#chatzy: teddy

[honeysmokedham]

Snaking In To Say Goodbye || Teddy & Nora

Who: @eldritchaccident & @honeysmokedham Where: Teddy's! When: Current What: Nora is planning to go away for a bit, and get caught by Teddy while setting up temporary habitation for her snakes.

Save one person at a time. Nora could do that, she had to do that. As the time for Regan’s departure got closer, Nora got ready to set up for her own. That’s right. She would stow away, go to Ireland, and save Regan from herself. It probably wouldn’t take too much time, but some creatures depended on her. This left her with a dilemma. If Nora told someone she was leaving, they would stop her. If Nora told no one, who would watch the snakes? That’s how Nora ended up at Teddy’s at 9 am, arms full of snakes and their supplies. Nora, assuming that no one sane would be up at the ungodly and unreasonable hour of 9 am, marched her way to a lesser-used closet and started clearing it out. She’d hide the snakes until she was in Ireland, then just let Teddy know. They’d be chill about it because they were the most supportive person she’d ever met before. This was totally a great and smart plan, Nora decided. 

—

It wasn't that Teddy was necessarily up that early, more so that they hadn't yet gone to bed. Nocturnal. Always had been. Sleeping in anything less than the afternoon sun brought old memories and older nightmares. They heard something clamoring around in one of the closets and assumed at first it was Gabagool. When the little gremlin was scarfing down some cat food (and vehemently denying that it was cat food) in the kitchen, Teddy knew something was up. Just not what. Not yet. 

Slowly, they slinked into the hallway and crept closer to the room, until they could peer in without a sound. Inside was… Nora? Huh. The ex-demon eyed the kid, a bemused little grin gracing their features as they watched silently. The girl was making something of a herpetological exhibit out of the storage space. Interesting. Too many for a prank, too specific for one too. Something bigger was going on with their baby bear. 

“So were you planning on telling me before or after?”

—

Teddy’s place smelled like Teddy. At least, that’s what Nora told herself as an excuse to allow them to sneak up on her. Their voice breaking the silence caused them to jump, a heat lamp slipping out of her fingers, as Nora spun around. “It’s nine am, Teddy. What are you doing up?” Out of everyone who came in and out of here without invitation, Wynne was probably the only one who managed to consistently be awake in the mornings. Nora refused to wake up before one pm, but three pm was her average wake time. This was simply unsanctioned. 

“After,” Nora mumbled, bending over to pick up the dropped lamp. Whatever Teddy thought was happening, Nora could probably still spin this in a good way. “My generator at the crypt broke and it was too cold for them to stay there without power.” The lie tasted like ash on her tongue. Sure, Nora lied constantly. It was all she did in this town. She lied about who she was, what she was, and everything she did to anyone who paid any attention. It didn’t mean she wanted to lie. Especially not to Teddy, who has only ever accepted everything she’d said. But this was more important. Nora knew she could save Regan, and she would. 

—

“Couldn't sleep.” Teddy shrugged, stepping further into the room just to get a better look. They were certainly disheveled enough to show off their late late night status. Spilling over into the next day wasn't new or novel, honestly. More of a feature than a bug. Still, they couldn't help but feel it was somehow serendipitous as they stooped to help gather the pieces of snakey care detritus. They didn't speak again, just took in the way Nora said what she had to, observed the way she moved about and what her minimal expressions gave away. It wasn't much, but Teddy liked to think they knew her. Liked to think they realized there was something missing. They wouldn't pressure for more, but sometimes silence was the biggest compeller. 

—

“That sucks.” They were coming off the tail end of winter, a season that left Nora feeling sleepy and lethargic. If she never slept again it would be too soon. Well, that wasn’t true. She did like sleeping, but she was tired of sleeping all day. Nora watched them inspect her work without any more words. Nora, generally, was a do-first, ask-later person. Now that she was caught in the act, she stood awkwardly, arms held weirdly to her side as she felt snakes crawling up her back and wrapping around her torso. “This is fine right? I’ll give you the number to my rat person.” The rat person was a middle-aged man who worked at a pet store. She black-mailed him for feeder rats by terrorizing him for a month straight. It was a common exploitation she used. And people said living without money was hard.  

—

“Told you before, my house is always open to you and your little buddies.” Teddy smiled softly, moving in to take a few of the lamps and such off her hands. “Aren't... you gonna be cold though?” Maybe a little probing was necessary. Just a teense. “Got some… extra sweaters and blankets, if you need them, baby bear.” If it was as simple as a broken generator, Nora had to know Teddy would fix it in a heartbeat. They knew how much her privacy meant, how much having a place all her own meant. They weren't about to take it from her. That'd be like the Leviathan taking Ted's boat. “Or we could head to the hardware store?”

—

“Sick.” Nora instantly dropped off her jacket, grabbing the slithering creatures and depositing them onto different holds in the closet. “They are really low maintenance. All of them get along, except Nicki Minaj and Cardi B.” Nora made sure to point out the two snakes in question. “But they tend to stay away from each other. If they don’t like it here, they are welcome to leave. I don’t keep them against their will, you know.” Nora tapped a finger against her arm, wondering what other information would be important to share. She didn’t know how long she’d be away. One week, a month, a year. How long would it convince Regan to come back. “Babadook might come and visit them. He’s fond of the snakes.” She wasn’t setting up a place to stay for the yeth hound, because he was his own creature. They both met in the wilds and liked each others company. Neither belonged to the other, it was a companionship of agreement. “I’ve got plans to repair the generator. Soon. From someone I’ve been scaring. Just didn’t want to risk it with the snakes.” More lies. She’d tell Teddy first. Just as soon as she was in Ireland. 

—

“Beyonce forgave Brittany then?” The pair of the snakes had a tiny tiff a few months back, though Teddy wasn't a hundred percent sure those two were even among the garter snakes and corn snakes and whatever else was slithering around between the old shoes and boxes of memories. “I've taken care of snakes before, B.B. I'm happy to help.” A gentle hand patted Nora’s shoulder, all the while their eyes never left her face. A contemplative look of worry crossed their features for a moment, before they swallowed it back into a supportive smile. 

“Still didn't answer my question about sweaters and blankets. It's not…” Hmm. How to phrase it? Teddy knew Nora walked a tight line between fiercely independent and a kid who needed to be shown she was loved from time to time. “You can still be scary and badass if you ask for help… with sweaters.” They stuck to the supposed truth. Whatever she needed, whatever she offered, that's what they'd help with. 

—

“Yeah. They got it together.” Nora’s finger tapping turned into rubbing a palm against her arm. There are no snakes in Ireland. Nora had googled that, since snakes, spiders, bats and other creepy crawlies have always been drawn to her. She liked to know who she’d get to know. But knowing that there were no snakes in Ireland made her feel pre-emptively lonely. “Thanks, Teddy. It’s good to know they are going to be in safe hands.” And when she looked at them, and they added their extra soft words, Nora realized Teddy knew. She didn’t know what it was Teddy knew, but they knew it wasn’t a broken generator. 

“I don’t need help.” Nora mumbled, eyes only making eye contact with the ground. “I’m going to help someone. I know I can help them, but I can’t do it here, I have to go with them and bring them back. I will be back, I just don’t know when.” The rubbing against her arm was turning into a full blown up and down her arm as she admitted this. The first moment she was giving someone to tell her that she was being stupid. But Nora didn’t think she was being stupid. Wasn’t it a gift to be able to help people? Like how Teddy and Emilio always helped her? She could also give back.

—

Ah. Determination laced her words and features, a kind she was rather normally devoid of. Teddy steeled themself. Their initial reaction had to reflect the belief they held for Nora and her endeavors, not the uptick in worry that jumped at their heart and dropped their stomach like an anchor. Ted let a smile slide in under their furrowed brows. “That's a noble thing to do, Nora.” Had she… thought they were going to stop her? She must have. The anxiety was itching at her in a way she hadn't shown much, if ever. Teddy shifted her slightly, using her shoulder to face her towards them completely. “Doesn't mean you gotta do it completely alone. You sure I can't do more than watch the snakes? Do you have a reliable way of getting… wherever it is you're going?” 

—

“I’m going to Ireland.” The first time she’s said it outloud since she came up with the plan. “I have a way there already. I’ll come back when I bring my friend back with me.” Nora knew she wasn’t supposed to tell people about other’s differences. It was against the code for Nora to tell Teddy that Regan was a Banshee and she was going back to her Irish banshees, even that she didn’t want to. So it was just this. A friend going to Ireland that she would bring back. “I don’t know how long. But it’ll be worth it. So she knows that she doesn’t have the live the life she doesn’t want, just because she thinks she needs to. I’m going so she isn’t alone.”

—

“.... Regan?” A few gears clicked into place. Teddy wasn't sure exactly if it was pride or relief that they knew what Nora was doing. That it was something they'd tried to do, but lacked the closeness and trust that gave their attempts weight. Or maybe Regan would only respond to someone who was equally as flat toned. Teddy was a bit excitable at the best of times. And they had a habit of running into Regan only at the worst. 

“Nora, that's… that's great!” The very same excitable nature bubbled up a bit too much just then. Teddy had to hush themself, hopefully not to alert the other folks around the house. Emilio… might not be as understanding to this particular plight as they were. He'd want to solve the problem himself. Or say it's a lost cause. They didn't know. But they could see how resolution had carved Nora into something so stalwart. It filled them with pride. 

“I– baby bear, I'm– oh if anyone can get through to her, I'm sure you can.” Teddy threw both arms around her now, pulling the young woman closer for a hug. “I don't– I don't know the whole story, but I know her grandma has some kind of sway over her and– ah man, you were going to do this without telling anyone?” Another quick flash of what could only be described as parental panic flickered through their heart. “Okay well, at the very least, you take my credit card okay? Europe is weird. You might actually need money over there. And this way you can call me if you need anything, anything, okay??”

—

Nora blinked once. Twice. Three times. Had she slipped up and said Regan’s name? Was she going to get screamed at and told she was going to die after betraying Regan’s trust? But no, Teddy was still talking, and best of all, Teddy was excited about Nora’s plan. “You know Regan?” Nora was a statue of confusion as Teddy lathered them in praise and excitement. She was pleasantly surprised. This was the support she had always hoped for but knew most people wouldn’t give. This is why Teddy and Emilio were her safe place. That was a cringe thought. Nora shoved that thought away, tentatively hugging Teddy back. 

“Really? Don’t you need your credit card?” In Teddy’s arms, Nora had a flashback to nights being yelled at by her fathers. To nights where she didn’t fit in with the other kids, where she scared them, where she caused them more trouble with her plans than help. How they begged her to be normal, behave, and just do her job without traumatizing anyone on set. That was not here. That was not the unwavering and excited support she was receiving here. That’s why Nora knew she’d be back. No matter what. And why she’d drag Regan with her, so Regan could have this. “Yeah, she said her grandma knows best, even though she doesn’t want to go.” Regan deserved this, a person who wanted to support her, not a grandma who controlled her. “I don’t think my cell phone will work in Ireland, so make sure you pick up random numbers. I’ll steal a phone.”

—

“Yeah she thought I was a yogurt ghost for a while there cause I'm impossible or whatever.” Teddy offered with no further explanation. Excitement had pushed anything else out of the way, like they were now a co-conspirator in a clandestine meeting of spies. Changing the world one stubborn banshee at a time. They turned and started rooting through some of the boxes the snakes were already making little nests out of. 

“I can get a second one for the same account. I'll tell them my daughter is going on vacation or something. My dad got… frankly a ridiculous savings set up for me. Plus I think the entire bank it's set up at is blackmailed to all hell. I'm not sure I could spend it all if I actively tried.” One of the snakes, maybe Nikki? Slithered up Teddy's arm as they dug deeper, finding an old dust covered lock box, right where they needed it. Funny how Nora picked this closet, when this box would be so useful. “No need to steal, you could use this!” 

Then again, Nora liked stealing things, but– that was day to day stuff, this was different, this was a mission. “I don't want you doing anything unnecessarily risky, it's gonna be dangerous as hell already, okay? A little risky is fine, but–” Teddy pulled themself out of the closet and presented the box as if it were an ancient treasure. “At the very least you can use this. It's an old Sat phone. My dad gave it to me whenever he was off doing… not kid stuff, or murder or whatever, so I could keep in touch. Even out on the ocean. You might be able to jury-rig it to your normal phone so you can use the Internet or whatever.” The snake seemed to enjoy the old box well enough, circling it as if it had to do a thorough inspection before Nora got her hands on it. “I assume you… know what Regan… is? And the dangers her…family might present?” 

—

“Yogurt ghost?” That was something to be confused as. Which was also weird, because Nora was seventy percent sure that Regan didn’t even believe in ghosts. Regan was silly like that. Supernatural herself, but the idea that anyone else could be a different flavor of supernatural was so outlandish. Nora thought fondly of turning into a bear and being screamed into a tree. Good times. 

“Blackmail is good.” Nora was practically speechless with gratitude. This was going to be a lot easier. It also meant that she could buy a plane ticket now. Well, no. Because then she’d need a passport. She wasn’t going to get caught, not with the three-year anniversary of her disappearance creeping upon them, just because she was going to Ireland. Her original plan would stick. But if she needed to make an emergency escape with Regan, then it would work. “Thank you, Teddy.” 

As Teddy dug through the closet, Nora took the time to peel a few extra snakes off of her and position them throughout. They would be happy there, at least until Nora was home and could take them back to the crypt. She was making sure to say it a lot. Nora would be back. No matter what happened, because this was where she belonged. A phone was being offered to her, and Nora took it. “Murder?” It was hard to focus on the fact that she was being given a phone for international communication when she was being told that Chuck was known for doing murder.  “Right. Not kid-friendly murder.” Nora slipped the phone into her pocket. “Normal family activities.” Maybe her childhood wasn’t that bad. “I know what Regan is. How do you know what Regan is? I thought we weren’t supposed to tell people when we know what they are?” 

—

“Or a yogurt figment, I don't know. It was amusing. She didn't think I was real, so I sorta… pretended to be a part of her brain.” A slight chuckle escaped the ex-demon. Maybe a little sheepish, it was only after the fact that they realized how intrusive their prodding might have been, but ah– such is the price of yes-and-ing. “Especially with banks. Void knows they do enough shady shit to people just trying to live their lives and–” Teddy cut themself off before going on a tirade about capitalism and how much it's messed with people, wasn't the time and place. It was good though, putting the people in power back in their place. Letting them know who they should serve. “Hey, you know I love the shit out of you. Of course I'm gonna help any way I can Baby Bear.” 

Another little laugh escaped, and Teddy tousled Nora’s hair in the way she ‘hated’ before stepping back to amuse themself with her reaction. “Sometimes dads need to do a little murder, it happens.” They shrugged. “Usually because someone was threatening me, or trying to tear us apart. Good parents are really protective like that, you know.” The smile softened further as Teddy watched Nora do her final snakey tasks. “I'd do that for you, you know.” 

Hell they'd tear down a whole empire for Nora or Wynne or even Van, who they only recently met. Leviathan had taken them in, raised them as if it had bore them. Gave them everything and Teddy could only hope to pass that compassion along to the next generation. 

“Sorta figured it out after the road trip to gank Wynne's demon. Heard the scream, Heard how my dad talked about her. Put two and two together. I don't know if she knows I know. But– you are right. Nora, it's probably not good to talk about it, but if it's a matter of life and death, it's okay.” Teddy nodded, thinking it was pretty solid advice. “You can't save anyone if you don't keep yourself safe, and admittedly even I don't know much about banshees. I know they're dangerous though. I know they can be. So you gotta be extra safe. If someone even looks like they're gonna scream you run. Angle yourself away as best you can. Try your damnedest not to be anywhere near the direct path of it.” 

—

“I was trying to blackmail Regan, but I’ve stopped. Maybe when I bring her back I can go back to blackmailing me.” Surely Regan would owe her fifty thousand by the time they crossed to Ireland and back. But now that Nora was thinking about it, she could blackmail a bank too. It wouldn’t be too hard. This, she decided, was an idea to save for a rainy day. 

Nora ignored the hair ruffle because this was a moment. A good moment. Once their hand had departed her abused hair she shook it. As if her home-cut hair had any hope of looking better or worse than it already did. “Oh. You’re smart like that. She told me herself because I broke into her cabin and she wanted me to know I was going to die. She was lying.”  Nora listens as Teddy lays down information to keep her safe. Nora wasn’t worried. Regan had already screamed at her multiple times. At the end of the day, they were all just creatures living in the world. The fear Regan felt for her grandma and the anxiety that Teddy had over what could go wrong on this trip were foreign to her. “Yeah, sure I’ll be safe. Don’t worry. I know nothing will go wrong.”

[ariadnewhitlock]

Timing: Current (well, on Tuesday) Location: Ariadne’s apartment Feat: Ariadne and Teddy ( @eldritchaccident ) Warnings: None Summary: Teddy comes over for tea. Aria is rhyming. At first Teddy thinks it is a bit. It isn’t. :/ 

Tuesday Tea dates, something that was supposed to happen quite regularly but due to life, the existence of terrible wonderful supernatural things, and distractible ex-demons, sort of just… hadn’t. Teddy wanted to make this one special. A little buddy moment meant to break up the bleak. With arms loaded up on treats and totes filled with various teas, Teds made their way to Ariadne’s apartment. 

The doorbell was a challenge. 

For a good minute or two the caster struggled with the bags, unwilling to put them down (because that was an admittance of defeat) but unable to get something up to the level of the button. Eventually, Teddy used their nose. Poking it just enough to hear a response. Checkmate. 

__

Teddy was super cool. Like, top ten coolest people Ariadne knew. Which made sense, because, again, Wynne had good taste in people (maybe Jade, notwithstanding) and Teddy had proven themselves to be just wonderful. So the fact that they wanted to have tea dates with her was something she’d be grateful for for as long as they were in her life.

She’d just gotten cups and everything all set up when she heard the doorbell ring and she glided over to the door, opening it. “It’s really nice to see you. Nothing in here should be askew.” Or at least she hoped. Ariadne wasn’t the neatest person around, but she liked to make a good impression wherever she could. “How’ve you been? Seeing you really makes me want to grin!” __

Now, Teddy was hardly the most perceptive person around, but even they noticed the strange cadence. Or perhaps word choice was a better way to notate the change. Maybe it was a bit. Teddy loved bits. Rhyming? They could hop on that train. “Howdy hello, the Tea’s good to go!” The long limbed guest wormed their way into the apartment, but not before bop-ing Ariadne on the hip with their own. 

“We’ve got cookies and cakes, and some new flavor takes.” The bag wiggled in their hand as Teddy showed it off, a fine prize, hard won by… going to the store. “What’s new with you… Scooby Doo?” 

__

They started to rhyme too and she shook her head curiously. Well, maybe then they wouldn’t call her out. “Oh, that’s really good. We wouldn’t want to make it out of wood.” Ariadne shrugged. “What did you get? I think my palate has very much been whet.” Which wasn’t a word she figured she had ever used before. “I don’t usually talk like that. I’m not even wearing a hat!” She exclaimed.

“I’m alright. I got to try the new flavor of Sprite!” Which was at least true, so she wasn’t lying on top of everything else. “How about you? What have you been up to?”

__

“Y’know, Cinnamon is made from a bark–” Teddy pondered for a second, thinking of the next rhyme. “Perhaps we should try normal wood, on a lark.” There were probably a few other tea ingredients that were technically wood. Which of course, started Teds on a spiraling path of thought as they placed everything out on the little table. 

“We’ve got a spicy chai and a sweet strawberry cream, both are new but I hear they taste like a dream.” Two ends of the spectrum of taste. “Oh no worries, no need for sorries.” A slant rhyme at best. Honestly Ariadne was amazing at this. They knew she was quick witted, but this was on another level. 

“Ohh, Sprite’s real nice, I like it over ice.” New flavor though? How behind the times had they gotten? “Lots of relaxing and resting… Making Emilio stay still is quite testing.” 

__

“Oh, I don’t know if I knew that fact. I don’t mean to lack tact.” Ariadne watched them spread out the contents of their bag. The strawberry cream sounded especially good. “I might wanna try the strawberry cream first. Anything sweet like that’ll quench my thirst.” She’d meant to say that she just liked anything sweet, but it didn’t come out that way.

“Me too! I’ve gotten it at the zoo. The zoo’s sort is pretty pricey. But it’s very nice and icy.” Ariadne grinned. “I’ve been told I can’t stay still too well. But I guess only time will tell.” She paused. “I think I have some in my fridge over there. I can get some if you want, or even a pair.” She bit her lip. “Pair of glasses or cans, I mean. It makes for a nice scene.”

__

“Lacking facts don’t put you in the sack.” Did that count? Wasn’t the rhyming couplet structure, but ahh well. “Lemme set up that treat, cause you deserve something sweet!” Teddy grinned and headed to the kitchen to fetch the hot water. “This tea pot is so cute!” They called over, then stopped for a second and added; “–and matching teacups to boot!” The looseleaf was scooped into the little basket, the water poured and the tray retrieved. Perfection. 

“I’ve still never been to the zoo, maybe we should hang out there too.” Zoos were… a difficult thing to parse. It took Teds a long time to realize that now-a-days they were more of a rehabilitation and education center rather than a prison for animals. There may or may not have been a few places in Canada that had lost a few apex predators in the early 90’s. Oops. “Oh Emilio is the worst at it, that boy cannot just sit.” A brief silence and an incredibly fond and goofy smile later, they added. “I love him so much Jellybean, even if he’s sometimes stinky and mean.” 

A taste test could be fun. “I’ve heard some use sprite to make their tea, I dunno ‘bout you, but it sounds questionable to me.” Tea and Soda seemed like a practical joke more than an actual ‘food hack’ but Ted would try anything at least once. 

