about goddamn flowers. "Hey Starscream, I'm seeing a Backstreet Boys poster on the wall," Felix announced as he wired a camera. "It's concerning. Ask Optimus if he wants a souvenir. I can totally grab it."

[ezra] "I'll keep that in mind..." Ezra paused and looked over at Luther. "That was very sweet of you, though." Ezra returned to Felix, "Eye on the prize, Bubble-Butt, don't get distracted by pretty boybands." But Ezra himself was distracted however, when another car came screeching past them and towards the depository. "Ay chinga, what - what the hell --" Ezra sat up, ignoring Luther for the moment as he watched five guys piling out of the car, heading into the depository. "Felix -" Ezra said, forgetting their codenames as he spoke through the mic. "Incoming, what's your ETA?" But whatever Felix's situation was, Ezra knew he couldn't get out, not with five guys charging in through the front door. Ezra made sure he was holstered properly, before getting out of the car. "Luther I'm going to give Felix a hand. You know how to drive right?" He handed Luther the bluetooth. "Keep this, and when we need you, we'll call. You got it?"

[luther] Now, Luther's mind works a little differently than Ezra's, because when he's asked about driving, he doesn't think it's done with the intent of him running away. "Yeah, sure. Go," Luther nods seriously, sliding in the driver's seat. "Bumble-ass, how long do you have left on the mission?" he asks, turning the engine on and driving the car towards the newcomers, after taking a sharp turn, wheels screeching. "I'm gonna get them off your ass for now, so let's say, ten minutes?" Luther crashes the side of his car into the newly parked car, managing to knock it backwards and trap a couple of guys between their car and the wall. The attack results in open fire, which Luther isn't too impressed about, due to his bullet proof vehicle.

[felix] What the fuck is happening out there? Felix can hear tires screeching and a buttload of footsteps, then more tires, then fucking gunfire, and-- if Luther is getting fired at, Felix is going to kill all of them. Every single fucking one. He was in a sideroom when the commotion started, and he can hear three guys making their way through the building. Ugh. "Ezra, fucking stay where you are," he says, bland and mission-appropriate, despite the cursing. "Or get to shelter. Either one. I'll deal with the assholes in here. You just keep Luther safe."

[ezra] "You have got to be fucking kidding me..." Ezra mutters under his breath, as he watches Luther blithely drive forward in their getaway car and careen into the other car. It was well-executed of course, but the repercussions, ay dios mio . Why did no one ever thing of the repercussions? This was supposed to be an in-and-out mission and Ezra already indulged in the explosion of the remote car, and now this. More excitement, more alarms, more suspicion. At this rate, the only thing Ezra could hope for was two things: 1) that these mooks don't suspect the attack is from the MacNamaras; and 2) that they don't grasp why they were attacked in the first place, hopefully assuming it was just to steal shit not set up surveillance. Oh and 3) that Luther doesn't get his ass killed. Ezra and Felix were expendable but not Luther Sousa. Dammit. Fortunately Ezra still had Felix on his phone, and he trusted the kid to make it through. Protecting Luther was now Ezra's first priority - they both seemed to agree about that. He remained outside with a glance towards the building, returning to Luther's car and opening the door to duck behind. "I told you to stay put!" he yelled at Luther, but of course he hadn't actually specified that. His mistake. Three guys now were dedicated to the gunfight outside of the depository, two were incapacitated thanks to Luther's Fast&Furious antics, which left three guys inside for Felix to deal with.

[luther] "Oh my God, you can't just barge into my car and yell at me!" Luther yells right back, shifting gears, so he can completely crush the two men trapped in place. "Grab the wheel, I'll try to shoot the others before they get to Felix," he says, no urgency in his voice (you can tell he doesn't think of this as a life or death situation). Luther pulls his guns out and opens the roof window, popping out to shoot after the remaining men and attract their attention. "Ezra, can you drive into the building? I need better visibility."

[felix] Over his earpiece, Felix can hear Ezra yelling at Luther, and then, faintly, Luther asking if they can barge into the fucking building. Felix wants to be horrified, because it's his job to make sure that Luther does /not/ need to kill people and get shot at, but there's a problem. See, he's killed two of the guys. But the last guy has a fucking submachine gun. And Felix is pinned down behind a goddamn couch. "Uh, guys," he starts, breaking off at another round of rapid gunfire. "Maybe--" more roaring gunfire, "--fuck."

[ezra] "No Luther, jesus christ, I am not driving into the building. Please listen to me," Ezra said, angry now at one more mission completely gone to shit. This was a complete write-off now. The sheer amount of destruction and visibility meant there was no way out of this except with everyone dead. And now there was absolutely no point in surveillance, as the depository would just be moved from here to some other secret location. They'd failed. And now Luther and Felix were both in danger and Ezra could feel his anxiety rise. The only silver lining in this was that Luther /was/ all this time just pretending to be scared of gunshots and the like, because now he was playing fucking Rambo. He was playing it well but /goddammit this wasn't the time/. "Felix, abort the mission, it's over. I'm coming in. Luther - stay the fuck here and wait for me to get Felix out." The gunfight was manageable outside at least, and Ezra could only trust Luther not to get shot. He headed inside, clipping one guy in the head as he passed by. Two guys left for Luther, one guy going buck-wild in the depository. Ezra managed to find Felix and shot the Submachine asshole, but not before Mr Submachine lobs a grenade towards Ezra. The explosion inside is loud and Ezra's thrown like 20 paces back, slammed against a wall. Felix, he notices hazily, is unharmed. Thank god. "Fel - " Ezra burbles, coughing blood not really realizing that he's been blown up just yet. "Luth - outside -"

[felix] Explosions are the game of the day; Mr. Submachine lobbing the grenade gives Felix enough time to finish him off a second later, a nice double-tap in the head to make sure he's really down. He approaches Ezra with no real expression -- no concern or irritation, not now, that'll come later -- and gets a good grip with his prosthetic hand in the back of Ezra's shirt collar. He likes his robo-arm right now: it's sure as fuck strong enough to drag Ezra out.