___

“If you say so. I promise that you can always say no!” Because she didn’t want them to feel pressured into anything. That was never something that she would intend to do, and never something she wanted to seem like she did. “I can never get enough candy. The fact that I have lots is pretty handy.” Ariadne grinned. “I do like to match, I guess. Maybe that’s why I play so much chess.” It wasn’t, but she was a fan of the game, and it was something that made her brain think and made her feel successful in a way that few things other than dance did.

“We could if you want. I’ve been there with my aunt.” And Chance, and her uncle, but apparently that wasn’t something she could finish that sentence with. “Except I, uh, well, animals are afraid of me. I don’t want to make them try and flee.” Ariadne frowned for a moment, but quickly shook her head, not wanting to make things sad. “I’m glad you love him as much as you do. There’s hardly any couple out there as wonderful as you two.” 

“I feel you, Wynne’s the best thing in my life. I’d love to someday be their wife.” She smacked the palm of her hand against her mouth. “I don’t mean to overshare about that. I just would do anything, even wear an ugly hat.” Ariadne hoped they wouldn’t tell Wynne what she’d said, because she didn’t want to make them uncomfortable. “Yeah, I love a good sweet, but that sounds like something easy to beat.”

__

“I trust you on that, maybe we’ll see a bat!” Damn, Ariadne was really committed to this, hmm? Ah, right, Teddy thought, the mare thing. No animals unless they were… supernatural-ey. Maybe. Still unsure on that one. As versed as they were in the world of the extraordinary, the undead eluded the Jones fam. They knew enough to stay away unless it was really necessary or really fun. Though, that’s pretty much how Leviathan raised them about people too. Most if not all connections outside of the pair were for ‘necessary’ things. 

“We’ll just have to get you some more, treating you is never a chore.” It was a rhyme, but they meant it too. Teddy had a soft spot for kids, especially ones who didn’t seem like they had the best homelife or childhood. Kinda saw it as their duty to pass on the good fortune Leviathan brought to them with the adoption. Five, Twenty, did it really matter that much? Nah. She was still a kid, and deserved to be treated the best. 

“While the zoo is quite neat, it can be hell on your feet. So we could always find another fun, don’t have to stick to just that one.” They offered, not wanting to dishearten her with the sore subject. “Ah, well you say that right there, but I’ve seen how you care. You and Wynne are a great coup—” Ted’s mind skipped like a scratched record, hearing what she said and seeing the way she reacted. The words just kept slipping through, as if she had no control. 

“—wait, babes, are you not rhyming on purpose?” 

__ 

~To be continued~

[dontbeathorloser-blog]

Three Blondes Walk Into A Bar || Hulkling, Thor and Quasar

Teddy, Thor and Wendell are dispatched on a mission to investigate a dangerously drifting oil tanker. However not all is as it appears.

Teddy landed with a thud on the ship’s control centre, wings morphing away into his back. He wasn’t trying to be quiet, they were to be expected. He jumped down onto the ships deck and entered the room. He had planned to speak to the captain of the ship, but the room was empty which wasn’t normal. “Hulkling to team, the captain isn’t here, maybe they abandoned ship to let us do our thing or he’s in the engineering room or whatever.” Teddy wasn’t sure how ships worked, but he was sure the captain was supposed to be steering, but if the ship couldn’t change course, he supposed that you didn’t really need to steer. He was nervous, it was the first time working with Thor and Quasar, he was used to his team, but when S.H.I.E.L.D asks, you don’t exactly say no. “I can see the Island so I think we might have to move fast.”

While Wendell was still not an official hero, his probation offered him a bit of leeway when it came to getting a spot on certain missions that would not prove too much to handle. The upward limits of his absorption still couldn’t be determined so he was prohibited from being assigned anywhere with high voltage or energy reserves, though that didn’t seem to stop S.H.I.E.L.D. from pairing him up with Thor. He was instructed to stay closer to Hulkling just for good measure. This was why he hovered close to where Teddy had dipped into the ship’s upper deck. He landed soon after the younger male and began moving into the ship’s inner workings. “Quasar here,” he said into the intercommunication device lodged behind his ear. “I’ll head toward the engine room. These things aren’t electrical, so I can’t syphon any energy off of it, but I can try to shut off the main gas supply from in there.”

Though he had been on missions with the other Avengers before, Thor had never had the pleasure of operating with a S.H.I.E.L.D. ‘team’ before. They’d given him a comm channel, a small ear piece that they slotted into his left ear, before strapping a microphone to his helmet and even giving him a brief on what he should expect. “This is Thunderbird.” He had decided that he needed a new codename other than y’know, his actual name. “Wait no this is Lightningbird,” he smirked before shaking his head as he continued to hover above the ship, “I need more time for my new name.” He decided as he watched the ship drift closer and closer to the island at an alarming rate. “As soon as we cut the power I can prevent the ship from continuing in it’s trajectory, but at it’s current rate I won’t be able to halt it’s progress.” Even the God of Thunder had limits.

Teddy couldn’t help but laugh as Thor rattled off codenames. “I think you should stick to Thor.” He chuckled before leaving the room and making his way to the front deck of the ship. The ship gave him the shivers, like a ghost town would. “I don’t get it, where is everyone? There weren’t any evac vehicles we passed on the way here.” He realized that he wasn’t exactly being useful and leaped off the deck and flew towards the front of the tanker. He wasn’t used to not having America lead the team and nobody giving him orders. “Thor, or uh, Thunderbird 1, perhaps if we push the front of the ship on one side, we could change its direction?” He wasn’t sure if he’d have enough strength to work against the ships steering mechanisms, especially at this speed, but they had to try something in case Quasar couldn’t shut the engines off.

“Yeah, it’s almost a little too Twilight Zone for me. That show always gave me the creeps,” Wendell mentioned as he wandered about looking for the engine room. He found it rather swiftly. After inspecting the door and listening for any odd sounds, he pushed in and was met with a set of pipes and gears he had no clue how to work. If only he’d gone into the Navy reserves instead of infantry. “Yeah, okay...eenie...meenie...minie...you.” He grabbed onto a valve and spun it. Fire reared from the oil burner and he jumped back as it hissed, blue eyes blinking rapidly through his possible blunder. He pressed the intercom with the pad of his index finger. “Not sure which valve is the one with the fuel in it, so I’ll just turn them all.” And that’s what he did, going about spinning cogs indiscriminately until the whirring noises tapered out. “How’s it looking out there, Hulkling and Lightningbird? Are we losing any speed?”

“I’ve re-thought the bird options and decided that I am not only to majestic to be known as a bird, but also far too deadly, but Thunderrattleshark doesn’t have the same ambiance, bards wouldn’t sing great tales of Thunderrattleshark the Lord of Lightning,” Thor,  ordered as he hung in the air momentarily before dropping down and placing Stormbreaker on his back. With it securely in place, he moved to the front of the ship and then to the right. Pushing with all his might, he could feel the ship begin to turn and begin to slow down. Of course it would be far more difficult than he had anticipated. That was just the way of the world. Sighing dejectedly, he moved back up to the deck of the ship and spotted the ships anchor. “Hulkling, try and find a way to drop the anchors, that will slow the ship down enough to stop it I believe.” With his new plan in mind, he wiped sweat from his brow and kept pushing, doing everything in his might to stop the ship.

Hulking thought Thor’s codename was ridiculous. “I honestly think Thor works just fine.” He flew over to the back of the ship and landed on the anchor. He jumped a few times before changing his plan. He was now tugging at the metal chains that held the anchor in place. “It’s not working, where would the mechanisms be?” With a flag of the wings, he leaped to the control room again, pushing and pulling every button and lever he could, even scaring himself by pulling the ships horn by accident. Eventually his hand made his way to a lever that had its end broken off. “I found the anchor lever, but it’s broken off.” He couldn’t understand why. “Guys, I have a bad feeling about this…”

A lot of things happened all at once. The whirring of the oil had stopped, but in its place came a sudden grinding and a force against the side of the ship Wendell could only assume was from his allies attempting to stop the ship. His communication device buzzed with their conversation and he headed his way out of the engine room to the front deck. “We missed ‘a bad feeling’ two lefts ago. This took a sharp right into—Oh fuck!” Suddenly, the ship’s grinding had increased exponentially, becoming terribly jarring to the ear. Wendell had to cup his head to try and keep out the sound. One of his eyes was forced shut in a flinch. “Guys, it’s…” he tried to get out, but ended up wincing as his ears popped. It carried on for about a minute or so, with each second droning on for individual eternities. Once it passed, Wendell’s ears held a constant ring to them that made his teeth feel the need to chatter. He almost missed the sound of the lower deck opening up. Heavy footfall indicated that people were approaching the upper deck. “We, uh, have company.”

Thor had been forcing his body against the ship as its engines had cut out. Driving his shoulder into a boat that dwarfed any Viking longboat that he had ridden on was something he hadn’t exactly planned. He couldn’t help groaning from the strain of it, he heard the ship protest and creak in response as he pushed it away from the island or at least attempted to. As he finally managed to stall the ship, he hovered for a moment. Seconds later he began moving to the deck of the ship, he forcefully grasped the anchor and tugged it into the ocean without too much strain. “Thor here; I have solved our little anchor problem,” he said into his comm link, “Quasar, can you tell who the company is, something about the entire scenario is peculiar. The oddness of this situation would startle even the good Doctor Stephen Strange.” He laughed, loudly at his own joke. “Hulkling, you’re closer to Quasar’s position and it will take me a few moments to reach either of you. Link up and head for the deck, I want to be able to execute a swift exit if necessary.” He took one final look at the ship, as it slowly ground to a halt a  ew kilometres off the island coast,

Teddy’s jaw had somewhat dropped open at the might of Thor as he yanked the anchor chain loose. Thor’s order had awaken him and he realized he was staring at the muscular god through the ships front windows that peered out onto the decks out front. “Yeah, Right, On it.” He said as he turned on his heels and ran straight into another muscular man, not quite impressive as Thor, but still intimidating, that was blocking the cabin’s exit. Teddy stumbled backwards before speaking, “Excuse me, I believe you’re in the way.” The changeling quickly let his human form morph into his natural alien state, growing taller in seconds. “I’d say pick on someone your own size, but oh wait, that’s me now too.” He threw a punch at the man, he blocked it and delivered one of his own. The two sparred for a few seconds before Teddy finally threw a winning punch and knocked the other man out. “The company isn’t exactly friendly.” He stated over the comms, something he was sure Wendel already knew. “Where are you Quasar?”

After blinking through the pain that rang in his ears, Wendell touched the device near his ear to hear what the others were saying. Handle the company. Got it. “I’m coming,” he said as he quickly rushed down to where he could hear the footfall. As he moved, he flexed both of his hands and channeled as much sunlight as he could with the cover of the ship overhead. It wasn’t a lot, but it might be just enough to knock a few people down. He rounded a corner, got a good look at ten men rushing in the opposite direction, and the speed he used to spin back around that same corner before he was shot could only be described as inhuman. “I’m here.” He needed to quickly form a plan to dispatch all of the enemies in front of him. He didn’t think he had enough energy to create a cage just yet. How about a ball? One formed in his hands about the size of a baseball and the footsteps were only getting closer. He allowed it to bounce between his hands for only a moment, then sent it flying on the other side of the corner. It connected with the first man’s chest, bursted, and took out all but one of his allies with a strong pulse. The last man stood on shaky legs, having been knocked backward. Wendell was fast. He crowded the stranger’s space and delivered a punch to the man’s face with enough force to flip him. He took a second to survey them. “I think...they don’t look like crewmen.” Wendell had no time to check them out any further, however, as he was now face-to-face with another group. There was a man with a safari hat and an admission, one that the blond superhero was sure to record through his communication device for his teammates to hear. They were a distraction. The real poaching was commencing as they spoke. “Uh oh.”

The unfamiliar accent that rang through their comms as the man in the safari hat addressed Wendell, made it clear to Thor that they weren’t here for a meet and greet. Quite the opposite infact. Apparently they were attempting to empty animals off of the island, something that Thor could not abide by. He was a protector of the weak, a defender of the innocent and he would not allow these men to continue to take advantage of those who were unable to defend and protect themselves. “I shall way lay them before they can move the animals,” he announced, leaping into the air and using his abilities to take flight. “But I’ve got company.” Already he could spot aircraft moving towards him as he streaked through the sky heading towards the island. Twin propellers sending the aircraft hurtling towards him were the least of his worries however. The most pressing matter was the arsenal of high tech weapons hanging from the bottom of the black ship. A peppering of energy blasts rattled past him, scorching his armour and knocking him lower in altitude. “I’ve got company, make sure that the targets on the ship are detained, I’ll handle this.”

Teddy instantly felt torn. He wanted to help Thor save the animals, but at the same time, they still had to take down the men on the ship and essentially stop it. He raced down stairs to below deck, summoning Excelsior and taking out anyone who stood in his way. Teddy knew he was getting close when a flash of light appeared down the hall. Quickly he turned the corner, prepared for anything. He turned the corner so fast that he almost tripped over the men that had been knocked out by Wendell. “Woah. Nice job dude.” He said with a smile before wiping his head around in the direction which more footsteps were coming from. “Do you think you can do that again?” He asked with a smirk. He more than okay to stay behind and fight At Wendell’s side, but they were running out of time. “I mean, do you think you can do that again but at the engine? If you can shut it down, I’ll handle these guys?”

Relief was only temporary when Teddy appeared, mostly because he was being shot at only seconds later. Wendell rushed forward. He kept his body low to the floorboards beneath him to make his target smaller and harder to hit, allowing him to close the distance between himself and the first man. With aggressive force, he lifted the man up and slammed him down onto the ship. Thankfully, he didn’t have enough energy stored for extra augmented strength or he could’ve knocked him through the material of the vessel. “I think I’ve already fried the engine. We should be coming to a full stop soon,” he replied as he worked around the first guy’s body and knocked his fist into the face of a second. Then a third. Another man shot him in the back and the blue pulse of his weapon wrapped around the impact zone, drawing itself into Wendell’s bands as he toppled forward. His eyes flashed yellow and he had to quickly roll away to recover. “...but I can expedite that process if i can just get my hands on one of their weapons.” He slid toward the first guy, snatched his gun, rolled away and landed near the second, stole a second weapon, and took off for the bow of the ship. “I’m leaving them to you. I’m gonna go stop the ship.” As he moved, Wendell gripped the high powered firearms between both hands and concentrated on pulling the energy from them. The power coursed through him like blood through veins, only it was far warmer than he cared for it to be. He wouldn’t keep it for long, however. “Alright. All passengers please keep your hands and feet inside the vehicle at this time and brace yourselves for impact.” His body was obviously rejecting it and he released it as he held his hands out in front of him. A large wall of yellow light sketched itself out in front of the ship and when the mass made contact, the entire ship jolted, but it broke through the wall. Slowly. Very slowly. The grinding noise began again, but this time it felt like it was coming to a close any time now.

Ducking beneath a third volley of energy blasts that hurtled his way, Thor dipped towards the water before soaring upwards. Energy coarsed through Stormbreaker, and a lance of lightning hurtled towards the aircraft, clipping its undercarriage and sending it spiralling through the air. But it didn’t take long for the pilot to regain control, and within moments he had retaliated, hitting Thor with not a single missile, but three. Two seemed excessive, but as the third explosion caught his side he went head over heels and crashed into the cold ocean water. Gasping for breath, he pushed his wet cape out of his face and took flight once more. Charging his hammer as he went, he slammed the electrically charged weapon through the windshield and jerked it free, punching the lights out of the pilot and taking a step backwards before allowing the aircraft to spiral towards the water, a plume of black smoke pouring off of the aircraft as it collapsed into the waves that crashed below. “I’ve dealt with our air company, if you two can cope with the villains who’ve taken possession of this ship then I shall do my utmost to prevent the poaching of anymore elephants and rhinos, but I must go now.”

Everything happened so fast that Teddy could barely grasped what had actually happened. Before he knew it, Wendell has disarmed two men and left Teddy alone with a mixture of conscious and unconscious men. His mind quickly caught up with the situation and he finished off the rest of the men before he began to drag the bodies into an open room nearby. The room seemed to be sleeping quarters with no way out except the front door. Teddy grunted as the ship jerked and sent him stumbling to the floor. He was about to complain but he assumed it was Wendell working his magic and stopping the ship. Teddy shifted the heavy men into the room and closed the door behind him, punching the door handle and breaking it so that the men couldn’t escape. “Cleanup in aisle 9 completed.” He said over the coms before making his way to Wendell’s side and patting him on the back. “Good job dude.” Teddy couldn’t help feeling that he wasn’t really needed on this mission, not with heroes like Thor and Quasar around. “Thor, do you need backup or are you good?”

Seeing heroes in action was something Wendell could admit he could watch for hours. He was a trained fighter, capable of holding his own against the enemy by very human standards, but the famous Avengers and those with similar clout were just more awesome than simple military training. He couldn’t help but think that when he watched Thor face off against the helicopter. It had more than just distracted him too. He’d stopped moving, feet planted firmly beneath him as he stared up with wide blue eyes and a mouth that was slightly agape. The god of thunder was a marvel of muscle and strength, capable of rather easily dispatching an entire aircraft. It was truly impressive. “What a man.” The words came out of him without a second thought. He didn’t even think to register that they’d actually been from his voice until he was being clapped on the back by his other teammate. Wendell looked over to him, checking the younger male for any signs of physical injury, and then smiled at him. The tips of his ears were pink, but not from any chill. “Thanks. You too. Sorry I left you with so many of them,” he said softly. He then looked back up to the skies. His finger tapped at his communication device. “I should go call the proper authorities, huh? Wait with the boat while you two handle the rest of the poachers.”

Hurtling through the air, Thor spotted a small camp full of cages and poachers with guns. There were some very depressed looking elephants and rhinos, he at least recognised those. Not all of Earth’s fauna and wildlife was as familiar to him as he would’ve liked, however there was only so much that he could learn in a limited time. But he recognised these two rather famous animals at least. They were something that he had seen on the discovery channel with his roommate Darryl. Pausing for a moment, he hung in the air before summoning a tempest. Dark clouds rumbled in the sky above him, thunder boomed and lightning crackled before it began to fork down towards the ground. Striking the sand and turning it into glass with the pure force behind it. “My name is Thor, God of Thunder, rightful heir to the throne of Asgard and you all have a few moments to vacate this island and never come back before I turn you into rugs for my castle.” He allowed the lightning within him to leak from his eyes, energy pouring out of him. The poachers seemed too terrified to move, until one of them picked up what looked like a rocket launcher and opened fire at Thor. “I think we might need all of us for this one.”

Teddy wasn’t too excited to leave Wendell alone to wait for the authorities, not because he didn’t think that Wendell could handle it, he was just used to the mindset of leaving no one alone during a team mission. A small sigh of relief left his mouth when Thor called for both their help, now he didn’t have to stress about it. With a grunt, reptilian wings sprouted from his shoulder blades and stretched up. “Basically a dinosaur here.” He joked and with a flap, his body began to defy gravity. “Keep up Quasar.” And with that he was off, soaring through the air. Thanks to Thor, they didn’t have to worry about any aircraft, but Teddy realized why Thor had called them when he approached the camp. A rocket launcher had been brought out and had Thor occupied. Teddy flew up before hurtling towards the ground, and just before impact, used his wings as a parachute, breaking his fall but still allowing him to land with enough force to crush the bonnet of one of their vehicles. Then, with a hulk-like leap, he flew over the heads and landed close to the rocket launcher. Teddy summoned Excelsior again, but before he even had times to use it, bullets from automatic weapons rained down on him, causing him to tuck and roll behind a nearby vehicle. “I — should have thought this through.”

Wendell wasn’t sure what to make of Thor needed assistance, considering something that would trump him would surely be too much for the new hero. However, he put the thought of his own inadequacies aside when Teddy began to fly up. Right. They were supposed to be...doing that. His bands gave the faintest of glows and his body began to rise as well, albeit a little shakily at first. “O-on it!” he called after the other blond and rushed behind him. Without any energy reserves, he wasn’t moving nearly as fast as he could have been, so it appeared more like a lazy flying stroll than a real flight. The upside to this was getting to take that extra time to assess the camp. There were plenty of people, including a few with war-grade weapons, but this brought more comfort than worry in Wendell’s mind. He may have still been rather green in the gills when it came to plasma cannons and the like, but bullets he understood. Men armed with bullets were exactly the sort of people he was trained to take down. He rushed toward a man with one of the launchers while he was distracted with Thor and collided with him, wrapping his thighs around the man’s head and flipping himself to bring the man to the ground. Once they landed, he rolled and kicked the man on the side of the neck, then turned his attentions to the others harrying Teddy. He was able to draw half of their gaze when he began disarming the men with standard CQC. That soon turned into most of their attention in seconds. His knuckles were going to be bruised after this mission.

Thor could’ve dealt with the men on the beach on his own. It would’ve been painful and it would’ve taken him a lot longer than he had time for. But he could’ve done it. He was sure that it would include many injuries and wounds that he could do without. But friendship was forged in battle, he could read. He could see that the times were changing and bringing about a change that would require them to stand strong together. If they were ever going to build a team together then it would be on moments such as these. “Quasar, keep dealing with the launchers, I shall draw most of their hellfire if I can help it.” Pausing once more, he raised Stormbreaker and leaped through the air, bringing the hammer down on an enemy with a savage strike. Thunder crackled through the sky, lightning lancing through him and blasting them backwards. “Teddy, you are on crowd control, prevent these villains from escaping and keep them from hurting anyone else. I will have all of their heads by the end of this.”

Teddy almost rolled his eyes as Thor said crowd control. That’s always what the sidekicks or kids are used for, but as Thor continued his sentence, he realized that’s not what Thor was asking of him. “Roger Dodger.” Teddy said but instantly regretted. “I mean, I got this.” Teddy leaped from his hiding place. Thanks to Wendell, the bullets had mostly stopped flying in his direction. With sword in hand, Teddy began working his way around all the vehicles, slashing tires and ‘hulk-smashing’ the engines. These bad guys were going nowhere unless they planned on going on foot. Taking out bad guys here and there, Teddy made his way through the camp and eventually came across the area where the animal cages where being kept. What would the poachers be fighting for if their goods were released back into the wild? Besides, a charging rhino would only help their cause right? Not right. As soon as Teddy broke the cage open, a small herd of three rhino’s charged off in Wendell’s direction. “Quasar! Watch out!” He shouted before leaping and mounting one of the rhino’s backs. He swung his sword out at any poacher in arms length, but most moved out of the animal’s path anyway. “At least they weren’t elephants.”

Had it not been for the very professional nature of their current mission, something entirely different might have been an immediate response to Wendell receiving an order. He could thank whatever deity above later that he chose the words: “Yes sir.” The alternative might have turned him into mush. Which, all things considered, was probably better than looking like cartoon cheese with all of the bullet holes the poachers were about to make a permanent part of his anatomy. He had to dodge and maneuver the best he could around the enemies, knocking out those who took their eyes off of him for a second and trying to disarm as many as he could along the way to the launchers. He managed to disrupt their ability to fire any more rockets when thunderous footfall caught his attention. He looked over, seemingly at the same time as every other able-bodied individual in the area, and screamed internally. Only...the internal scream appeared to have also happened externally. Additionally, for some reason, his first reaction was to push his hips out at the creature, as if somehow being presented with his pert backside would make them think ‘ew, a butt’ and they’d change course of direction. They didn’t. Wendell had to roll out of the way, narrowly missing getting fully trampled, and his recovery involved him thrusting his body at a nearby poacher. He lunged at the man and brought him down to the ground with him, sitting on his chest and punching him in the face. “I think I would’ve preferred the elephants. At least they’re…” he trailed off. His body rolled off of the man and he drop-kicked the next man, laying him out just as fast as he did the previous one. “...gentle.”

Thor paused for a moment to watch his team in action. It worked. They weren’t working together perfectly yet, but there was something here. More than something. This was a team that he would confidently work with once more. “Good job comrades,” he boomed as he caused a circle of lightning to spark out of the sky and prevent any of the poachers from escaping. “Their weapons are a bit too powerful for them to have done this on their own,” he said as he narrowly avoided what looked like a chitauri laser blast before dismantling the gun with a swing of Stormbreaker, “perhaps there is something more to this than a ship off course as a distraction to allow some poachers to steal ivory, a barbaric act if I ever saw one.” He ducked beneath the swing of one of the bad guys, and knocked them on their arse with a hammer swing.

Teddy looked back at Wendell to make sure he was alright before shakely standing up on the rhino and leaping off it’s back, landing on a poacher and punching his friend in the face almost simultaneously. Wendell had performed a good job at taking out many of the men and Thor as well. Teddy was just glad Kate wasn’t here otherwise he would of had to compete with her. He dodged a few more bullets before springing out at another group of poachers and knocking them unconscious. “Yeah, these definitely look alien to me, I wonder who they got them from?” The sound of helicopter blades caused Teddy to whip his neck around into the sky. At first he thought it only meant more poachers, but when he saw the wings and eagle of the SHIELD sign on the side of the helicopter, he let out a sigh of relief. The alien tech was definitely something that they would have to follow up on, and leaving the poachers with the anyone else but shield at this point made him feel a little uneasy. Teddy used the opportunity to take out another two guys that were distracted by the helicopter. Other than that, it seemed like most of the poachers had dropped their weapons in surrender. “I guess this counts as a win right?” He asked his team over the comms.

The battle was arduous, but overall not as bad as Wendell had assumed it to be. Perhaps the hardest part was dodging bullets and animals while trying to fight. Thankfully, the ballistic nylon of the suit hadn’t been punctured by any shots that hadn’t missed him, but the bruising his skin would take on from the impacts would surely keep him up tonight. As he rolled off of another unconscious poacher, he shot a blue eyed glance up to the sky where the helicopter was approaching. “We’ll analyze the tech later and it’s a good thing so many of them are still alive. Maybe we can get some information out of them,” he said as he locked eyes with one of the poachers. They dropped their weapon and he gave them a curt nod. They didn’t want to get attacked any more than Wendell wanted to move forward to do so. Mutual understandings were nice. “I think this is a victory. What’s the, uh, after-party of a mission look like? Should we all get donuts? Krispy Kreme is on me.”

Frowning gently as the battle ended almost as abruptly as it had began Thor stroked his beard before nodding gently. “Those that know of this technology will get to analyse it,” he said agreeing with Wendell, “I am not qualified to make a comment about it and I stopped an oil tanker with my bare hands. So I could do with a break.”  Pausing, he looked over the poachers before nodding. “Aye, I expect they know something about it, but let the authorities handle them. These villains are not our mess to deal with. At least anymore.” Pausing at the mention of doughnuts, Thor’s face lit up with happiness. “Ah, yes, I know doughnuts, let’s have ourselves a dozen each!”

[miss-sue-sylvester]

Presentation 14 Pairings

In case any of you were getting too comfortable on vacation, welcome back to reality. Presentation day is  August 1st. Your semester final will be September 1st. Next semester presentations will be handled slightly differently, stay tuned.

Also, at least one of you will discover that I’ve sprinkled your sleeping bag with itching powder. Have a good night!

Wilder & Remi

Devyn & Eloise

Deacon & Santana

Noah & Molly

Sam & Mike

Quinn & Robin

Mateo & Bel

Nate & Jamie

Zoe & Blaine

Ryan & Ryder

Daniel & Harlow

Charlie & Silas

Ellen & Emrys

Frankie  & Cal

Jeff & Jeremy

Caelan & Teddy

Jackson & Ainsley

Destiny & Nick

Xavier & Sawyer

Gabe & Kolbe

Steven & Cady

Keenan & Axel

Simon & Cat

Partners will present a scene in front of the headmasters in the performing arts center at their allotted times. Please do not go longer than 25 minutes. New students, please make sure you know your limits and have plans for aftercare. Partners are non-negotiable. Presentations are mandatory. Name listed first is Dominant, second is submissive.

OOC Information:

Please post your chatzy/para with the tag presentation14.  

Basically, you’re doing a scene in front of Sue and Will, who will be grading you and awarding up to 100 points. Please keep them short and focus more on what can be seen and heard rather than on inner thoughts. If you have a gif or picture that sums up the set up, feel free to use that instead of writing out all the set up. Grades/points are based on creativity, communication, degree of difficulty (also depends on individuals experience level), demonstration of D/s skills and safety.

Please remember!!!!

Sue and Will grade the interaction between the two students, not the scene’s concept. So, while giving us the head cannon of what the scene entails is important, it’s much more important to tell us how the student did, what they said and how they were acting.

NEW RULE: For all headcannons, please include at least four lines of dialog during the “meat” of the scene. We need to see how they are communicating and interacting. This is especially important when there is an NPC involved. Remember the slaves have all been trained and are rented that week, so they can practice with them in the dungeons if they’d like.

Options:

1. For up to 100 points, you and your partner can chatzy/para out the scene.

2. If, for whatever reason you two cannot get together to write the whole thing out in detail, one person can write the framework of the scene and the other can fill in their characters reactions etc. DO NOT godmod you partner. Communicate.

3. If one writer cannot or doesn’t want to write things out, the other writer may write a scene with an NPC. The NPC would be a slave rented by the school for doing exams. Both writers can take this option, but your max score will be lower. Please keep in mind, we’d like to use this option sparingly, so please do the best you can at communicating with your paired partner first. This option is for ooc problems like hiatus or too busy or the like. This option is not to be used because one character doesn’t like the other character.

4. If the character does NOT show up for presentations, please message the main and let us know. There will be repercussions IC.

5. If you want your character to get points, it needs to be either written out in some way. There is the option that the writer does not have to write something out and nothing will happen IC to your character, however, they also will not receive points.

If you have any questions about presentations or your options for turning them in, please message the main.

-Admin J-

[lanamemories]

lockwood nye | chatzy

SUMMARY: literally everyone kissed everyone. metaphorical blood was shed. lives were lost. no-one will ever be the same. jude ashed on gabe’s muffin and he ate it anyway. lana sucked imogen’s finger and caused all penises within a five mile radius to hoist their flagpole and sing the national anthem. jude and venus made out. twice. chloe grit her teeth at the anarchy and uttered the yikes that everyone else was thinking. magnolia and blake canoodled like an old married couple sat on the porch of a country ranch. a three way kiss stirred tensions. teddy and imogen locked lips and started a forest fire using the tension as kindling. hearts were broken. drinks were drank. ragrets were had. a lockwood new year’s eve for the ages.

magnolia: Maggie walked into the party, bright red cowboy hat on her head as she carried a similar blue one, popping it onto Gabe's head. "Happy Birthday Country Boy, I lurrve you!" She called out, before walking on in search of a drink with no further comment.

gabe: "Yeehaw," Gabe chimed in rather monotonously, tipping his hat to no one in particular as he watched Magnolia walk away.

blake: Anxiety making his chest feel tight, Blake's legs jiggled in rhythm with the music. He watched the party from a couch spot he'd snagged early in the night, his form well imprinted into the cushion now.

jude: "Booooooy!" Jude declared suddenly, pointing a finger repeatedly down at Blake's legs as they jiggled like noodle strands in front of a high power fan. "Look at them go."

blake: Blake tilted his head up at Jude, eyes narrowing slightly. "I didn't even notice. Ass," he mumbled into his red solo cup, clearing his throat as he placed the empty one down and reached over to grab the flask he'd been nursing all night, almost done too. "You look like a majestic creature...person from a period film. Fuck off."

magnolia: The girl finished making her rum and coke, heading back over to Gabe. "How does it feel to be an old man? Have you acquired a taste for lunchtime buffets yet?" She asked, poking his stomach like he was the Pillsbury Doughboy.

lana: Donning a star spangled pair of novelty glasses spelling out '2018' over both eyes, Lana practically pranced into the party like a fairy on acid, flashing Gabe a fiendish grin as she finally reached his side. "Gabriel! You're a stinky old man just like the rest of us sorry fools now. Anything to say on record?" she asked, pretending to hold up a tape recorder to his mouth.

arryn: She had already done a bit of pre-gaming before she went to the party, so when she arrived, she would instantly start having fun. Arryn entered through the door, bottle in hand. She took her time walking through the mass of attendees

gabe: Gabe jumped at the poke of his stomach, easily ticklish. He looked between Magnolia and Lana and tried to hold in his laughter. "Good evening, MTV, and welcome to my crib," he flashed his teeth at Lana's fake tape recorder. "I'm 21 now and quire frankly, I want to die slightly less than I did yesterday!"

arryn: and drank from the bottle as she drug along. Arryn finally made it to the one place she loved most, the booze table.

jude: "Quire frankly? Is that a relative of yours, perhaps?" Jude piped up after overhearing the conversation, flashing a politician's smile before redirecting his focus back to Blake. "You didn't even notice my ass? That's harsh, Blake. I polished it especially for this event."

magnolia: Maggie laughed as the unfamiliar girl held the tape recorder up to Gabe's face. "I'll leave you with your fans. Just wanted to wish you an official Happy Birthday," she told him, heading off in the direction to find more friends. She settled into the couch next to Blake, flashing a drunk grin at the two boys and tipping her hat. "Howdy, Cowboys!"

lana: "I don't know about you but I totally feel like that one gif of that woman screaming as she removes her wig. Like, that's just... the vibe for tonight, you know?" Lana nodded along, eyeing the dwindling contents of her cup before peering back at Gabe again. "You know it's, um... Aly! It's Aly's birthday tonight, too. Is this a joint bday bash?"

blake: "Is this event mandatory?" he called out to the party, not really expecting an answer. Blake sighed at Jude, shaking his head. "I'm glad you cleaned your ass, Jude. But that should be a regular thing," he said, glancing up just as Magnolia arrived. "Hey, nice outfit."

jude: "Don't be such a Negative Norman, Blake," Jude criticised halfheartedly, taking a swig from the beer in his cup before he raised it in a toast-like greeting over Maggie's arrival. "Alright, goblin? Gnash on the toes of any particularly lanky ghouls yet? I have my third eye on one named Margaret."

gabe: "Is it?" he raised his eyebrows at Lana. "I think she mentioned it was her birthday too but we aren't every close. Assumed she'd have her own party?" He shrugged. "The event is mandatory, you belligerent goblin," he called back at Gabe. "Invite me to you and Mags' wedding!"

magnolia: "Gentleman," she greeted them, raising her drink, her voice formal. "I had my eyes on a particularly thicc with two c's spector, be he ran off before I could astral project into his plane," she told Jude. Her cheeks grew bright red at Gabe's comment yelled across the room. "We're not getting married until ghouls have the right to wed too!" She called back lamely.

blake: Blake reached over the table to retrieve a chip from one of the food bowls, nipping off the end before deciding against eating and tossing it back on the table. Blake winced slightly as Gabe called out to him, sighing heavily. "Sorry about my friend, his mouth smells of feet because they're always in his mouth," he said to no one.

gabe: "I heard that!"

jude: "Shame. They're always scuttling these days. Ghouls just can't be trusted," Jude sighed so solemnly, it was as if he was recounting the death of an old friend. It was only at Gabe's comment that his playful demeanour wavered slightly, scoff parting his lips after a second long delay. "Stop it, Blake. You know Gabe has a thing for feet... He'll get hard a hundred miles and hour and poke a poor girl's eye out."

blake: Blake was in the middle of taking a swig from his vodka when he nearly spat the contents out, wiping a bit of the alcohol from his skin. "Jesus Chroist."

gabe: "Bold claim from someone who gave a girl thrush because he fingered her the wrong way," Gabe grinned at Jude. "Who do you think I am? Quentin Tarantino?"

lana: "Gabe! You have to be a gracious host. Just... Promise you'll offer her some chips and dip if she turns up. It's her birthday, I feel bad. She won't even get a celebratory spank from Frankie like I do every year. That's a crime," she sighed loudly, aimlessly dusting a bit of imaginary lint from Gabe's shoulder. "God. Tramp."

magnolia: Maggie flung her feet up on the arm of the couch, leaning her head back to drain the contents of her glass. She gasped as Blake spat out the contents of his glass. "Guys! Blake is so bored he would actually rather choke. Help the poor sweet summer child."

jude: "Fuck off, cretin! That was just a rumour," Jude refuted, reaching over and slapping at Gabe's ass like a parent might with a miscreant child. "Enough of that backchat, young man."

gabe: "You make it sound like we're a married couple and we're hosting our annual New Years dinner party. I'm not Gatsby," he sighed, pouring a mixture of alcohol into his red solo cup. "I'll find her and we can... pop bottles of champagne together like old men did in the 1950s. Here's to 2018, fuckers!"

blake: "We should..." he glanced over to Magnolia. "You're right, we should play a game or something."

jude: "He's wasting away," Jude solemnly announced, clapping a hand down onto Blake's shoulder with a furrowed brow. "Somebody should've had more breast milk as a baby... Brittle boned. Weak."

gabe: "Oh, daddy," he retaliated towards Jude. "Please, spank me harder. I'm the birthday boy, after all."

blake: "I'm gonna fucking punch him," Blake mumbled under his breath, mostly to himself. "What's your problem?" he asked, brows furrowed as he glanced over to Jude.

lana: Involuntary flush creeping up into her cheeks, Lana pressed the cool side of her cup against her throat, rolling it there absently in a fit of boredom. "Do you really have a foot kink, Gabe? Look into my eyes and tell the truth. Don't be a coward."

jude: Eyebrows knitting slightly, he offered Blake a bewildered expression, lowering his voice a notch. "What? The breast milk thing was a joke, man," came as he patted his shoulder a hint harder than necessary, moving his hand away after. "We're good."

magnolia: Maggie sat up, fingers nervously clutching the cup in her hand as her other hand drifted towards Blake's arm before she thought better of it. "Who wants a shot?" She declared, voice wavering.

gabe: "I don't have a fucking foot kink," Gabe pleaded, smile plastered on his face as he took another gulp from his cup. He kicked Lana with the side of his sneaker gently. "Why? Do you? Do YOU have something you'd like to tell me?"

blake: "I'll -- I'll take a shot," Blake said, cut off just before he could finish the sentence with the slap against his back. "Alright! We're good. Fantastic," he replied, not entirely believing it, but knowing he'd only get heated if he persisted.

lana: "Once I had a wet dream about one of the thumb men from Spy Kids," Lana sighed honestly, thumb smoothing along the rim of her red cup. "I won't even lie, it was pretty hot. I don't regret it. Also, me! I'll do a shot. I'm like a dehydrated camel in the outback. Rasping for mercy."

chloe: Chloe walked into the party, and immediately began the search for a drink or someone she knew— she wasn't terribly picky about the order. Not too far away was Gabe, the birthday boy, surrounded by a few more friendly faces. "Happy birthday!" she said as she arrived, ruffling Gabe's hair. "What'd I miss?"

magnolia: "Cool. Awesome," she said hurriedly, getting up off the couch and taking off towards the drink table with Blake in tow, meeting up with Lana along the way. She poured drinks for all of them, plus a few more for anyone else that wanted one. "Look me in the eyes when you clink or it's bad head for ten years!"

gabe: "That's... the most the disgusting thing I've heard all night besides Tripp admitting he's into bestiality," Gabe said, grabbing a handle of Smirnoff from the fridge. "And after that, I need a shot."

jude: Flopping down onto one of the adjacent couches, Jude popped open his tin of rolling papers and started thumbing through the contents, setting about fixing himself a joint. "Fuck. Anyone got any filters?"

gabe: "Chloe!" Gabe beamed, bringing the brunette into an awkward side-hug. "Thanks. You didn't miss much. Collectively? We're on our way to getting fucked up. Emotionally? I sense a tension in the air. Not like I haven't experienced that on any other of my birthdays though."

lana: "Whoa. I totally thought you said look me in the eyes when you twink for a second there. Mindfuck. I was spinning my head around like the Mr. Krabs meme looking for the nearest toyboy," Lana scoffed, plucking up the shot and reaching out to knock glasses before she tossed it back.

blake: Sighing and running his hand over the back of his neck, he glanced over the Jude and mouthed a simple 'What the fuck?' in his direction. "Yeah, I got some," he said, leaning forward to pry them out of his back pocket, tossing the pack onto the coffee table.

chloe: "Oh, excellent," she laughed, scooting into an empty seat. "I'm trying to look God in the eyes by the end of tonight. Fuck me up."

gabe: "You could look God in the eyes if you just got on your knees... and prayed. With a bible," Gabe stammered, in horror of the awkwardness that just ensued from his mouth. "Welcome to Bible study, we're all children of Jesus!" He looked over to Magnolia, who was downing shots already. "Kumbaya... my lord..."

magnolia: "God. I just had a flashback to that dude in the leather suit from American Horror Story," she told Lana. "Tonight I drink to forget Michael Scott bending Evan Peters over and spanking him on The Office."

jude: "Noice," Jude emphasised like his accent had suddenly warped into that of an Australian crocodile wrangler, reaching forwards to snatch up the filters and pry one from the rest. Plucking a rolling paper free, he slithered it onto Blake's lap in pitiful means of a half-assed apology.

venus: "I've arrived, Thots!" Venus shouted at the bustling crowd, particularly to the few faces she recognized immediately. Her fur coat and sparkly dress screamed New York socialite, and her brain was screaming for a drink. "What's all the hubbub, boys?"

blake: "I'm good, man. Already on enough," he said to Jude, laughing with the admittance. "Where did Maggie go with our shots, though? The real question."

lana: "DON'T mention spanking and Evan Peters in the same sentence. My frail heart can't take it. I was one of the abominable thots that wanted to take a ride on the Langdon express. It was a dark time," she exhaled mournfully, coughing slightly to escape the bitter taste of vodka in the back of her throat. "Gross. I feel like I just sucked on Satan's teat."

chloe: "Ah, so I guess you want a church girl that go to church.... and read her Biiiible," Chloe said, expression unchanging but her voice shifting to imitate the Vine. "We love Bible study!" she yelped, taking a shot.

jude: "Think she left with Lana or, uh... Dunno," Jude offered along with a shrug, licking a stripe along his paper before he smoothed it together. "Vanished into the abyss. Dicks out for Magambe."

magnolia: "He was a hunk-a-thon, I'll give you that," Maggie said, her voice suddenly warping into a Valley Girl accent. "Shit! I forgot that the gentlemen and I scheduled a very important business meeting. Gotta bring the materials," she told Lana, gathering up a few shots and bringing them back over to Blake and Jude. "Boys, i've brought the third quarter numbers."

gabe: "Don't-" Gabe stuttered as Chloe took the shot, wrinkling his nose at thought of consuming the mixture. "God, that was... the equivalent of isopropyl alcohol. I don't even know what mixture was in that Smirnoff bottle, but it wasn't Smirnoff. Please don't sue."

teddy.: Walking through the threshold into the BKE living room, Teddy managed to juggle three chocolate chip muffins in one hand and a red solo cup in the other. Mouth already half full, Teddy approached Jude and Blake with all the seriousness of a businessman looking to close a deal. "Have you guys been in the washroom lately? I found, like, twenty muffins there. Want one? I can grab more. They're so good. I hope they weren't meant for Gabe cause I already ate two."

imogen: Walking in, eyes red and squinted from the few joints she had enjoyed on the walk over, Imogen entered the party, in an unusual attired of plain black jeans and a hoodie. Entering the house, she immediately found her way towards the messy table of crumpled chips and began munching.

blake: Blake laughed, feeling a little more at ease now that Jude had seemed to calm down from whatever had peeved him off earlier. A sigh of relief escaped when Magnolia returned, sitting up straighter. "Thank god, I was about to zamboni the table." As Teddy approached, Blake relaxed even more, smile on his face. "Can't say I have, Who put muffins in the washroom?"