[luther] Luther's weird instinct leads him inside the building when he hears the explosion, heart racing out of worry for the two lovebirds. It's such a Felix!thing to take the guy out on a shootout for the first date. "F--- Bumble-boo!!" Luther yells, coughing from the smoke created by the explosion. "Ez--- Starscream! Guys, answer m--eeeek!" Luther can feel the nausea rising in him when he finally finds Ezra. Ezra who is bloody and dirty and looks like he's dying. "Oh my God, is he dead?" he asks Felix, rushing over and hesitantly throwing Ezra's free arm over his shoulder, trying not to think of him as a corpse.

[felix] "No, but he /will/ be dead when I'm done with him," Felix mutters. "Did you kill everybody outside?"

[luther] "So, maybe we should leave him off in the hospital wing instead of your room?" Luther offers, being as helpful as ever. "I think so. Haven't checked for pulses. Did you plant the... whatevers? Everyone's dead, so now's like the perfect time to do it, right?"

[ezra] Ezra is disoriented, his ears muted and ringing at the same time. He can feel a hand or a claw grabbing him - it's like being a toy in one of those claw-machine games - and dragging him, and Ezra makes no effort to stop it. He can't, not really. One arm feels crooked and the other is burning in agony, but he doesn't say anything yet. He needs to make sure that Luther and Felix are okay first. He's pretty sure he hears one (or both?) of their voices. Luther's definitely. And Felix's...well who else would have a Terminator hand?

[felix] When they get back outside, two of the idiots are in the middle of staggering upright, looking like they've been run over. Felix stifles a sigh, aims, and very neatly put them both down, like swatting a fucking fly in the middle of a summer stroll. "Yeah, we'll need to take him to the hospital wing when we get back. Help me get him in the back seat, there's no point planting the rest of the bugs."

[luther] "What? No, Felix, look." Luther grunts a little as they try to shove Ezra in the backseat of the car. "Just go in, plant the remaining shit and steal some shit. They'll think we came for whatever, not to spy on them. It's the /perfect/ distraction."

[ezra] Ezra can see them now (sort of, his vision is a little blurred) and he considers struggling to stand up on his own two feet, but there's no real point once they reach the car. At least they're safe and alive and quarreling about something. He grunts, shutting his eyes tightly and wishing this day was over. He was not looking forward to the write-up he'd have to make for the MacNamaras. He was the only one held accountable for this fubar, after all. Not Felix and certainly not Luther Sousa.

[felix] He's as gentle as he can be as he gets Ezra into the back of the car, and if his hand lingers on Ezra's throat to check his pulse, well, he'll admit, he's worried. He doesn't want to go back in there, because the entire place is a bust, now, they'll probably relocate -- but Luther has an interesting point. And it's worth a try. "Alright. Stay here, keep an eye on Ezra. Make sure his breathing's steady. The second it's not, you call me. I won't be long."

[luther] Luther nods and climbs inside the car, putting Ezra's head in his lap, stroking his hair back. "Ezra? You awake? It's all good, Felix is finishing the job. We made it through, man. Total success."

[ezra] This is where the pain finally filters through the shock, and Ezra wants to shake his head, but everything hurts. He feels pillowed though, forcing open his eyes to look up and see Luther staring down at him. "Luth...Optimus..." Ezra says, but honestly tears trail down his face from the pain, even if he doesn't realize he's crying.

[luther] "Oh fuck... Oh, fuck... Ezra, man, come on. It's alright, where does it hurt, hm? Tell me?" Luther starts patting ezra all over, trying to locate the wound and put a hand over it to stop the bleeding. "It's okay, Starscream, I've got you. You're going to be fine. Felix is coming back super soon and then we're getting you home, okay? Don't worry, shhh."

[ezra] "Okay," Ezra said, not really in any position to say much else. He stilled and concentrated on his breathing and shivered slightly because it was getting cold. He knew this feeling, he recognized it. "It's pretty bad, innit," he asked Luther, and in truth Ezra didn't really mind. At least no one else was gong to die. Ezra smiled slightly, his head swimming. One arm definitely looked broken, the other burned badly. The impact against his chest, even with the flak jacket, made Ezra's chest fairly mushy underneath. But he needed Luther to know": "You were fucking badass."

[felix] And with that, Felix is climbing back into the car, slamming the door behind him. The Backstreet Boys poster is tucked under his arm, various drugs and other shit in the backpack. He was just in time to catch Ezra's mumbled compliment, and he snorted. "If you're trying to say your dying words, save your energy. Fucking idiot. Asshole." He needs another insult to satisfy himself as he pulls the car out, sending it screeching out onto the street. "Cockmonger."

[luther] "Felix, he's /crying/!!" Luther yells, interrupting him. "What do I do!? He's old, I didn't know old people can cry, oh my god," Luther stops talking, because now he's crying.

[felix] Oh god, now they're both crying. Felix is in Hell. "I don't know, fucking make out with him or something, that'll perk him right up," he suggests helpfully, squinting out the front window as he tears around a corner.

[ezra] "I'm not crying," Ezra grunts but then has a coughing fit of mostly blood. "Fine...those aren't my last words. My last words are..." Ezra sighs in relief when he feels the car speeding off, because it meant it was over. No more shooting and destruction for today. "...wink wonk."