venus: "Whose birthday is it?" Venus asked towards no one in particular. She spotted a kind-looking girl on the couch and plopped down next to her. "I see Jude's up to his wild antics again. Lana, right?"

jude: "Anyone got a light?" Jude called out aimlessly, flailing his head around like a child long lost in a convenience store. "Blease... Halp... I'm just a little baby boy!" Discontinuing his absurd cries once Teddy arrived, Jude lazily flung a leg out, poking at his friend's shin in means of fond greeting. "Hello, my son. What the fuck is a muffin--" he stuttered into silence, wedging his joint in place. "A muffin doing in a washroom, anyway?"

gabe: "Why are there muffins in the washroom?" Gabe asked, snatching one from Teddy's hand. "I don't see a cake anywhere so I'm hoping this is for me. Anyone got a singular candle I can put on this?"

magnolia: Maggie handed Blake a shot, trying not to spill any of it, sitting on the arm of the couch. She knocked back the vodka, wincing as she did so. "Nope, I just got zamboni-ed. Petition to use zamboni more in every day conversation. Shit. I'm drunk."

teddy.: "No, Gabe!" Teddy protested, voice taking on the whiny tone of a two year old who doesn't get their way. "Those were for my less fortunate friends! We can't all have birthdays today, y'know."

imogen: Answering to the calls of a frantic Jude, Imogen pulled the tiny bic out of her jean pocket and held it out, walking towards them. "I'm no hero, I put on my pants one leg at a time like everyone else, only I remember to bring a lighter"

lana: "Hi!" Lana greeted as earnestly as a golden retriever introduced to a new owner, corners of her red lips tweaking. "Yeah, Lana. Venus, right? Or, I guess... Weenus, according to Jude. He's a mongrel, ignore him. I try to."

blake: Lowering down his vodka as Maggie did, he sighed in relief, though it burned his throat. "You alright?" he asked Magnolia in a mumbled, glancing over to her on the end of the sofa.

chloe: Chloe's face crumpled after downing the contents of her cup, mouth puckered in disgust. "Oh, man," she groaned. "That is diabolical. Who's trying to kill you on your birthday?"

jude: Plucking the Bic off Imogen, Jude offered a wise smile like Gatsby overlooking his crowd of party guests in means of thanks, sparking up and sucking in a long drag before reaching over to ash on Gabe's muffin. "Bone app the titty." Turning back to Imogen after, he patted the space besides him. "Sit. You've earned a place besides the king -- I'm not calling myself that, by the way. Blake said it was fitting earlier."

venus: "Or better yet... penis!" Venus flashed a ruby red smile, raising an eyebrow as her gaze followed towards Jude's presence. "Looks like someone's getting... laid?" She watched as a brunette stumbled upon Jude flickering a lighter. "Oh, god. Is she trying to set him on fire?"

gabe: Gabe giggled at Chloe's crumpled face as it matched his own, a good amount of the strange tonic already inside his system. "Some sadist who's never been to bartender school apparently," he replied, pulling out a bottle of Spite from the counter and pouring the contents into the remainder of the cup. "Here. A chaser will make it better. I mixed mine with a bunch of a juice and I'm more off the rails than a thirteen year old boy at 3 am off a Four Loko."

magnolia: She nodded her head, giving him a smile. "Peachy. Living my diddly darn best life,"she said, trying to shake off the nervous feeling that accompanied her at parties. "Your hair smells good tonight. Like shampoo or something," she stated, fingers combing through it before dropping them nervously.

lana: "God! He'll probably cry out a lyric from The Smiths when he climaxes. To DIE by YoUr SiDe," she wailed out unevenly, eyes rolling back into her head as she reached around like a blind person for dramatic effect. "Terrible. I hope Imogen's prepared. Also... Huh. You know what we should play? Truth or dare."

venus: "True!" Venus emphasized, pointing her finger at Lana as if she made a breakthrough discovery. "Last time I played that I got someone to streak outside in the dead of winter. I can make anyone a victim tonight."

blake: "Shampoo would likely be it," he said, quiet laugh parting his lips for only a moment. It was strange being here, outside of his room on the worst night of Blake's year. But the company was nice, as long as things stayed civil. "Lana. Yes. A game. Please," he said, reaching up to hook his pinky into Magnolia's to draw her hand back to his head.

imogen: A proud look beamed across Imogen's face as she plopped next to Jude. "You can be the king all you want, at the end of the day things did not end well for Macbeth" she replied, snatching the joint from his fingers and dangling it off her lip, inhaling the smoke smoothly.

jude: Catching a glimpse of Maggie and Blake from the corner of his eye, Jude reached up to itch far more furiously than necessary at his tear duct, eye squeaking in protest. "Whoa. Stuart Little, uh, crying for mercy, there. Wild," he chuckled under his breath, focusing on Imogen once more. "Macbeth was just like Chicken Little. Dumb and he's a coward. You can't just come over here... Reap my harvest," he gestured at his joint in her mouth, "and PISS on the rest of my metaphorical crops. I'm distraught."

venus: Venus made her way through the crowd, stumbling in the dimness as she tripped over someone's foot and half-landed on someone's lap. "Fuck! You absolute gremlins!" she called out towards no one in particular. She looked over and found herself resting on top of Judas' knee as her eyes lit up, giving him a peck between his hairline and his forehead. "Judas! You're like a blessing dressed as a grungy band member. How is the evening treating you? Have you killed Jesus yet?"

magnolia: She continued playing with his hair gently, nodding her head as someone mentioned truth or dare. "Yes! I'm gonna find out who everyone has a crush on tonight." She glimpsed Jude talking to a girl she didn't know out of the corner of her eye, whipping her haze away sharply.

gabe: "Lana, do you have a candle? Or a fucking joint so I can blow out something anyway? This crowd's got me stressed," Gabe stumbled over, nearly knocking over the petite girl. "I feel like Jude and Blake are gonna tussle."

jude: "Whoa! Fuckin' hell, all aboard, I guess," Jude strained out as he shuffled beneath Venus' flailing limbs to get comfortable, looking every bit like Patrick Star mid coma as his arms fanned out around her. Eventually, he settled for steadying her gently by the waist, offering Imogen a sheepish smile. "Full house. It's like a nineties sitcom."

lana: "A CANDLE?!" Lana quoted like he'd just garbled out a sentence in ancient Latin, eyes bugging out of her head like the meme of the fish in Spongebob holding a glass of juice. "Who do you think I am, Gabe? A Bed, Bath and Beyond store? Disgusting! I just spat."

blake: Lowering down the rest of his vodka, Blake tossed the flask on the table. "Jude! Truth or dare."

venus: Venus looked up, surprised at the sight of the other girl. "Oh, fuck, I'm such a tramp aren't I?" she turned her back towards Jude again, narrowing her eyes. "You've got your arms around my waist while this woman is trying to fuck you?" she nearly hissed. "Am I cockblocking or can I join?"

jude: "Hey, whoa," Jude blustered hastily, glancing between the pair of them with a face of vague distress. "I'm just a little boy..." he trailed off vaguely, hoping that excuse, enough, would suffice, before realising he probably had to say more for himself. "Everything's fine. Make love, not war. We're all human beings."

imogen: Imogen handed the joint back to Jude and laughed at Venus' comment. "No, I'm not- no worries. I'm too high for this right now anyway. I think I'm gonna grab something to drink" she replied. pushing herself off the couch and walking away from the couch.

gabe: "You're all for birthdays aren't you? What am else am I going to blow?" Gabe answered frantically. "Wait, don't answer that." He took nearly inhaled the muffin in his hands regardless, squinting at Lana as he swallowed. "Oh... these are? Edibles? Suddenly I'm exiting this plane of existence."

jude: "Oh, Christ. It's Armageddon," Jude mumbled solemnly into Venus' hair, accidentally getting a strand in his mouth and spluttering helplessly in the aftermath. "Fuckin' hell. Look what you did, Venus. She practically took off on all fours. Imogen!" he called lazily around Venus, flailing a rogue arm. "Bring back rations!"

magnolia: Maggie scooted closer towards Blake's side, brushing her hair out of her face as she leaned her head on his shoulder. "Judas! You were asked a question. Truth or dare?"

lana: Sucking in such a frantic gust of air at his statement that she nearly choked on it, she wildly flung a hand out to grab his shoulder for support, coughing into his shirt sleeve before composing herself. "Didn't Jude just ash on that earlier? Gross."

venus: Mouth agape, Venus pushed herself towards the end of the couch so only her legs rested on Jude's lap. "Oh, no! I totally fucked everything up for you! I'm sorry!" she pleaded, taking a gulp of her wine bottle. "So no threesome?" She glanced back at the rest of the room, realizing they were suddenly in the middle of a game. "Ah! It's time for the moment of truth!"

jude: "Hm ha hmhmhm ha?" Jude responded in reference to the iconic Yoda parody, wiping absently at a crumb that had somehow pinged and wound up on his eyelash before meeting Maggie's gaze. "What question? Oh... Uh. Dare, I guess. And don't worry, Weenus," came as he tapped sympathetically at her shins, nodding once over. "I forgive you."

gabe: "He WHAT?" Gabe blurted, catching Lana has she nearly fell into his arms. "What the fuck? I've eaten an edible that Judas ashed on. Incredible. I better see God right in his fucking face in the next twenty minutes."

lana: Slouching in Gabe's arms even after she'd steadied her composure, Lana peered up at him, neck retracted in on itself to impersonate a bleary eyed infant. "I look totally like baby Moses like this. It's kind of erotic, actually. If--... Wait, are dares starting?" she perked up from Gabe's limp hold, peering around like a meerkat.

blake: "I dare you..." he started, before gesturing toward Venus, "to make out with her." Considering she was easily accessible, he figured it was doable. "Then rate it from 1 to 10.

chloe: Chloe found her way back to the group, the front of her shirt soaked with an unidentifiable alcohol. "Someone just fuckin spilled their entire drink on me," she huffed to no one in particular, slipping into the circle to watch the game.

imogen: Mixing herself a concoction of whatever kind of liquor was on the table closest to her, Imogen smelled the red solo cup before wincing and taking a swig. Before returning to the couch, this time taking a seat on the arm of the sofa. Hearing the dare, the girl picked herself off the spot she had just settled in and went to sit next to chloe to avoid being in the splash zone.

gabe: "Daaaaares," Gabe murmured, more crossfaded than the time he was seventeen and inadvertently pissed on the neighbors lawn. He yanked on Lana's hand towards the circle in the living room. "Chloe! We're playing Saw Four! Mags over here is that Jigsaw fellow and she's gonna make us do tricks!"

chloe: "Amazing," Chloe replied, laughing at Gabe's inebriated state. "I want to see the tricks!"

jude: "Rate it? Jesus Christ," Jude huffed out along with a light laugh, rubbing at the scruff of his jaw before he shifted a glance towards Venus. "Well... alright, then," came along with a shrug, hand slipping easily to steady her thigh so that his other could catch her by the jaw and tug her promptly closer. It was a performance fit for a glimpse through a peep show that he put on, knuckles inadvertently bunching beneath the hem of Venus' skirt as he tasted the remnants of rum on her lips, nearly smiling against them at just how soft they felt. Pulling back and imitating an Italian chef kissing his fingers and throwing them outwards, Jude hastily retracted his hand from her leg. "Jesus. Sorry. Feral. I'd, uh... I'd rate it a sophisticated seven. Thanks and goodnight, New York."

magnolia: She picked up another one of the shots she had brought over earlier, choking it back as she watched Jude and Venus make out. "Great. Fucking showstopping, Pornhub will give you good ratings," Maggie said, forcing a laugh. "Who wants to go next?"

venus: Venus couldn't help but burst into laughter when she pulled back, her hair frizzier than an early morning fuck and her lipstick smudged. She wiped the side of her mouth to clean up. "No one asked me but it was a good six. Would've been a seven had he not nearly eaten my face!"

blake: Blake shifted somewhat uncomfortably at the display, nearly regretting his decision to dare him that immediately. Once Jude had finished with the kiss, he laughed, raising his brows. "Just a seven? Jesus," he said, clearing his throat. Glancing up to Magnolia, her reaction was rather transparent, but Blake said nothing. Instead, he chewed at his nail and squeezing Maggie's hand with the other. "Who's going next, then?"

jude: Clearing his throat casually, Jude held a hand out towards Imogen post kiss, wiggling his fingers like he was hinting she pass him a cookie. "Did you... Wait. You got my smoke?"

magnolia: "I'll go," she told everyone. "I'll do dare."

teddy: Slowly taking a sip of his drink while glancing between Magnolia, Jude, and Venus in turn, Teddy finally made eye contact with Jude over his cup, giving him an over exaggerated thumbs up and a wink, mouthing the word "Noice" at him like they were back in grade ten and Jude had just had his first kiss ever.

jude: Shooting Teddy a total of three winks back, he entered into a sort of Morse code battle via eye, throwing him the odd one every so often when the feeling struck. "Dare! Mags chose dare. Uh... Huh. Anyone got one?"

lana: "I dare Mag--... Maggie? Maglin," Lana announced before clearing her throat, cup raised to her mouth like a microphone, "to kiss the prettiest boy in the room."

imogen: "I thought I gave it back to you" Imogen replied to Jude, a look of paranoia on her face now as she, stupidly, checked her pockets. "Maybe you inhaled it" she offered, plopping down with a shrug.

jude: "Ah, tits. She's gone, boys!" Jude called out to no-one in particular, clasping at his cheeks like the screaming man from Edvard Munch's painting. "Fucking R.I.P. It's cool, I'll roll another, I guess."

gabe: "Judas," Gabe started with a deadpan voice. "Why did you ash on my weed muffin? On my twenty-first? The audacity. Do you know how blurry my vision is right now?"

teddy: Making his way over to Jude, Teddy clapped him on the shoulder before nudging Imogen to the side, "Scoot, Im, best friend coming through." He mumbled, throwing his legs over Imogen's once he'd sat. "That kiss is going into my spank bank for later tonight, just so you know."

imogen: Imogen reached into the pocket of her hoodie and pulled out a pink plastic cigarette case. Dipping her fingers into it, she retrieved a tightly rolled joint and leaned over to hand it to Jude. "Peace offering" she said, smiling also at Venus.

imogen: Throwing her hands over Teddy's shins, Imogen nodded. "Mine too"

jude: "Pranked! You've been pranked," Jude declared suddenly, whipping his joint into view right around the same time Imogen gave him a fresh one. "Oh, fuck. Overflowing. I'm drowning... So many. Too many men..."

venus: Hair strewn across the end of the couch, Venus' head shot up at the acknowledgement of another person. "Oh, you're a doll!" she gushed at Imogen, taking her joint gladly. "Though I'm not sure what you mean. Are we fighting? Baby, what have I done? I'll get on my knees and everything."

magnolia: Maggie looked like a deer caught in the headlights as Lana announced her dare. She finished off a sip of vodka that was left in her shot glass. "Shit. Okay, fine." She stood up, making her way over to Gabe who still had Lana in his arms. "Make way for Thomas the Train engine," she told Lana, extracting the boy from underneath her as she sat down on the couch. She pulled him in by his shirt for a kiss, hesitant at first with all the eyes on her, but her hands wandering up to tangle in his hair as the kiss deepened. "Wow," she said in the voice of the kid from Vine as they separated.

lana: "Begone, thot!" Lana exclaimed with a prominent wrinkle of her nose, swatting at the prying hands of a frat boy leering in from behind her around the circle. It was only then that she whipped around to clock Maggie, a quick hop seeing her clear the path. "It's like a hundred mile an hour moshpit in here. Cold and afraid... Hope diminishing."

teddy: "What the hell was the prank? Not your best work, Jude." Teddy mumbled, grabbing the joint Jude was currently brandishing. Lifting it to his mouth to take a drag, Teddy stopped halfway to the destination, mouth agape at the scene Maggie and Gabe put on for them, "HOOTY HOO!" He shouted, practically right in Jude's ear.

venus: Hands entangled in Maggie's hair, Gabe nearly fell backward as the girl was on top of him, lips locked. As she pulled back, his face was amused in bewilderment, considering he barely heard what the last dare was. "Happy birthday to me?" he mumbled, looking around like a puppy to the rest of the room. "That was... fun."

jude: "Shut your wretched little mouth, boy," Jude grit out like he was a medieval lord from Game of Thrones, jest clear in his tone before he clocked the make out across the circle. Lips pressed into a thin line as Teddy bellowed, Jude pushed his cheek away from his ear a little harder than necessary. "Oh. Sorry."

imogen: Imogen shook her head, "No need to get on your knees. My apologies. I shouldn't have been so hasty about the threesome" she replied, before her sight darted towards Magnolia and Gabe.

lana: Eyeing Gabe at the side of her like the human manifestation of a disgruntled moon emoji, Lana slurped rather obnoxiously from her cup, rattling the dwindling contents after to distract a niggling thought at the back of her brain. "Who's next! I'll go. I'm feeling spicy."

venus: Venus widened her eyes, flailing her legs as she straightened herself on the couch and nearly kicking Jude's face in the process. "Judas! Did you hear that? Immy wants a threesome!" She buried her hands in hair as if he was a new golden retriever. "God. Amazing."

teddy: "Ow! You fuckin' Thot. Was your first makeout not satisfactory enough?" Teddy whined, rubbing at his cheek like Jude had winded back and personally tried to hit Teddy as hard as he could.

blake: On a normal night, Blake would have likely been jealous, but only in a subtle way. However, tonight, he felt rather numb to most things and couldn't help but think the birthday boy was, in fact, deserving of a kiss. And he looked the part. Laughing softly, he raised one of the shot glasses. "To the birthday boy, you've been deflowered in front of us all."

magnolia: "Sorry for the ambush," she said with a small laugh, grabbing the cowboy hat that had fallen off her head and settling back into her position next to Blake, bringing her knees under her arms. "It's his birthday He deserves to be pretty."

blake: "He is pretty, I agree," Blake said, laughing softly as he nudged Magnolia. "Someone give Lana a truth or dare, she's weeping over there."

gabe: "Are you saying I'm not pretty on a normal basis?" Gabe replied in mock disgust. "These curls? Bounce naturally, for your information."

jude: "Who's Emmy?" Jude blinked in sheer confusion, only piecing together what she'd actually said moments later. "Oh, fuck. Oh... Fuck. What? What's... going on? He needs some milk..." he mumbled under his breath, faking a frantic massage at his own temples.

imogen: "Which is it Lana, truth or dare?" Imogen called out from the couch.

magnolia: "Lana I... Dare you to give a lap dance to the person of your choosing."

lana: Tossing back the last of her punch, Lana defiantly hopped up to her feet, going the extra mile of crushing up her cup and throwing it to the floor purely for the dramatics. "I feel like a great white shark looking for the fattest swimmer to chomp on. Kind of arousing, honestly," she stated coolly as she eyed the circle, eventually pausing in her slow stride around it once she reached Imogen. "You. You look kind of like a dusty little choir boy, I dig it," came as she slipped onto her lap without warning, thighs hitched up to delicately straddle her. Snatching up her hand, she ground her hips easily with the oncoming dips of bass, a brief kiss pressed against the tops of her knuckles before she boldly slipped a first finger into her mouth and sucked on it. Lips tweaking as she pulled her hand back with a pop, Lana leaned in and pressed a scarlet kiss to Imogen's forehead like a sinful baptism, rising up to her feet after a few more tortuous shifts. "Bone app the teet! She tasted kind of like beef jerky. 5/10, do not recommend."

chloe: "Oh my god, she said beef jerky," Chloe gasped, finding the whole thing unbelievably funny. "Who's next?"

venus: Venus raised her hand. "I've got a lying Pinocchio shooting straight out of my skirt, to say the least. Lana, please me, next!"

teddy: Chuckling as Lana sauntered over to Imogen, all humour vanished the moment Lana staddled Imogen, jaw dropping and red solo cup contorting in his tight grip the moment Lana slipped Imogen's finger into her mouth. "Christ. I have to go to church." He blurted out, placing the cup in between his legs and bursting into applause. "Phenom. An excellent show."

magnolia: "Oh my god," Maggie said in the slow drawl of the guy from the "and they were roommates" vine. She burst into laughter. "It's Jason Fucking Bourne! Look at her move. God I don't think anyone can top that."

blake: Blake was shocked by the turn of events, eyes wide as he watched with fake lack of interest. Staying silent as Blake had no desire to actually take a turn, he watched as Lana left with an insult. "Fuck... Man down," he mumbled under his breath.

lana: "Thank you," Lana nodded solemnly, imitating a small curtsy before she flopped back into the space besides Gabe once more. "I was thinking of Nigel the whole time. Thornberry, that is."

imogen: Sitting completely still, Imogen watched with amusement as Lana put on a show for her. "Fuck, there's no un-creepy way to receive a lap dance" she finally muttered, going along with the finger sucking and forehead kissing, bursting into a loud applause when she was finished.

teddy: "Nigel Thornberry? A hunk, to say the least." Teddy stated, sitting up slightly straighter and flashing Lana a thumbs up after she sat down. "Alright, sluts, my turn! Dare me."

gabe: Gabe clapped a thunder of applause. "Your best work, Jameson!" he called out. "Someone do a dare for me. I thought my face would be in a cake by now."

teddy: Taking the last gulp from his cup, Teddy threw the empty plastic at Gabe's head, pointing an accusing finger. "Wait your turn, cretin! We don't have to conform to society's ways because it's your birthday!"

lana: Letting out an unearthly shriek as the cup rebounded and landed on Lana's lap, she picked at it like you might a soggy piece of food while washing the dishes. "Abomination! Teddy is disqualified on grounds of treason."

teddy: "What?! No! You're all in cahoots! Gimme my cup back, I wanna toss it at someone else now."

magnolia: "Boo!" Magnolia shouted at Teddy, throwing one of her collection of red cups at the boy.

jude: "I," Jude started out of nowhere, having been stuck in silence for the past minute or so -- apparently he needed a moment to compose after witnessing Imogen's finger getting sucked. "I say... Gabe kisses someone. Some-ONES, actually. Plural. A threeway kiss."

imogen: "I didn't think college kids were all actually this horny, you guys know about the internet, right?" the brunette asked, sipping at the drink she was holding.

magnolia: "Blake, I'm terrified. Hold me. I feel as if I'm about to witness the Dan, Vanessa, Olivia threeway all over again," Maggie said nervously, chewing on one of her nails as she grasped at his hand dramatically.

jude: Jude whipped around to look at Imogen like she'd just harshly backhanded him. "Wow... tell us how you really feel, Imogen. Thottimus Prime. I want my friendship bracelet back."

gabe: "Let the games begin," he sighed, looking to his right. Lana was staring at him with big eyes, and he was too inebriated to make good judgement on the repercussions of what would happen if his lips met hers. Itching his way to kneel between Lana and Teddy, he pushed their heads together like a sandwich so their cheeks touched and inched towards the two of them. Meeting his mouth with Lana's, and then Teddy's, the three were in sync as if they were one entity as the rest of the room cheered them on.

blake: Blake was already drunk enough to give into any inhibitions, a laugh escaping him following Magnolia's words. Tugging her closer to him, he made a space for her between the arm of the couch and his lap, barely large enough to fit her but it worked in the moment. "Truth or dare is uncomfortable," he mumbled, vodka-scented breath brushing against the back of her neck.

imogen: "I'm just saying, if you want to kiss someone you should just kiss them- who needs a game to make a move" Imogen muttered towards Jude, before looking at the trio with a smile on her face. "Like Gabe."

lana: Expression painted like a kid on Christmas morning when Gabe glanced her way, Lana abandoned her absentminded fiddling with the crumpled cup on her lap completely. Fingers creeping up to hook inside the neckline of Gabe's shirt, she bundled the fabric up inside an earnest fist as she pressed a kiss to his lips, lingering there perhaps far longer than necessary before drawing back and only remembering last minute to give Teddy a quick one, too. Drawing back after, she thumbed at the corner of her lips with a sheepish smile. "Wrow! Spicy. I need a refill."

magnolia: "I'm terrified," she mumbled back, throwing her legs up over his lab and she scooted down into the small space on the couch. She normally wouldn't have been as brazen as this, but the shots were catching up with her. "Oh my god, I think she swallowed him! He's GAN!"

teddy: Bursting into laughter when Gabe smushed his face into Lana's, Teddy's laughter quickly died when he watched the two of them kiss. Jealousy beginning to eat at his stomach and turn it into a pit, Teddy barely reciprocated when both Gabe and Lana gave him a quick kiss after, awkwardly twiddling his thumbs. "Yeah, Maggie, we get it." He mumbled, standing up quickly. "Shots? I want shots. I need more alcohol. Someone come with me. Blake. Come with me."

blake: "Oh boy," was mumbled under Blake's breath, unsure if his legs would even work anymore. "I'll be... right back," he assured Maggie, lifting himself up from underneath her and following behind Teddy toward the drinks. "Teddy, it's just a game. Don't get worked up. Everyone's fucking...wasted." He almost started laughing, but thought better of it.

jude: "Hungy harna hingini dana squashed banana," Jude crooned out the infamous tree shaking Vine in an attempt to diffuse the tension, sucking on his joint quickly before he threw Teddy a concerned glance. Whipping out his phone, the most comforting thing he could think to do in a moment like this was send him a lone kissing emoji via text.

gabe: Watching Blake and Teddy slip away from the rest of them, Gabe peered over to Lana with a look of questioning. "Fuck. What?" he mouthed at her, nodding towards Teddy's back getting farther away from them.

jude: "Fuck!" he suddenly exclaimed, grasping at his chest. Quickly sending Teddy another text, he wrote: "bad choice. that was my lips on you. oh this sounds like a sext. sorry. love u" and locked his phone with a sigh.

lana: Eyeing Teddy as he hastily retreated, Lana shrank back against the sofa like a wilting flower. "God. Ground control to major Tom..." she trailed off into solemn silence, sheepishly trading a glance at Gabe before shrugging slightly. "I, um... don't know. It's fine," she lied with a soft nod, gnawing at her bottom lip after. "He probably just needs... a shit."

teddy: Pressing his lips together as Blake attempted to calm him down, Teddy scoffed, biting his lip and nodding. "Yeah. True. A real Enlarged Emotion there." He mumbled, opening up a vodka of tequila and moving to pour some into the new cup Maggie had given him before deciding the better of it and just taking a shot right from the bottle. "Jesus Christ," Teddy spat, checking his phone as it continued to vibrate again his leg before narrowing his eyes at his phone then up at Jude. "Thank you, Jude. Fucking weirdo." He called to the other from the kitchen.

gabe / venus: "Welp, the drama queen has gone to shit himself," Venus sighed, downing the rest of her wine. "Y'all were a thing, I take it?" She sat up properly. "Do me, next! I'll break the streak. Challenge me and my pathological lies."

chloe: Chloe winced at the palpable tension in the room and made eye contact with Lana from across the room, putting 2 and 2 together. Raising her eyebrows, she took another sip of her drink. "Yikes."

blake: "Ah man," Blake said, running his hands over his face as he clumsily poured himself another drink. Alcohol didn't mix well with his medication, making him rather uncoordinated. "Gabe is... not a threat to you and Lana, if that's what you're worried about. He's... they're not on the same like -- fuck... what was I even saying? Goddamn it."

lana: Placing a hand over her eyes like Lady Gaga pulling her hat down to evade the paparazzi, Lana sighed loudly enough to draw the attention of anyone within a five mile radius. "Listen. I'm a big, raging whore. Now let's move swiftly on."

magnolia: "Everybody please look away, there's nothing to see here," Maggie echoed, latching onto the celebrity bit, putting her cowboy hat on Lana's head. "No further comments, blease."

jude: Smiling to himself as if his work was done, Jude patted his phone as he slid it into his pocket, nodding soulfully before he sucked on his joint again. "Who's next? Oh, wait. Uh... Venus? You pick dare?"

venus: "Whatever, was gonna break the streak but I'd assume you'd find a loophole to get me to strip anyway," Venus yawned. "Dare. Hit me with your best."

teddy: "It's fine." Teddy said, sounding distinctly Not Fine. "It's cool. Sorry for dragging you away. Let's just..." Without saying anything else, Teddy swiftly moved back into the living room, plastering a giant smile onto his face as if that would convince everyone that he hadn't just had a toddler like temper tantrum. Sitting beside Jude, he plucked his friends joint out of his grasp and took a long pull, nudging him with his elbow. "Jude next time you hit me with an accidental sext can't you at least make it a bit more obvious?" He asked, giving the other a weary smile.

imogen: Finding a spot besides Teddy, Imogen rested her head on his shoulder, tucking her hand under his bicep. "If a thot's heart breaks and no ones around to hear it, then it doesn't really break or something helpful" she muttered to the other, in an effort to make Teddy feel somewhat comforted.

jude: Instantly narrowing her eyes after tugging her hands down, Lana flung her hand out in childish impulse, swatting at the edge of Imogen's thigh without thinking about it. "Oh! God... Um. Nasty... bug!" she added in a stammer, dusting at the area after before casually leaning back against Gabe's shoulder. "There was... a bug."

magnolia: "Wait, shit, is it the New Year yet?" Maggie asked to know one in particular.

teddy: Grinning at Imogen, Teddy rolled his eyes fondly as she jokingly tried to make him feel better, leaning over and kissing her on the top of her head. "Me? Heartbroken? Never. You've got me confused with an emotional thot, Immy!" Teddy proclaimed. Glancing over when Lana smacked at Imogen's thigh, he raised a questioning eyebrow at her excuse, "Really? I didn't see anything. Did you?" He mumbled bluntly, turning back to Imogen.

gabe: "There's a bug on me now," Gabe whispered at Lana, who was already leaning on him again. "Yes! My balls are dropping. I'm 21 now, after all. Time to count down, everyone!"

lana: "It was a beetle, if you must know. A muscly one with a dimple chin like John Travolta," Lana mumbled halfheartedly, eyebrows knitting slightly before she straightened in her place at the arrival of the countdown, throwing Gabe's hand mid air like an Olympic victor. "He's finally a man!"

imogen: Spitefully glaring over at Lana, Imogen waited for the countdown before leaning closer towards Teddy's lips, her hand resting on the side of his face as she pulled him in for a lingering kiss. Pulling away she gave the boy a playful smirk as her hand continued to caress his face. "New Years resolution is going to be to ask for permission before I kiss people, sorry"

venus: "THE BALL IS DROPPING!" Venus pulled Jude in for another kiss as the countdown went to zero on the television. Pulling away, her jaw dropped at the sight of Teddy and Imogen as she took in the sheer chaos of it all. "We've just been nuked, folks!"

jude: Dramatically pulling her over his lap like he was bowing her mid ballroom waltz, Jude cradled her head afterwards like you might a newborn baby, pad of his index crossing down her forehead like a holy blessing after. "Holy father, hallowed by thy name... Please exorcise the demons from this thot."

teddy: Blinking in confusion at Lana's description of the so called beetle on Imogen's leg, Teddy didn't even have a moment to realize Imogen was going to kiss him until the very moment it happened. Hardly thinking twice about it, he kissed Imogen back, grin on his face when she pulled back. "No one actually follows resolution's anyway." He pointed out, laughing slightly at the scenario, before leaning in and pressing another, more chaste kiss to her lips. "HAPPY NEW YEARS THOTS!"

venus: "Well, considering all the tension in the room right now," Venus offered. "How about we ring in 2018 with a Wet Hot American Orgy? Then no one's angry with each other!"

lana: Jaw hanging open all the way down to her knees, Lana straightened to press a quick kiss against Gabe's cheek for the sake of leaving him a parting birthday wish, quickly mumbled "Catch you later!" in his ear seeing her straighten to her feet after and storm off without a glance Teddy's way.

imogen: Imogen pushed herself off the couch and brushed off her pants, speaking a quick "Happy New Years. No Ragrets" to her peers before waltzing toward the door and exiting the party house.

[thisbrutalbelle]

chatzy with @ianncardero, feat. penny. 

      bella and iann speak to iann’s ex-wife about letting them go, she agrees to help them escape the facility.

tw: blood, guns, kidnapping.

Bella rose, eyes fluttering. Her make-up had been removed upon her arrival and since healing she probably looked particularly odd. Her skin was a little more textured despite lacking the discolouration of most humans, her lashes were thin and a light brown shade making them near invisible, her lips were a natural hue, and her brows were almost nonexistent. This was the first thought she had, of course, before she tried to stand, lifting her hand to feel tough metal, jerking more and realising she was not going to be able to stand up. That was when it hit her, what had happened and she let out a self-loathing sigh. "Let me out!" she screamed, though she knew it would do no good. It felt better to try. "Wasn't that what you wanted? Let me go!" she repeated, distracting herself from thoughts of Iann's terrified face.

The 'tour', such as it was, ended up being vague but informative nonetheless. Iann learned a few things, not that he shared any of it with Penny. What he gathered, from the other masked black ops people around the compound, was that they were underground; how deep Iann didn't really know, but it seemed pretty damn deep. It also seemed to be a pretty good set-up. Fully self-sufficient, sprawling. Iann was surprised at the level of sophistication, and even asked Penny how the hell this was all being funded. Penny gave him that sly side-smile of hers and mentioned private corporate interested parties, then laughed because she knew that would drive Iann nuts. Anything corporate did, just as anything overly-governmental did. "Trust me - we got money coming out of our ass. This whole supernatural business is big money." But it was all for the greater good - that was what she kept maintaining, and Iann eventually grew too tired to keep rolling his eyes everytime she said some nationalist jingo. Pride and loyalty and bravery and all those things Iann tended to scoff at. "I'm telling you, everything you're describing is everything Bellamy hates," Iann said. "She doesn't give a damn about fighting the good fight."

When the tour was over, Iann was brought back to a medical wing, where Bellamy was being contained in one of the rooms. "She's recovering in there. You can go talk to her, you're perfectly safe," Penny tried to reassure Iann, even if he gave a snort at that. "Take you're time, huh? I'll be out here. And please, Iann - please don't try to do anything stupid. I know that's hard for you, but you know. Just try?"

Iann gave Penny one more eyeroll for good measure, before he was let into Bellamy's room. He hustled over to her, looking at the medical equipment to check the readings of her vitals. It was clearly set up for a vampire-healing, not a human's. "Bellamy?"

Eventually Bella settled, looking at the IV that was in her arm, pissed off that she was being force fed some kind of bad blood, basically fucking gruel in her opinion when she had made her demands quite clear. In this it was evident that Iann was right, Bellamy did not care about the greater good and she did not care about fighting. Bellamy cared for herself above all else. In some ways this was her biggest undoing but as of late it had been her strongest asset. She had learnt, through all of her misdeeds that if she truly wanted to be happy she could not actively pursue immediate self-gratification but consider long term affects. She could put others first then by knowing later putting them first would ultimately bring her the most happiness, either by knowing she was not bound to someone who did not truly want to be connected to her or by being happily engaged in a connection with someone who did.

Perhaps this thought process was why it hurt Bellamy so much to think on Iann feeling the affects of her metuo sanguis. Long term she needed Iann, his friendship and protection was unquantifiable to her, a rare quality to find in any person. To think in trying to save him immediately had possibly damaged their long term friendship pained her. It also silenced her, Bellamy no longer screaming at the top of her lungs, instead closing her eyes and trying to find him in the building, knowing his heartbeat was one she could find in a crowd so a building would not be ultimately difficult. She frowned though when it seemed so close before hearing her name, blinking once her twice.

"Pa?" Bella asked, still not completely trusting that he had been brought back to her. It seemed as though they didn't trust her, being bound as she was. "Who was that?" she asked, having heard a heartbeat so close to his own move away.

"It's me, mija, it's Iann," he said, coming closer. He was covered in the edelweiss flowers, a precaution from Penny which had surprised Iann somewhat. He figured she wanted to prove that Bellamy wouldn't hurt him while in her turned state, with or without the edelweiss. So to be carefully decorated with them made Iann think...what? That she somehow cared? Iann didn't want his mind to go there, and he was sure Penny wouldn't want it either. Regardless, he was reunited with Bellamy now, and he pulled up a stool and sat beside her. "How're you feeling?"

It was hard to look at him and not be able to hold him. Each part of her body wanted to just wrap herself up in his arms and ask how he was going to get them out of there. Logically she knew she was stronger, especially now they'd fed her up, but he was always the one that knew what to do, knew how to fix something awful. Yet, he seemed to merely sit and her eyes flickered to the camera on the ceiling, the CCTV one she had spotted upon arising and wondering if perhaps he was putting on some sort of show. It was an easier thought than thinking he did not, at the very least, take her hand because he was afraid of her. "I'm so sorry, I thought-I thought the glass would keep it in," Bellamy said because how she was feeling was just worried, pushing her hand out to him as far as she could, fingers stretching to reach for his own hand while her forearm was now stuck tightly in the metal. "I didn't - If I died I thought -," Bella tried, only hearing excuses as she began. "I'm so sorry I scared you, Iann," she said. Words like 'I never' weren't going to be anything but excuses, and if he thought she was or was not at fault saying them would not change his mind. Actions only ever could.

"What? Bellamy - no, don't worry about that, I know you didn't mean it. It wasn't you anyway, it was the illness, hm?" Iann said, and when Bellamy's hand flexed to reach for him, Iann leaned forward and took it, gripping it tightly. Iann wasn't exactly the type of person to act rashly. He wasn't going to start pulling out the IV and tubes and trying to bust Bellamy out of her restraints just to do....what, exactly? Bellamy was stronger than him, but she'd be weaker than the soldiers outside those doors who could easily detain them and then they'd just be back to square one. "You...when it took you over, there was still some of you. You were...trying to save me," Iann said with a smile. He pet Bellamy's hair. "I know this is all really scary, but you're being healed right now, hm? We need you to be healed up..." Iann glanced up at the CCTV before he then said. "Before we can start talking about...what's happening here."

Bella began to shake her head and then nodded. Yes, and no. Yes, it technically was the illness but the illness hadn't made her shift. She had decided that, in part to save him, and, undeniably, in part to save herself too. She didn't have a death wish, least not currently, and she did not intend for Ephram and Miles and Teddy and Elena and Cassie and everyone who worked for her to imagine that she had just up and abandoned their friendship or their connection, whatever it was. "I know...," Bellamy rolled off, a little confused by his comment about her trying to save him. She remembered, did he think she had forgotten? That she had lost her faculties? "It didn't take over, I let it...rise," she reasoned. "It's not like before, it's not like when you and Ephram came to the house. That's...that's when it's all built up inside me. That's when there's so much I can't reach my own head. I'm taking my medicine, I had complete control of my mind, Iann. I...I've shifted a few times since that all happened, purposefully, and yes, I do want to do certain things more but it's still me. Even if I had got out of that cell I wouldn't have done anything to you, I'd have got you free and then found a way to get whatever I put inside you out," she insisted. That was her plan and it hadn't faultered when she'd shifted into her final state. Feeling his hand in her hair was comforting though, and his immediate acceptance that she hadn't done what she had maliciously or through just not caring made her worries fade away. "I need something alive," she whispered, trying to barely move her mouth in case they were watching her lips. "I haven't had live blood in over a week, I'm never going to be strong enough to take on anyone without it. Least not...like this," she said. Obviously knowing he would likely become immobilized with fear were she to become her black eyed creature self again.

It was all news to Iann, but it was good news, and despite their current situation Iann couldn't help but feel grateful for this new information about Bellamy's condition and her control. "Okay, I think I get it now," he said, but he knew he never actually would fully understand. Things would keep evolving, as Bellamy learned more about herself and the illness. Which was what made it so ironic that Penny's group seemed to think he was the expert; he wasn't. Bellamy was the expert on herself, as it should be. As for Bellamy feeding on someone live, Iann screwed his mouth to one side as he exhaled, looking up at the cameras again. "Sweetheart, none of these soldiers are going to let you feed on them." He looked down at his arm. "You could feed on me, if you like. Ah....if I drink your blood first, you know. Like how we've done before?"

"Why do they have to let me?" Bellamy asked, a little confused. In general, now, Bellamy was opposed to feeding on people that didn't agree to it. She hadn't fed on anyone that had not agreed since well before Teddy had found her the man of muscles she had dined on until she and Miles had struck their deal. This seemed an exceptional sort of case though and Bella's skewed logic dictated if they were so willing to treat her like an animal in a cage then why should she not act like one. "Why should I have to hurt you? Do you not think I should kill anyone here?" she asked him, frown coming over her brow. It wasn't angry so much as confused. Was it the sight of it he did not want? Another imagine in his head of her killing? Had he seen her kill before? Actually witnessed the act of it? She couldn't recall. "Who were you with?" Bellamy repeated her earlier question, realising he had ignored it.

"Ummm, I mean. I wouldn't recommend feeding on people by force..." It was the only way Iann could think that Bellamy could feed on anyone but him, and if Bellamy was confused about what he was saying then he was similarly confused about what she was saying. He felt apologetic, like he wasn't handling things right. Like once more Bellamy was expecting something brilliant from him, and he just wasn't delivering. He felt an inkling of helplessness, and then frustration that he was so helpless. "That one guy - Anton - he wasn't good to you, he didn't treat you well. The others, well. Not all of them are like that," Iann said, staring at Bellamy's collarbone as he spoke. He didn't believe that Bellamy would want to hear these words, and understandably so. Thus far, she'd been treated abhorrently, she had every right to despise everyone here and want to murder them all. "Killing more people won't help anything, mija...." Then the question again, which Iann had missed the first time because of his worry for her. "Um...well you see. One - one of the soldiers...mercenaries, whatever they are. It turns out that, ah...one of them - the human - she's actually, ah, my - my ex-wife. Penny. Hm? Penny's here."

Bella grasped his hand tightly that held her, not enough to break his hand or anything but certainly forceful. It was all she could do not the shake the chair as he insisted that there were people in this building that didn't have as malicious a set of actions in mind for her. It seemed unlikely, if they were watching then how were they better? Iann had not allowed her to continue her rampage, why should this man be allowed by his peers to burn her flesh and break her face. Yet, as she tried to think of someone in her life that would allow her rampage of the place, killing Anton at the very least, she suspected there was not a person that would and settled. Sinking into her chair he began to answer and Bella took a second to register before she blurted out her first thought. "I thought your first wife was dead," she commented, though there was every chance he'd never said that and she'd merely made the assumption with only half listening to him when they'd first befriended one another. "Is that why you're not in chains but I am? Tell her to let us go, Iann," she requested, voice growing louder. Why on Earth were they sitting there if someone could let them go?

"No she's not dead," Iann said, shaking his head as his thumb made circles on her small hand. "She's right outside." He wasn't in chains because there really was no point; what could Iann do to these people? He couldn't hurt them, even if he tried. One punch and he'd be out like a light. Bellamy on the other hand, could do damage, and a considerable amount. "I'm not in chains because I'm not you," Iann said, but he turned an ugly red at Bellamy's implication. "What do you want me to do? Just ask her to let you go? Like it's as simple as that?" Iann asked, frowning. He turned to the door. "Hey! Penny! Let us go!" He was greeted with silence, and then he just looked back at Bellamy. "Yell at me all you want, but that's not going to help anything."

Bella frowned at him now with an actual sternness as he sarcastically responded to her questions. It wasn't like she knew more than he did. It wasn't like she was meant to understand, especially in relation to his strength. It was a constant reminder she needed to place in her own head that Iann was not nearly as threatening as she was because in her mind he was entirely formidable. "And what will?" she responded, now actually yelling, shaking her arms vigorously as she sat their confined to her chair. It bred an anxiety in her that she loathed, the same anxiety that she had being trapped in that glass cell, the same anxiety she had felt in that cage in the basement of the vampire twins green house, the same anxiety that had risen when she realised she had invited a demon into her home and his intentions for her were not as he had claimed, and most obviously the anxiety that had first been gifted to her knowing she had been a caged bird all along with Valentin and had not known it. "Let me go!" she hollered loudly as her body shook violently in the chair. "Let me go! Let me go! Let me go!" she screamed, over and over as her hair thrashed about her face and she cut her arms on the metal, healing instantly. She probably screamed those words twenty times before her wet eyes shut and she leaned back in the chair, unable to move for desire to thrash was all she had.

"Patien--" Iann was about to answer her question, but then Bellamy started to scream. Over and over, she screamed and raged through her entire small body, as she once more started to destroy herself, and her body wouldn't let her. Iann closed his mouth and watched her, unable to stop her. Iann was filled with sadness, but his expression remained neutral, not angry or sad or anything. There was, after all, nothing he could do while Bellamy was like this. There was nothing anyone could do but witness her rage and anger.

Patience had always been lacking in the little vampire, something she had to learn and practice over time. But that behaviour came with the safety of her home, the safety of her companions and her work. Bellamy did not want this, she did not want to be here and slowly began to sob as she rested there. It was wrong, she needed to be proactive, put her feelings away and thing of what to do if he had not already formulated something but she could not. With all she had done for the past three days, starved herself, been asked questions without care to inform her of what was going on, then to see him there, trapped with her and remaining trapped still. It was more than she had prepared for and it ached inside of her to think she could want none of this and still find herself stuck being the monster, a monster that needed to be changed. "I want to go home," she cried, tears falling from her eyes and making her short lashes appear darker. "I just want to go home," she begged, eyes still closed and tears still falling from them. For all Anton had said, and for all the growing up she believed she had done, it was true that Bella was still a spoiled child. Why would she not be? Bellamy was still a twenty-four year old girl who ached inside regularly, put into this she felt wronged, like her efforts were meaningless. "What do I do?" she asked.

Of course Iann wanted to try and think of a way to escape and get back home, but he was under considerable stress as well. Definitely not as much or no where near Bellamy's which was why so much of Iann's attention and concentration was currently focused on her. Every thing that happened to her, all of her screaming and her threats and her injuries and all her suffering, that was what filled Iann's brain above everything else. He couldn't think about getting out, until he knew that Bellamy was going to be okay enough to get out at all. So far, she hadn't been. So far she'd been too starved and too enraged and too destroyed and now far too distraught for Iann to think about anything else but trying to attend to her. When he was allowed to, anyway. So when Bellamy asked 'what do I do?' Iann sighed, and rubbed his fingers on his brow. "I don't know. I just....I need some time to think. They won't un-restrain you unless they're sure you won't kill them. There's no way I can free you and you can't free yourself. They want me to convince you to join them, for their...I don't know. Some sort of fight to...save the world or something," Iann said with a sigh. "Or at least fight alongside them. I told them that they pretty much went about it the exact wrong way." Literally the completely wrong way. It wasn't as if Bellamy was averse to helping others, but Bellamy always did things her way: her ideas, her decisions on how to help others, her benevolence delivered in her way. She wasn't a vigilante seeking justice. She was a businesswoman who wanted to provide small credit loans to cottage industries. "I told Penny - just because you have this metuo sanguis, doesn't mean you want to use it to...fight evil across the country or whatever. That's never been your sort of calling." Iann sighed. "They're not bad, they're just stupid."

Leaning her head back she listened to him quietly. It didn't upset her he did not have a plan, she did not have a plan, and usually, when awful things happened they had far longer to formulate something. Anaxis had been in Ephram for weeks, the metuo sanguis had grown and taken hold of her over a month. They had only come to even realise the other was there mere hours ago, and that was a kind estimate based on her progressed healing. "So I need to stop screaming...," she rolled off, as he said they would not remove her restraints unless they believed her to be safe. Bella wasn't sure at this point what would convince them of that, what would make them believe that she was safe. Especially as she had said such...ferocious words to the one who had grabbed her and held her in the cage. "One doesn't rule out the other," she said from experience. Bellamy's ignorance had fed her awful behaviour, their ignorance was clearly feeding their own. "One thing is for sure, I can't do anything, whatever they've got me in is going to hold me," she said, looking down at the bars. "Perhaps we offer them a trade. They don't really need me, they've seen I'm not exactly a fighter, they just need to know how to use my blood." She didn't really like the idea, but she also knew a bit more about her blood than they did and while the black blood they had taken from her was still likely in the vial it had been collected in it would not remain that way for long. "I'll help them make a weapon that lasts until we're back in town, block those arseholes from breaching the barrier again. Unless...you think I should help them?" she asked, for clarity rather than judgement. He said they'd gone about this the wrong way, said it wasn't her, and he was right but so were they, if Iann told her to do this then, while she might protest, she probably would.

"That's the thing - they're all supernaturals, except for Penny, as far as I can tell. So the Soapberry barrier wouldn't block them - they're free to come and go as they please. Probably how they were able to learn so much about you...about us." Only Hunters and humans-not-in-the-know were blocked from entering Soapberry, although Iann had seen some loopholes. Fawn's denial for instance, and Grace being an ex-Hunter. Regardless, Penny's group were not blocked from the Soapberry barrier. Which meant even if Iann and Bellamy didescape, it wouldn't be difficult to come after Bellamy again. And again, and again. There had to be some way to convince them or trade, as Bellamy had suggested. "No - there's no way we're using your metuo sanguis as a weapon. That's - no..." Iann shook his head vehemently. "The only thing keeping that illness safe and sound is you and your willpower." Whatever they'd taken from her, Iann highly doubted they'd be able to do anything with it. It was simply too powerful, even for Penny's group. Bellamy was right as well about her restraints - after the threats she'd described in loving graphic detail, there was no way in hell they'd trust her. "Alright...alright. Just..." Iann sat back and thought for a few minutes, looking at Bellamy, then the CCTV, then the door, then back to Bellamy. He glanced at hte door again, knowing Penny was out there. "Bellamy..." Iann said suddenly, his eyes bright, an expression that could only mean that Iann was coming up with a plan - but it was hinging on Bellamy. So he had to ask. "Would you like to meet my ex-wife? You won't...cuss her out or anything, will you? I want...I want you two to meet." If Bellamy could talk to Penny - if Penny could see that Bellamy was just a little girl despite her vampirism and metuo sanguis - what if? Iann knew the Penny he knew was a kind soul underneath all of her bravado and machoness. She could kick a guy in the balls and then carefully collect a spider and take it outside. If she could take pity on Bellamy...maybe they had a chance.

The funny thing was, despite her aching self that wanted to be free a smile came upon her face at the suggestion of meeting his ex-wife. It easily pushed out the knowledge that they would come after them, it pushed out the note that Bella keeping her knowledge to herself was the best way for it to not fall into the wrong hands, and it pushed out the thought they had no freaking plan. "Of course not," she let out, eager as ever. In her mind she could focus on the wonderful part of this that meant, like going to Portland, she was seeing more of Iann. Focusing on that made everything seem easier - even when it was not. "Do you think it could help?" she asked, leaning forward in her chair, blonde hair draping around her wet face.

“Maybe..." Iann said, coming closer to Bellamy again and fussing with her hair and face, trying to get her to look more neat and tidied up. He was like a fusspot Aunt who wanted to keep up appearances. Iann leaned in closer to Bellamy. "If we can talk to her, maybe get her to help us...then we might have a chance, hm? Our only chance..." Iann added, giving Bellamy a look. "So be nice. She's very rough around the edges - just remember if she gets all insulty, that's just her way, hm?" Iann backed away from Bellamy, figuring she was as nice-looking as she ever was going to look, while strapped down and immobilized. Iann knocked on the door. "Penny? We're ready to talk now." After a couple minutes, the door slid open, and Penny came in, her handgun lowered but securely held in both hands as she slowly came in. Her eyes were pinned to Bellamy, taking in everything about her, wary that Bellamy and Iann were planning to attack her. They were planning something alright, but it wasn't any sort of physical attack.

With Bella's experience of having Miles meet Alina she was somewhat nervous, the playing with her appearance and the instance that this was their only chance to escape making her more so. Bella felt she was awful with first meeting people. It was easier when she didn't care, clearly she cared now. She needed to care now, to not think on how easy it would be to begin insulting the woman back were she to make comments about her. So when Iann left she took a few breaths, counting them as she had been taught by Bek, a simple and calming act. Only when Penny and Iann returned did she open her eyes, taking in the woman who held a gun in her hands. In the back of her head she knew she'd have usually rolled her eyes, Bellamy found guns, in the presence of supernaturals to be mostly for show, a way for a human to feel strong when they were weak. Instead she just sniffled, wriggling her nose a little and taking in the woman's scent, but mostly just getting the scent of the gunpower in her bullets that clearly had been affected by something to make them work on Bella. Nervous still she wriggled her shoulders against the back of the chair, appearing to pull away from her, eyes moving to Iann's with pursed and uncomfortable lips. She was...pretty but it was hard to focus on anything but her weapon.

Penny was wary. The first thing she did when she stepped into the room and assessed Bellamy, was glance up at the camera. It seemed in tact, which meant it was working and wasn't tampered with. Iann, she nudged ahead of her, not wanting him to be behind her. And then, she looked at the girl . Really looked at her, instead of from behind a mask or on the screen of some camera monitor. She watched as Iann went around to the girl and sat back on his stool and held the girl's hand. Penny looked down at the restraints, but they seemed to be holding her quite securely. The girl's looked normal - well, as normal as a strapped down girl could look, but sadly in her work and travels Penny had seen far, far worse. So she wasn't too phased, especially considering Bellamy was healing up so fast. "So what is this," Penny finally grunted, giving Iann a cursory glance. "You bring me in here and then she jumps me and...what? Rips my face off and feeds me my eyeballs and tears off my tits and eats me out?"

Iann sighed (a trait he was doing more often these days, a trait he'd picked up from Tuah) and he looked down at Bellamy, petting her hair down before returning his hand to hold hers. "She's restrained, even she can't break out of them. Whatever you guys have set-up here, it's really fucking fool-proof." Of course it was; this wasn't humans or even Hunters dealing with them. Where oversight was always a possibility when it came to supernatural restraint. This was supernaturals restraining other supernaturals, and being good at it. "She does need to feed on someone alive though. I'm not volunteering you--" Iann quickly added in a slightly annoyed tone (he couldn't help it. When Penny rolled her eyes like that, his reaction came instinctively, dredged from their past), "- god, I'm just saying. Bellamy - this - this is my ex-wife, Penny. And Penny, this is Bellamy, my, ahhh, my friend."

Penny nodded evenly at Bellamy. "I heard him," she said, talking directly to Bellamy now. "He calls you mija."

Bella wanted to point out that she also had cuffs made that vampires could not get out of, it wasn't hard to do that but Iann had said be nice and it wasn't like everything else in this place would have been easy to come by. If not for what she had shifted into, for them, she'd never have been able to crack the glass as she had. So instead she just, lace her fingers with his and watched as Iann immediately began to step on himself. Perhaps it was okay for him to be this way because being any other way would be false? When she was the one being spoken to Bellamy looked back into Penny's eyes and nodded, slowly before flicking them back to Iann and smiling. "Yeah, I mean, but he's not wrong...we're friends. It's just he looks out for me," Bellamy insisted. Even now he was looking out for her, surely he could have got himself out of there with Penny working there and left her behind if he wanted but as she knew she wouldn't leave him behind, she knew he would not leave her - well least not without a plan in place. "Did you know Iann when he was a teenager?" she asked, a little curve to the corner of her mouth, it didn't seem rude so she figured she could push here and there. Besides, if Iann wanted her to see a real girl wouldn't something so trivial be important to a real girl the way it was to Bella?

Of course Iann's relationship was much, much different to Penny than Bellamy's was to Penny. For one, Iann and Penny had a history of friendship, love, strife, estrangement. Maybe Bellamy didn't understand the context of how a history together tended to make people interact differently, to strangers meeting for the first time. Iann and Penny had familiarity, even after nearly 20 years apart. They had memories together. Their first impressions of each other were created when they were both teenagers. On the other hand, this was both Bellamy's and Penny's first impression of each other. Did it make sense therefore for Bellamy to talk as familiarly with Penny as Iann did? Not really. And as the two women began to talk, Iann watched Penny's face carefully, trying to read her microexpressions. She was doing a good job of that military-neutral-face, the one that looked dulled-out, semi-hostile, but nonetheless listening to what Bellamy had to say.

Penny looked doubtful. "Iann looks out for you," she repeated flatly, clearly not really believing it. She gave a bitter half-smile. "I'd ask if he was fucking you, but..." Penny glanced over at Iann. "I think we all know he's never been good at that sort of thing." It was hardly an insult, because Iann looked back at Penny and gave her a smile back, and a half-hearted shrug of 'well, can't argue with you there'. Satisfied, Penny looked back at Bellamy. Bellamy's question did throw Penny off, and she blinked rapidly, shifting from one foot to the other as the question brought back a lot of memories. Not the bad memories, either. "I - yeah. He was... we were best friends. Did he ever tell you that?" Penny asked, looking back at Iann for a brief moment. "I taught him a lot of shit, and man...he soaked it up like a sponge. Remember - I asked you if you had any friends before me, because you were like a fucking puppy."

Iann blinked, like the memory just popped into his own head and took him by surprise. "I remember. I said no. I wasn't going to lie. You were my first friend...first friend my age, I mean."

Penny nodded, but then frowned when she realized she was getting nostalgic. Like any typical human with a gun, she half-raised it, as if trying to reassert her control over this situation. "Stop smiling like that, it gives me the creeps," Penny said to Bellamy. "You look like one of those weird porcelain dolls in those horror movies. The ones that are always smiling, until they leap at you and tear your head from your neck." Penny rolled her shoulders, in that way people did when they were trying to work out some muscle kinks. "So Bellamy. What do you think about, you know. Joining up? Iann said you wouldn't but we all agree - your ability, the things you can do, it's amazing. Anton pushed you hard and...well, I'll apologize for him. We didn't realize that maybe you needed a..." She glanced at Iann, then back at Bellamy. "...a kinder and gentler touch. Your rap sheet made you out to be a real badass motherfucker, huh?"

The notion of him having sex with her made Bellamy pull her lips back, it wasn't like Iann was ugly but...no. No. "Maybe," Bellamy answered, probably too honestly for what they were attempting to accomplish. "I sort of wasn't a great person to be around when we first met. Most everything he told me up until about a year ago sort of...went over my head," she admitted, solemn in her tone. Bella did feel badly, she had wanted the two of them to care about one another but a lot of the time it was mostly just her wanting him to care and to merely say that she was. Things had certainly changed since then but still, it didn't mean she liked saying she'd treated him so badly.

Yet the two of them fell into conversation with one another and Bellamy mostly just watched. It was odd, to see Iann with anyone let alone someone from his past. In her mind when she was with Iann it was just them. Even instances where Tuah and his second wife had been around it was sort of peripheral to her, perhaps because Tuah was so shy and perhaps because his deceased ex had worked so very much. They just fell into this grove of speaking to one another that was understandable but definitely made Bella feel like she sort of needed to leave. If they'd been at a party together she would have backed away from the conversation, let them fall into their words with one another. As it was she obviously was not going anywhere and when attention was returned to her she just gave a half smile.

"Amazing is...," Bellamy wanted to say 'a fucked up way to describe it but instead looked down at her hands and let out a harsh breath. "Subjective." Not a lie. It was subjective, lots of people thought it was amazing but lots of people thought a lot of awful shit. Hearing the name of the person that had hurt her she decided against commenting since she still wanted to murder him, and would not let the chance go were it to come up. Honestly, she wasn't sure she'd be able to let it go even if they left this place. "I can't-I really can't. It isn't about wanting to or not wanting to even. What you would be asking of me would be to use that constantly. The edelweiss works because I don't use what I can, it works because I work at things, eventually that stuff doesn't work, there is too much of the black blood in me that removing as much as the edelweiss can isn't enough, then I'd be the bad guy and I-I-I don't want to be put down like I rabid dog. I reacted like that because I am done being put in cages by people who think what I am is their blessing, it's my curse and I'm ten times more than what that is. I just - I just haven't go there yet. I can't risk anyone else and I can't risk damning myself more by saying using it will help people, perhaps, for a moment, but that moment of help would not equal the damage I could end up doing. You saw a second of what I can be and three men lost themselves, one died and removing the edelweiss doesn't remove the memories. Iann can attest to that."

"Well shit," Penny breathed out finally, after listening to Bellamy's extraordinarily reasonable explanation. Penny released her gun from one hand as well, keeping it in the other and just letting it hang at her side. She turned from Bellamy and Iann and paced into the corner, smacking the on the safety on her weapon and she muttered to herself and sucked her teeth. She didn't holster it yet, but perhaps, Iann believed, that was for the sake of whomever was watching through the CCTV. "You were going to be our Hulk!" she said with a mirthless smile at Bellamy, as she rubbed at her eyes with her free hand. "Fuck. Fuck! So this was all just a huge fucking waste of time and resources, fucking fantastic," Penny ranted, in a way that was all too familiar with the way that Iann could sometimes rant. Like she had anger in her, but it wasn't directed at any one person in particular, and like she just needed to get it out. "I told Anton this was a mistake. And when I saw you -" She motioned with her chin towards Iann, "I knew it was an even bigger mistake. Honestly I was kind of hoping you'd sell her to us..." she snorted at Iann, but then just shook her head, massaging her brow with her fingers. "Something....something big is coming is all. Something big and fucked up and we were on some desperate goal to save the world..." She gave Iann a glare of 'don't you start', because she knew Iann hated her sense of heroism and sacrifice. It drove Iann nuts, her sense of righteousness. "Anyway. It doesn't matter now. If you can't come with us, then we - we should keep moving, maybe find someone else to be our Hulk. You're special, but there are lots of special people in the world huh?" Penny said to Bellamy. She took a step closer, back to the CCTV camera and also blocking Bellamy's face from the CCTV as well. "I promised Iann I'd help you guys go back to Soapberry, but the others won't be as convinced as me. The group's split, between Anton's way and my way. So...hold tight. You're both gonna get put back into the glass cage - I'll convince 'em to get you in a cage together, and then tonight I'll...I'll come get your guys. Don't do anything stupid before that." Penny looked at Iann and then back at Bellamy. "Make sure Papa here doesn't do anything stupid."

Iann shut his eyes for a moment, then opened them to look down at Bellamy. He held Bellamy's hand, hoping that the little vampire could trust Penny. Did Iann trust Penny? He wasn't even sure at this point; but he really wanted to. Because so far, their options were slim to nil of getting out of here alive.

"Hulk is one of the better Avengers," she conceded though she was not one for superhero movies and only knew the names of like three of the members of the team. Yet she silenced as the woman before her began to rant, it didn't mean anything to Bella who did not understand guns that the woman had switched to holding it in her opposing hand and so she still felt unsettled, wondering perhaps if the woman would shoot her because she was surely of no use. Big picture killing one person never tended to matter to corporate types of collectives. Hell, didn't like hundreds of people die in those Avenger movies just for being bystanders? Besides, she didn't like the implication Iann would or could sell her and immediately had to resist the urge to tell her off, even if it wasn't a dig at Iann's home life like it sounded it was certainly implying that people could be bought and sold. Ideas Valentin had.

In the end Bellamy did not trust the woman. She didn't really like her particularly either. The way she spoke felt like the way a lot of old vampires spoke around Bella, like their big ideas were far more important than little ideas and little actions. Bellamy was not the type of person who thought what someone did only mattered if it was large scale, little things helped and history showed that. Acting like this was some Hollywood blockbuster only made her seem very stunted to Bellamy - hypocritical really. "Okay," she said simply, squeezing Iann's hand and looking at him hopefully. Once they were far enough away from the building Bellamy knew Iann would know enough to hide them, so she just needed hope to get out of the building, everything beyond that he could hide them from and she could protect them from. Yes, yes, if they made it that far they'd be fine.

Penny didn't look like she trusted either of them very much either, but there was little choice she had on her side. She gave Iann a look once more, and then with a curt nod, Penny left. After about fifteen minutes, five other soldiers came into the room. One removed Iann first and then four of them took Bellamy, keeping her restrained. They threw her into the glass cage where Iann was already sitting. It was the cage Iann was in; the bruiser who Bellamy had killed was still laying dead and bloodied in her cage.

Once the solderis removed Bellamy's restraints, they left and Iann came over to Bellamy. "Are you okay?"

Bella didn't resist those who had grabbed her, even though she didn't like being held that way. It made her smile that she had four men holding her while Iann only had one, surely he warranted at least two. Still she walked steadily, only flinching when she was literally throw into Iann's glass cage. Perhaps Penny had been able to convince them that putting her in where she had been would be bad because of the body. "You're ex is...not like you," she answered because actually thinking about whether or not she was okay would fucking suck.

Putting his arm around Bellamy, he smiled and cuddled her close to him. They probably had a few hours (they took away Iann's watch so he had no concept of time down here) so for now all Iann figured they could do was sit around and wait. "Oh yeah? You mean because she's a fighter and I'm not?"

Bella curled up into him easily, cuffs between her hands that she did not completely understand. If she shifted she could remove them after all. She smirked a little, she considered Iann a fighter, when necessary anyway which was the only reasonable sort of time to fight for most humans. "No, because she's talking about these big picture impersonal things. I know you say you're impersonal, least you did about getting close to the people hiring you for your services, but they're personal to someone, the person you're helping." Her cuffed hands rested on his lap and her knees curled. "I mean, it was sort of clear in how they did everything, I don't mean the kidnapping but the information. They knew all this detailed stuff about what I am but in working out our connection they thought you could convince me, they thought I called you something I don't, it's like all that personal stuff was...irrelevant."

"Penny was always a 'change the world' kinda person," Iann said. He didn't really consider it bad, he didn't think in such black and white as Bellamy did. Just because he did things one way and Penny did things another way didn't make either of them right, or wrong. They just were. And they were also incompatible, at least as husband and wife. "I guess both my wives were, come to think of it. Grand ideas and grand ideals...." Iann shook his head. "God...I wish I had a chance to talk to her more. Find out what she saw when she went overseas. She was in the army, hm? Marines....something like that. Something that took her to Afghanistan and Iraq and into Central America too, apparently." Penny had told Iann all this while she was showing him around the facilities.

Bella didn't think it was wrong, it just seem...hurtful on a smaller scale and she just didn't like it. It wasn't Bella and so it wasn't something she could really understand as casually as Iann could. Honestly Bella had never got that picture of his deceased wife, in fact Bellamy had seen her as someone on an even smaller scale than Iann. To Bella she appeared content to run a store, and live above it with him, helping anyone that might need it. Perhaps grand ideals but not grand ideas, still Bellamy had never come to know her that well. It was difficult and she had found the woman to be a very private person, at least with her. "Perhaps, if things go as planned, you can find a way to speak with her," she reasoned of Penny, not going to argue with him about her perceptions of his ex, especially since they were clouded by her mentality at the time she knew her. "Why did you two break up?" she asked. "And not stay in contact?"

Just because Iann could see more than one viewpoint, didn't mean he wouldn't criticize it. In his opinion, the only way he could criticize anything was to understand it first. And he welcomed his methodologies being critiqued as well. But Penny and him clashed because they'd known each other so well, that they ended up knowing how to push each other's buttons just like that and get under each other's skin. "We - ah - we didn't see eye to eye. And the more I got obsessed with supernatural and occult stuff, the more I...well. I ignored her. I sold her stuff for money to buy things I thought were valuable, I couldn't hold a job or pay our rent. I wasn't very good at keeping house either," Iann said with a rueful smile. "She was trying to balance work, school, and a 'lazy' husband. I was angry at her for not believing me and understanding how important my research was. That it meant more than all that stupid boring normal shit like 9-5 jobs and washing dishes. The more she wanted me to spend time with her and talk with her and go out and do all the fun stuff we used to do, the more I pushed her away because it all just...god it had seemed so pointless. I was on the verge of realizing werewolves and vampires and witches were real. Who had time to watch late night TV with your wife?" Iann lay his head back against the wall. "She wanted to know more about my family. I never told her about the brothel, hm? I was too ashamed of...of my Ma. I thought Penny would judge them. And her family haaaaated me, I was such a fucking deadbeat who cared more about fairy tales then about their precious little mija."

Bella didn't think it was wrong, it just seem...hurtful on a smaller scale and she just didn't like it. It wasn't Bella and so it wasn't something she could really understand as casually as Iann could. Honestly Bella had never got that picture of his deceased wife, in fact Bellamy had seen her as someone on an even smaller scale than Iann. To Bella she appeared content to run a store, and live above it with him, helping anyone that might need it. Perhaps grand ideals but not grand ideas, still Bellamy had never come to know her that well. It was difficult and she had found the woman to be a very private person, at least with her. "Perhaps, if things go as planned, you can find a way to speak with her," she reasoned of Penny, not going to argue with him about her perceptions of his ex, especially since they were clouded by her mentality at the time she knew her. "Why did you two break up?" she asked. "And not stay in contact?"

Just because Iann could see more than one viewpoint, didn't mean he wouldn't criticize it. In his opinion, the only way he could criticize anything was to understand it first. And he welcomed his methodologies being critiqued as well. But Penny and him clashed because they'd known each other so well, that they ended up knowing how to push each other's buttons just like that and get under each other's skin. "We - ah - we didn't see eye to eye. And the more I got obsessed with supernatural and occult stuff, the more I...well. I ignored her. I sold her stuff for money to buy things I thought were valuable, I couldn't hold a job or pay our rent. I wasn't very good at keeping house either," Iann said with a rueful smile. "She was trying to balance work, school, and a 'lazy' husband. I was angry at her for not believing me and understanding how important my research was. That it meant more than all that stupid boring normal shit like 9-5 jobs and washing dishes. The more she wanted me to spend time with her and talk with her and go out and do all the fun stuff we used to do, the more I pushed her away because it all just...god it had seemed so pointless. I was on the verge of realizing werewolves and vampires and witches were real. Who had time to watch late night TV with your wife?" Iann lay his head back against the wall. "She wanted to know more about my family. I never told her about the brothel, hm? I was too ashamed of...of my Ma. I thought Penny would judge them. And her family haaaaated me, I was such a fucking deadbeat who cared more about fairy tales then about their precious little mija."

Things like this Bellamy could understand a bit more fully. Relationships were vastly complex as she had come to feel. There was no part of her that imagined one particular party was at fault for them no longer being in a relationship. Besides, she felt when it came to such things she could easily support a friend with acknowledging that they were not the only person scorned in such an instance. Iann did not sound a particularly good husband from the way he described things but she also imagined that he was purposefully putting a lot of the blame onto himself. "You certainly sound a lot younger than you are now," she said because that was mostly what she was getting from Iann. Bits and pieces of him that were not as they were now. He had his business with Freddie, he half-watched her ridiculous reality television shows and vampire movies while he did his own work, he had told her about his mother and her business a long time ago. He might have been untraditional in the way he lived his life but she did not ever see him as a deadbeat. "It's not shocking to think they would think that way," Bellamy said of her family. "And it's not surprising you're divorced but perhaps she would enjoy at least knowing who you are now. To think that perhaps leaving one another had made you each better. I like to imagine Isaiah is happier now than when we each expected such different things of one another. Besides, perhaps she'll have some interesting things for you to find out about, if I'm not the only special person they have then there must be a dozens of interesting sub-species," she reasoned, rubbing her head on his chest.

"I was a lot younger," Iann said with a smile. "It was almost twenty years ago, hm? You? You would've been...jesus. You would've been four, five years old? Think how much you've changed in the little time that I've met you. Of course things were a lot different then. I was an asshole, for one. I never - I never hurt her, not physically, but. I know I said some pretty terrible things." Penny said terrible things back to him of course, but Iann could excuse that now that he was older. Back then, he'd felt sorry for himself, felt that Penny had mistreated him and bullied him and didn't care about him. It took a long time for Iann to realize where he'd gone wrong, even if he wasn't sure he could forgive Penny. Or if there was even anything to forgive. It was the same as his mother - things had been so complicated between them, and Iann's worst time happened around the time that Iann had met Penny. Penny was innocent to it all, but Iann had used her as a weapon to push back and isolate himself from Mala and the brothel, he used Penny's bright, happy, wonderful normalness against the dysfunction of his mother. And then, when he got married, he turned on Penny and blamed her for being so fucking boring and normal. How could he explain any of this to Bellamy? He tried, telling her as much as he could. "I don't think she really needs to care about how I am now. I don't want to show her anything, she - after everything I did and didn't do, I doubt the last thing Penny should give a damn about, is what a great, stand-up guy I am. The damage has already been done, mija. No one likes knowing they were the stepping stone who had to put up with my awful shit, to my personal growth. That wasn't her job, to improve me."

"Four," Bella answered. It was odd to imagine that. Imagine Iann was so much her senior. He really could pass for her father, perhaps not based on their appearance but if based on age alone. It would not be so completely easy to understand exactly what Iann felt and what Iann perceived. "It's not really about that though," she continued to reason. "It's not about thinking she was some kind of personal growth for you, I'm saying personally if one of my exes came into my life again I'd like to know the choices I had made hadn't only benefitted myself, that person mattered to me, them being happy matters to me. If you want to talk to her I just don't see why you shouldn't at least give her the option because there is every chance she wants to, for her own reasons, she loved you, at the very least."

Iann was quiet for a long time, and then eventually he just curled his hand around Bellamy's head and kissed her forehead. It wasn't like he just wanted to dismiss what Bellamy said to him, but Iann just didn't know how to respond. He was slow when it came to emotional things, especially things that had been this deeply locked away, and now the doors were burst open. So he had nothing to say but he didn't know how to say it. "Thank you, Belle," Iann said instead, hoping she'd understand that he'd listened he just needing time (time that he didn't have).

Bella rested against him, allowing him to merely take in her words and think on them if he decided. Pushing him to speak on things now was no longer her first way of getting to know him where it had once been an easy go to. "You could sleep, if you like," she told him, wondering if he had done much of it over the past few days. Bellamy hadn't but she didn't need to sleep, she slept out of habit and out of comfort. If they were to escape this place, especially running beyond where Penny could assist them then he'd need to rest. "I'll wake you if anything happens or when Penny arrives," she whispered.

When Bellamy suggested sleep, Iann didn't realize how sleep deprived he was until he heard her ask. He nodded and curled against her and closed his eyes - and true to Iann, the moment he did, he fell fast asleep. And snored rather loudly against Bellamy's neck.

It did not bother Bellamy that he snored, in a way it was a comfort. It meant that he was alive and there with her. Not exactly the most comforting, she would have preferred for him that he be home, but for her having him there helped her stay calm. Even if she had not behaved as easily as she did back home she decided it was not a total fuck up on her part, she hadn't hurt him, she hadn't killed anyone that wasn't trying to kill her and she remained in control of her own mind.

Unsure of how long it had been, time never passing for Bellamy at the same speed in her head, when she heard the door open, she shook Iann quickly, keeping her golden eyes on the door to see who had come in.

It was hours later when the power went out, and the emergency lights blinked on, bright and green and flickering. Almost immediately, Penny came into the room, followed by five other black-op members. She looked grim and baleful at Bellamy and Iann, but opened the glass door and reached out for Bellamy so she could undo the vampire's restraints. "I'll take you as far as the exit but from there you're on your own," she stated matter-of-factly as her friends guarded the entrance. "We're in Ohio, out in the middle of nowhere but there's a gas station two miles from here. I'm sure you'll know how to find your way home from there," Penny said to Iann, implying that it could steal a car. "C'mon, follow me."

[ass-sass-sin-archived-blog]

Talon:  Is a very capable assassin who’s been doing this since he was 15 and is a bit stab happy.

Also Talon:  Is currently hanging out in chatzy in a teddy bear onsie.

[dramatical-gatsbytalia]

You know that viral video going around? Yeah, you know the one. Anyway, did a USUK rp with an Alfred I regularly rp with. A bit of background; they have been together for ages (we recently rped how they got together and it was shortly after the abdication of King Edward VIII where they were in a world meeting and there was all of this tension and Arthur finally came out with it that it was because he was finally accepting his feelings for Alfred) so they’re now planning their wedding and have two beautiful children together. Katherine is about five and is their little princess and Theodore (Theo for short) isn’t quite a year old or maybe just over a year old. Anyway last week we tweaked what happened in this beautiful viral video and this was what we got. I usually don’t post rps I’ve had with this Alfred (as that would literally be all I ever posted because we’ve been rp buddies for a good couple years now) but I thought this one was extra cute and I would maybe want to get it commissioned as a comic one day. Here it is below, so enjoy!

A warning that we do use mpreg, and while this isn’t one where it is explicitly detailed it does mention it. So if you’re not comfortable reading it with that mindset I apologise.

Timestamps are from Chatzy.

Arthur James Kirkland Arthur straightened his tie as he waited for his Skype call to go through. Parliament was going to go over a few new things that had come up from this whole Brexit mess, and Arthur had to sit through them and offer his opinions and suggestions. Lovely how a bunch of men, all of whom Arthur would outlive, were deciding on his future. It was the cherry on top of his rather gloomy and moody sundae. Either way, he had left the door open instead of locking it since he figured it wouldn't be long, and once the meeting had started and he was live he could feel the tension among the men across the screen. Well...this was going to be a rather awkward and frustrating meeting, he could tell. 0:22

₊✩Alfred F. Jones~America✩‧₊ While Arthur was in his meeting, Alfred was busy dealing with the kids, keeping them occupied until Arthur was finished. He hadn't realize how long its been since he actually listened on one of Arthur's meetings. He had just finished feeding both of them and had put on Blue's Clues on the television, at a minimum volume for them with their toys out in the living room. He was keeping a really close eye on Theo since he was beginning to try and crawl around which he was definitely excited about. Theo was deeply entranced on the show on at the moment, playing with a teddy bear in his lap. Maybe he could quickly get himself soda, he'd only look away for a moment, the kids seemed alright. He smiled and made his way into the kitchen, humming lowly as he got the soda bottle and glass out. 0:26

Arthur James Kirkland The meeting was a bit boring, really, and while it was important he thought the the constant disagreement and bickering might just drive him insane. Luckily on the outside Katherine and Theo found themselves quite entertained, especially since Blues Clues was their favourite show. Katherine decided she wanted to give being Steve a try. Of course, Theo would be her trust sidekick, Blue. So, with all of her strength (which was surprisingly a lot, perhaps it came from being America's child) she put Theo into his walker, calling to Alfred, "Daddy, I'm going to put Theo in his walker and we're going to hunt for clues." The baby boy happily bouncing in place as he tried to move his legs so he could become mobile. 0:31

₊✩Alfred F. Jones~America✩‧₊ Alfred glanced into the living room and raised a brow, but only smiled. They wouldn't do anything rash at all. "Mmm, mmm, take care of your brother, Kat." He called back out, setting the bottle back when he filled his glass up. He wasn't very much surprised she was able to put Theo into the walker. "Don't go in mommy's study right now, he's busy." He added on, taking a sip of the soda. They couldn't do much at all, so Alfred wasn't at the least worried they would be doing something wrong. 0:35

Arthur James Kirkland Of course, she was already off and didn't hear the last part. So she went about, with a strut to her, and started looking for clues, which she then scribbled down in her handy dandy notebook...okay, well, she didn't have the last one. Maybe if she went to see mummy he would give her some paper! His office door was closed, but he had left it unlocked, and she strut right into the room...oh, mummy was busy, she could get the paper herself. Arthur sort of froze when he saw Katherine come into the room, especially when some members of Parliament started to notice as they had no idea he had children, nor were they aware he was able to conceive them himself 0:39

₊✩Alfred F. Jones~America✩‧₊ Theo, of course, was trying to follow his sister the best he could, only babbling as he tried to make his way over to the door, which he successfully did. He poked himself into the room and began babbling more, trying to make his way into the room more. Alfred raised a brow as he came back into the room, noticing something strange. He couldn't hear the children anymore and as he turned, his face completely paled at seeing the children in the study. 0:42

Arthur James Kirkland As soon as Katherine had her paper she set out to draw her first clue...oh, there was a nice stapler sitting on the desk. She stood right next to the desk, and she was just tall enough that from the angle she was at they could see her face. "I am--oh Lord--" Arthur now noticed Theo was in the room and in perfect shot of the camera too, "I'm terribly sorry, okay, so we needed to figure out exactly wot these guidelines mean--" He tried to continue but he felt mortified. 0:50

₊✩Alfred F. Jones~America✩‧₊ Alfred had popped into the doorway and grabbed Theo's mobile, dragging him back outside who began to immediately cry and make a scene since he wanted to watch what Arthur was doing at the moment. Then, Alfred came back into the room, ducking a bit as he took Katherine by the hand gently to pull her out of the camera. It was even worse since he didn't know if they knew who Alfred was or what he looked like. He made the cheesiest grin ever and had an apologetic face as he took Katherine out of the room. This time, he made sure to shut the door. 0:57

Arthur James Kirkland Arthur looked absolutely shocked, especially since he had caught the cheesy grin Alfred had given the members of Parliament, who seemed to be in some sort of tizzy because who were these children, who was that man, why were they with Arthur. It meant an early end to the call in order for the remainder of the meeting to be rescheduled for another day. Arthur looked stunned, and he put his arms on the table and set his head on them...goodness, he wasn't sure what exactly this meant. Meanwhile, Katherine was unable to tell why her daddy had pulled her out of the room, but she told him anyway, "Look, daddy, I found a clue! It's mummy's stapler!" 1:02

₊✩Alfred F. Jones~America✩‧₊ "Honey... I told you not to go in mummy's room. He had a very important meeting." He sighed heavily and took the stapler from her, looking at it before setting it down. "That's nice, Kat, but mummy is gonna be upset now since you interrupted him." He picked up Theo from the mobile who was still throwing a tantrum and crying, so he decided to offer him the teddy bear which immediately calmed him down as he began to hug it. He was hiccuping and sniffling, burying his head in Alfred's neck. "What am I gonna do with you two little troublemakers?" He chuckled softly, knowing Arthur was not going to be happy. 1:11

Arthur James Kirkland Well, at first he wasn't, but it wasn't anger he felt. No, he felt...mortified. He needed to rewatch the recording he had made via a webcam programme in order to see just how bad it was because the initial embarrassment had stunned him into silence. But as he fast-forwarded it and then watched he ended up smiling. Chuckling even when he saw Katherine's little fancy walk. And then Theo followed her...he couldn't stifle his laughter fast enough, and it came out a bit louder, especially when Alfred nearly slid into the room to apprehend the two. And that grin...oh good Lord. He would have some explaining to do, but it was quite comical. 1:15

₊✩Alfred F. Jones~America✩‧₊ Alfred couldn't help but take this all as something comical and not something to be too angry about. He swore that they both planned this, but they were just curious little kids and he couldn't be mad at Kat or Theo at all. He gave them both kisses on top of their heads and smiled, "Alright, alright, I'll make it up to you both by giving you cookies, how about that? Apple sauce for you, Theo." Theo looked at Alfred in awe and giggled as if to agree to the apple sauce and grinned, making his way into the kitchen. 1:22

Arthur James Kirkland Arthur stepped out from his office and turned off the light once he had watched it one more time. It was just...ah, it had been bad and rather perfect timing all at once. He came into the kitchen to see his children sitting near the table, Theo with applesauce and Katherine with a biscuit. Arthur tried to look angry, but he was failing miserably. "So that meeting...well, it raised a lot more questions than solved them..." 1:26

₊✩Alfred F. Jones~America✩‧₊ Alfred looked up to see Arthur and only faintly smiled, "I can see you're struggling a bit to be angry, Artie... I'm really sorry. I thought they wouldn't go in there, but kids will be kids, I guess. Your meeting didn't screw up though, right?" He asked with a tilt of his head and a bigger smile came on his face that was more apologetic than anything. 1:39

Arthur James Kirkland "Well I may be in my office longer answering quite a few questions about who these two are but...well, it did make things quite interesting," he said with a smile, leaning down to ruffle Theo's hair. Katherine looked a bit sad, "I'm sorry I came in on your meeting, mummy...but I found a clue." She showed Arthur the picture of the stapler she'd drawn and Arthur couldn't help but laugh again. "It's alright, sweetheart, mummy needed that in order to relax a bit, I think. Not to mention that's a lovely drawing." 1:44

₊✩Alfred F. Jones~America✩‧₊ Theo laughed and smiled up at Arthur as he continued working on eating the rest of his apple sauce. Alfred chuckled and sat down at the table, "Sorry, love. Can't help these troublemakers, they just wanted to be like Steve from Blues Clues." He said with a smile and brushed through his hair with his fingers. "Hey, at least we have something to keep and laugh about years later." 

Aaaaaaaaand there you have it. After that I think I said I was quite tired so I ended up going to bed. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading it; I wanted to archive it so that I could read it again late because it was just so cute.

And for those who haven’t seen the original video, you should check it out! It’s super cute and the mum who ninjas in to catch her kids should seriously get a medal.

[suitedblue-a]

TAG THIS WITH THE PEOPLE YOU ENJOY ROLEPLAYING WITH BUT WANT TO GET TO KNOW BETTER

TAGGED BY: @soldiersdate

TAGGING: @ineveryvein @sylphbones @talestobetold @antolcgias @britishnation + anyone 

— GENERAL

NAME: Tiffany

AGE: 25. [ I’m getting fucking old now ]

PREFERRED PRONOUNS: She / her

SEXUALITY: Heterosexual 

ZODIAC SIGN: Scorpio

SINGLE OR TAKEN: Single

— THREE FACTS

    1: When I met Hugh Laurie, I had everything planned out what I was going to say. What I actually said: Hi. Yeah.

    2: I’ve got an undergraduate degree in music education and a master’s degree in clarinet performance. I currently work at a law firm. lololol.

    3: I box and I curl (the winter sport)

— EXPERIENCE

HOW LONG ( MONTHS / YEARS ): 10+ years

HOW DID YOU START: MySpace with....Teddy Lupin.

PLATFORMS YOU’VE USED: MySpace, RPME, Chatzy, Tumblr

WORST EXPERIENCE: I don’t think I have a single defining experience, but the drama that comes into big communities. Jealousy, the way a certain character is played, who you ship them with, etc.

BEST EXPERIENCE: Being able to play Teddy Lupin for this long and to watch how much he’s developed over the years.

— MUSE PREFERENCES

FEMALE OR MALE: Male

ORIGINAL OR CANON: Canon, though I am proud to say I took my own liberties with Teddy’s characterizations because there was little to be known about Teddy when I first started playing him.

FAVORITE FACE: Well. Matthew Goode. 

LEAST FAVORITE FACE: I have the face in my head but I don’t remember the name. But it’s annoying. 8|

MULTI OR SINGLE: Single

— WRITING PREFERENCES

FLUFF, ANGST, OR SMUT: LOL. All.

PLOTS OR MEMES: Both.

LONG OR SHORT REPLIES: I think I tend to err on the longer side, especially when we’ve plotted. But I also err on the shorter side if I don’t know your muse that well, and I’m not sure how comfortable you’d be if I took it into a certain direction.

BEST TIME TO WRITE: Honestly? When I’m buzzed.

ARE YOU LIKE YOUR MUSE: Yeaaaaaaaaaaaah.

[fnlgleeks]

Murder Week

How things will work:

On Tuesday,  the 24th, everyone will wake up with the knife, with their targets name written on it, slipped under their door. And that’s when games begin! This can be written out in f2f, so when you get to the attack part of it all, notify the admins by either sending an ask or IM, and we will use chatzy to decide the fate of the stab - did it land, or not land? We will then send the attacker a message, letting them know if it succeeded or not.

For Murder Week, we will also be testing out something new! If someone has a knife emoji, or (open) next to their thread with someone else, that is an open invitation for an attacker with a knife with said characters name on it, to jump into the thread, and attack.

For example: If Admin T and I were threading Tedtana and we had the Knife emoji, or (Open) next, to the title of the para, that means we are inviting their attackers to jump in - if they chose too, of course. So, if Mercedes had Teddy’s knife, Jordan could use that opportunity to reblog our thread, with Mercedes ‘attacking’ Teddy. If Johanna had Santana, and saw our thread with the knife emoji or (Open) next to the title that means Olivia could reblog our thread and have Johanna ‘attack’ Santana. If the attack is successful, or not, will be decided by the admins, with chatzy, like above!

It is completely your choice to use that ‘open’ method with your threading during the week so ‘attackers’ can attack. It is not mandatory, but an option we thought people could utilize if they want!

[warofthenewage-rpg]

HERO SQUAD: TEAM BUILDING

OBJECTIVE: There’s a bell on a wall post that the New Heroes have to ring. Sounds easy, right? The only problem there is that the Original Heroes are defending the bell, and the only way to get to it is to get through them. Suddenly, it’s not so easy. While Original Heroes have already developed their team work skills together, it’s up to the New Heroes to learn the same thing in this exercise, utilizing their individual powers and fight skills. 

SETTING: A large, abandoned warehouse in an isolated area within Pansaw.

RULES: 

Powers may be used. However, for those with fire and lightning and other melee abilities, do be careful not to severely harm your opponents. Each hero has been equipped with special, lightweight body armor and gear that will prevent burning and lessen damage from lightning or fire. 

Do NOT fight to kill. Pretty self-explanatory here, don’t try and kill your friends. Fights and techniques should be used to merely incapacitate or knock down an opponent, not severely harm them or kill them. No guns or knives are allowed, but other weapons such as bo staffs, police batons, etc. may be used. 

Learn to co-ordinate attacks together. Mainly for the new heroes, but since the objective is to learn how to work as a team, this is important. It may not come naturally at first, which is why the exercise will keep going until the bell is rung. 

ORIGINAL HEROES:

Alexandra Rees-Smith

Finn Winchester

Hope Ramirez

Kelli Byrd

NEW HEROES:

Beckett Montgomery

Chase Ashford

Felicity Lockhart

Teddy King

Since this is a large group and doing threads with this on the dash could get complicated, this portion of the event will be played out via Skype or Chatzy,  depending on players’ preferences. If a player has Skype or access to it, please send your username to the main if you are not already contacts with an admin. More information can be discussed for this over Skype/Chatzy in a group chat. 

@alexandraxreessmith || @metafinnwinchester || @hoperamirez || @fire-byrd || @beckett-theguardian || @thunderbirdchase || @stxrgxzer-fel || @irlclairvoyant

[honeysmokedham]

Timing: two days after honey, we melted the demon Location: teddy's boat Feat: @honeysmokedham & @eldritchaccident Warnings: None! Summary: Nora checks on Teddy after the harrowing event of de-crystalizing them. They talk about nothing and watch a movie. Sure the crystals were a traumatizing event, but did the crystals even matter? Or was it always about the friendship made along the way.

Living on a boat was definitely less appealing than living in a crypt, but Nora could see the appeal. Being able to move your boat around wherever you wanted was probably a draw. The more Nora thought about it, the more she liked that. She could go wherever she wanted and no one could stop her, because she lived on a boat. But did she want to keep moving around? Nora had stopped walking when she found Wicked’s Rest, and then she had discovered there were roots here. Roots with people she cared about, people like Teddy. 

Nora let herself into the house boat. Hopefully it was the right one. If it was the wrong one, well, she’d been caught breaking and entering before. “Marco.” Nora yelled, in hopes the demon knew the dumb game children played. Nora listened to the accompanying polo and followed it into the boat house to a bedroom where a demon lay sprawled. “You’re not good at being a crystal, you know that right?” Nora commented, climbing into the bed next to Teddy. Nora opened up the plastic bag she brought with her, dumping the contents on the bed between them. “I brought snacks.” Because they always brought snacks when they met, so it was her turn. Because it was a nice way to ask, how are you doing, without being mushy about it.

—

The days after the crystal kaiju was quelled were kind of hazy. Drifting and dreamlike, only becoming real when someone visited. Someone like Nora. "I'm really not." Teddy agreed. They hadn't taken to the whole mineral mindset as well as many others. In part because at the beginning they thought it was just a strange quirk of demon puberty. Then the rebellious nature inside them wouldn't allow some outside force to change them. Well, any more than it was. In any case it was better now. Better cozied up in their bed. Pulling the kid in closer for a hug and ruffling her hair in a way they knew she 'hated'. 

Getting to know Nora was a lot easier in the mines. Not because of any clandestine crystal confluence, just because of time. You spend the better part of a month holed up somewhere with one or two people and you leave feeling a hell of a lot more like family. Especially when they were so instrumental in getting you to be able to leave. Teddy wouldn't ever forget that. Not in a million billion years. She shouldn't have had to save them, but she was a part of the crew who did. Hell, she'd saved them long before they needed the acid to pry off the crystals. Just having someone to be there with, someone to look out for and have them do the same. It was great. 

And they were so grateful for it. 

"What'ja bring baby bear?" They asked, curiously as they shuffled around on the bed. Making sure they would both have the best view of the 'theater' (considerably larger than the screen they had in the mines was) for whatever movie they'd decide to watch. Teddy smiled and made sure to pull the girl closer, keeping an arm wrapped around, if only so they could blow a raspberry on Nora's head. 

—

Teddy was a stream of affection, a fountain of physical touch and a waterfall of warmth. Things Nora never went out expecting to get in the world, but something she took comfort in finding. Teddy drew her in with an arm and annoyingly tossed her hair around. Nora scrunched her nose a bit, attempting a half hearted duck away. “Good crystals got to go through transformation without any bed rest.” Nora retorted, shoving a gentle elbow into their side. Nora’s own decrystal had been swift and painful. They were there, then they were gone. A story of broken hearts if ever there was one. 

“Maybe next time something tries to control your mind, you should give into it. Goes down a lot smoother like that.” Except for the self loathing felt afterwards. Those were words left unspoken. To anyone. No one got to know that about what happened in the mines. “I don’t know.” Nora answered honestly, “I stole the bag out of someone's shopping cart.” Nora never had cash. But cash would really ruin the fun of having to steal everything. Which, now that she had multiple places she knew she could go for food, was a game and not survival. “Oh, Zebra Cakes.” Nora held up the box. A few bags of chips, some beef jerky and queso dip. “I think someone was going to have a party.” Under a bag of chips Nora revealed a box of gushers, and a bottle of glue. “Glue is always a tasty choice for a snack.”

Teddy kept an arm wrapped around Nora. Physical affection wasn’t something she was good at. She was learning it. Thea had taught her to place a hand on the arm to express solidarity in sadness. Emilio had taught her about bumping shoulders to share in a joke, or a good time. Cass had taught her that a hug could contain a billion words while saying nothing at all. Now Teddy expressed a fondness in an arm wrap. It told her she was welcomed and wanted here. It felt nice. It felt warm. It felt like being a kid, when she was a child with parents who loved her for her and weren’t obsessed with remaking her in their image. It wasn’t enough to save Teddy from the glue. 

Nora knocked open the glue bottle, turning to face them. “Open up, sickies get to eat the glue first.” Nora announced, holding the glue bottle up. “Because I am nice, and it's only fair that the person who had their innards on display get to fill up first.” 

—

“Yeah well, bear shaped crystals are just better than sea beast ones maybe.” Maybe shifting was something more inherent to being a bugbear than a human turned demon. Or maybe it did hurt Nora and she was just better at hiding it. Teddy wasn’t sure. They never really were. Most of the time they assumed they just had a shit pain tolerance. (Which of course didn't make a whole lot of sense, considering how many things 'normal' people would find excruciating that Teddy saw as an annoyance at worst.) 

"Yeah but if I did that, where would the world be without my nuggets of wisdom and biting wit?" Better off, maybe. Ted had a big tendency to mess shit up when they tried to make the world see things like they did. That time with Joy and Emilio wasn't the first, certainly wouldn't be the last. Maybe it would've been better just to give in. Be a mindless beast forever. 

"Alright, these ain't terrible choices–" the demon reviewed each item as Nora pulled them out. Laughing a bit at her explanation of how she got them. "Remember what I said though, only steal from assholes." A title that Teddy had previously defined as overly entitled, rich bastards. Not that they expected Nora to go trying to take Christmas dinner away from Tiny Tim and the Cratchet family, but it felt like the kind of anecdote someone in their position should share. Wisdom nuggets and all that. 

Their soft smile only widened as Nora opened the glue, a laugh rippled through as they tried to gently push her hand away. "Oi!! Not on my bed you little gremlin!" As if that was the problem here. "Put it away, B.B. Operation: 'fix Ted's insides' comes after the movie and nap. Capiche?" There was about a fifty percent chance she'd take them up on that just for the bit. If the movie was really good Teddy might escape the night un-glued. 

"Alright, what are we watching" 

—

Nora wasn't sure if bear-shaped crystals were better than sea beast ones. Being a beast, massive and terrifying, of any kind would have been sick. The idea of being a giant kaiju that terrorized cities, well, that was an ideal she wished for more than anything. Wicked's Rest would scream from her terrorizations. Buildings would catch on fire. Honestly, it would be such a fun time. Alas, the world had nerfed her by turning her into a bear instead of a giant beast. Still monstrous, nonetheless.

A blink as she considered this. Maybe her mind was just more susceptible to being taken over. Nora decided she didn't like that idea, and didn't want to dwell on that idea. Her mind was her own. She wanted to keep it that way. "Emilio will make sure we don't stay taken over, then you can go back to dropping your nuggets of wisdom." There was a certainty in her voice because Emilio had told her from crystallization day one that he would fix it. He hadn't fixed Nora's gemming, but he had wanted to and that was enough. Plus, he'd fixed Teddy's. Despite always saying how they hate each other or whatever. Emphasis on the whatever.

"Everyone is an asshole if you judge them enough," Nora explained. Money wasn't something she understood, really. There had been a point in her life where she had access to a plastic card that she could hand to someone and get anything she wanted. Whatever was on there, and the consequences of using it, were dealt with by other people. She had never been an extravagant spender and never incurred the wrath of her accountant father. Her fathers had just assumed she knew about money. Even her job as a model was in the obscure. She knew she got paid for it, but that money was loaded into a bank account controlled by her fathers. She could be making thousands and millions, and have no clue. Then just as drastically she went to having no money. To being told a bag of deli sliced ham cost 3.40, but without 3.40 and a job, there was no quantification of if that was a lot or a little. That wasn't something you needed to learn when you could just take what you wanted. "These people were assholes because I saw them." 

Talking to Teddy was familiar in a way her real family had never been. Informal and fun, a joke slipped from their lips as quickly as their love was given. Nora loved that about Teddy. Nora made a show of slowly putting up the glue, eyes flicking between them and the glue bottle as if they might make a final last-ditch attempt. Finally, the bottle was placed to the side, securely closed. "You've been given a stay of glueification for now." Nora paused for a beat. "For now." 

Attention turned to the TV, and Nora didn't think about it. "Something bloody. Slasher horror. Blood and gore everywhere." She had an image to withhold. "Oh, that reminds me." Nora fished her phone out of her pocket, still snuggled against Teddy, she raised it up in selfie position. "Say cheese and ham." She muttered before snapping a picture. She needed it for her wall of friends, a replacement for the crystal one they had taken together. Nora needed to stop staring at her crystal self, it brought too much longing. Plus, she sent it off to Emilio, a little message about Teddy doing okay attached. 

—

“Mmm–” Teddy let out a sort of high-pitched sound of gentle protest. “So are you gonna steal from me then, BB? We both know that I am an asshole sometimes.” Soon as they said it they realized that probably wasn’t the best avenue to dissuade over-thievery. Nora was welcome to take almost anything from Teds. And she would, if she wanted. Teddy was pretty sure of that. Oh well. Maybe tonight didn’t have to be life lessons, it just had to be what it was. Cuddling up under a warm blanket, watching movies together and not giving a shit about anything outside of the boat. Just for now. 

Besides, Teddy was far too full of joy and laughter to try and parent her. Was that what they were doing? Early on the demon had realized that Nora for sure needed someone to take care of her. She was fully capable of survival. But that didn’t mean she didn’t deserve comfort. It felt like the right thing to do. Pass it on. The way Leviathan had taken them in, maybe they could do that for her. If she wanted it. A fully grown bugbear and a five year old experiment were not the same thing. But Teds never really played by a normal set of rules anyway. 

“Oh great merciful captain, I thank thee for not gluing up my insides at the moment.” The dramatic demon flailed, a hand to their head, draping themself over Nora’s shoulder. Like Ophelia in her last moments before the waters took her. Except they were exalting mercies of a mischievous bear rather than… whatever was going on with that lady. Teddy really only ever saw the paintings. Never actually got around to reading Shakespeare. 

The attention turned towards the tv, and Teddy grinned again. Nora, as per uszhe, brought up slashers and horror. Something Ted thought they might have had enough of in the past month, so in their most chipper and delighted voice they responded immediately; “How about Ratatouille?” Their hand was already on the remote, fiddling with the buttons while Nora raised her phone. 

“Ham and cheeeeeeeeese.” The biggest, doofiest smile, free hand behind the girl’s head with a peace sign poised perfectly for bunny ears. She did something with it after, maybe just saved it, maybe decorated it with one of those apps. Who knew? Teddy was too busy getting the movie ready, then opening the (edible) snack array for perfect pickin’s. 

— 

“I’m stealing Pascal.” Nora said it with a straight face, but without intent. As much as she loved the little otter with all her heart, a cold crypt was no place for the most snuggly baby to live. Besides, Pascal and Teddy were well suited. They both had the same snuggly and squirming energy. Who knew, maybe one day Teddy would turn around and go “You know Pascal isn’t actually an otter right? Pascal is a baby demon.” And while Nora didn’t think she could love Pascal more than she already did right now, she would be able to accept the information without question. 

 Nora’s micro smile tugged its way into existence over Teddy’s dramatics. Teddy was fun like that. Mischievous and witty, even while they were recovering. Nora wondered if they missed it. Teddy was the only other person she knew to talk to about it, but what they had gone through down there was so dramatically different then what Nora had gone through. Physically, she had walked away unscathed. A perfect specimen of herself. Emotionally? Mentally? Ruined. Each time she passed by a mirror she had to divert her eyes or risk the hatred that brewed inside of her rearing its ugly head. 

Wouldn’t it be easy? To sit there and ask? How they were doing, how they were handling it? But the words never made it into her throat. They died in her mind, as she struggled with how she would want to phrase it. There was nothing to phrase, she’d decided. The crystals had been a curse. Maybe their follow up was either to be cursed in the mind or the body. Teddy got the body; Nora got the mind. She let herself snuggle closer to them, an action she had learned from them, and not one she would have come by naturally. “I am merciful.” Nora agreed, just to keep the silence at bay. “You’re welcome.”

“Ratatouille?” Nora repeated, gaze turning to Teddy. “That’s not horror or bloody.” But this was Teddy’s sick bed. Besides, Babadook would be beside himself if he learned that Nora watched something gory without him. That dog loved horror movies. “Fine. Fine.” Nora settled her attention back on the tv, a ding on her phone told her that her photo had been sent. She put the phone on silent because she didn’t care about whatever ‘that’s my enemy’ nonsense Emilio would text back about how he didn’t care if Teddy was doing okay. “I’m going to pretend the rats are cooking humans and feeding it to them,” Nora told Teddy, as the title screen played. “That would be a funny movie.” 

[ariadnewhitlock]

Timing: Before the EggTM time. Location: The Jones Home Feat: @eldritchaccident and @ariadnewhitlock Warnings: none!! just soft Summary: They are gettin their Strega Nona on. But also cute bonding occurs.

“Hey jellybean, pass me some more flour?” Teddy's hands were wrist deep in a gooey mixture, sorely needing something to stop up the extra hydration. Pasta, such a deceptively simple thing. Far easier than something like bread, or even cake. Nothing like dealing with yeast or temperamental sugars to drive someone to madness just because their confection acted differently thanks to a two degree change or a smidgen of extra humidity. Pasta was much more straightforward. So much room for elaboration and creativity too! It was a great place to start, so that's why Teddy figured it was the perfect thing to make with Ariadne. 

The pair had been at it all morning. A glamorous grandeur filling their minds, all the gifts they could bring to friends, all the surprises they could give. Pasta was one of those things that universally made people feel cozy. Few people lacked some kind of comfort dish that didn't start with a simple noodle. Spaghetti had been shaped and started on the drier, macaroni was rubbing elbows with farfalle. The next logical leap was ravioli.  And of course Teddy had a lot of ideas on how they could have some fun. 

Cookie cutters were a start. 

Whoever said that ravioli had to be either round or square was boring and Teddy did not respect them. Stars, flowers, little not-ginger-bread men, some cute little fishy shapes, and Teddy's current favorite, a little kitty head. They were eager to test the shapes out, but first, the dough. 

—

“You got it!” Ariadne paused for a moment. “I need a sweet nickname for you. I – I don’t have one just yet, but I’ll think of something soon, I promise.” She nodded. “Oh god, do I need a sweets-themed nickname for Wynne? I – well, I just tell them they’re mine and my favorite, but I do love sweets, so maybe I need the nickname too?” For once any worry behind her words was a comforting sort, rather than the sort that made her want to curl up into a ball and sleep (which was impossible now, as it were).

“Did you know you can make sweet raviolis? Like, with sweet cheese? I think probably you could also make full-blown desert ones, too, and I will fully entirely be super down to be a test taster – taste tester – you get it.” Ariadne blew a loose strand of hair out of her face. “We’re doing fun shapes, right? None of this boring square nonsense… not that – the squares have their place and I respect them, but I figure fun can be really good, too.”

Teddy was important to Wynne, and Ariadne only wanted to make the very best of impressions. To prove with continued fact that she deserved to be Wynne’s girlfriend, and that she wouldn’t be a bother about the house. “I also might just be craving something sweet, but I always am, pretty much.” She didn’t stifle her awkward laugh in time, but offered them a shrug. “Can we please fill one of them with like, real good and gooey cheese, like mozzarella? No offense to ricotta but it doesn’t always hit the same way. But it’s also a classic! I just like gooey-stretchy cheeses.” She grabbed a cookie cutter shaped like a star. “You’re also way more than free to tell me to stop rambling, if you need to concentrate or whatever.”

—

 “Aria, hun, you don't need to worry about it. I'm just the Queen of nicknames, it's like my thing!” The ex-demon laughed, a warm and welcoming thing. Not the kind of laugh that made you feel like someone was enjoying your misery, but the kind that crinkled at your nose and sent your shoulders bobbling. “I know you like your treats, and you're cute and sweet as a jellybean, so it fits.” A pause, and Teddy swayed to bump their hip into hers. “Can't force one though, nicknames come when they need to.” A twisted up curious expression brought Ted's lips together as they kneaded the dough. “What's a candy you both like, or maybe their fave? Nicknames gotta be personal, y’know?” As if they needed any more confirmation that Ariadne was one of the kindest people on earth, the more time Ted spent with her, the more they realized how true that was. They couldn't help but feel a warmth and relief that Wynne had someone so lovely in their life. They needed it. They deserved it. And Aria deserved someone as wonderful as Wynne in return. They were perfect for each other. 

Aria tossed on just the right amount of flour and the yellow mush came together in a cohesive ball. “Oh sweet ravioli? Brilliant! That could be a showstopper. Maybe ricotta with a little honey and orange zest? Ooh, or brown sugar, peaches, and mascarpone? And that’s going simple. If we changed the dough recipe a little, we could make chocolate ravioli stuffed with a raspberry cream cheese frosting. Or cinnamon ravioli with a cannoli filling. Basically you could take any pie filling and adjust it with a little cheese. Fruit and cheese have always gone together, there's really so so many options. I bet you could make a whole ravioli restaurant. Everything from appetizers to desserts. Hell, even breakfast could be included. Only on Sundays though. Like…Sunday brunch?” 

The pasta roller was the next step. Teddy had already clamped it on the side of the counter. It made pretty quick work of the balls, rolling them out into impressively thin sheets, ready to stuff and cut. “Oh the stretchier the better. Mix we got right now is ricotta, mozzie, a little havarti, and just a dash of parmesan. A balance of flavor and texture. How do you feel about putting an egg yolk in the center of the big ones?” They held up one of the cookie cutters, a large heart, and shook it slightly. They'd seen some fancy chef do it once, and it felt like a perfect chance to try, so why not? 

—

“I also think you’re probably the Queen of just cool style and being awesome, if I can say that?” She looked over to them, offering a timid but genuine smile. She wanted to make a good impression, and Ariadne didn’t really know if she was succeeding, but Teddy just seemed like somebody who was nice always, and that alone was a world of comfort to her.

They also were clearly someone who knew what they were doing in the kitchen, with Ariadne appreciated, but also stood in plain awe of, mainly because she wasn’t great. Chance was good, Wynne was good, and she could boil pasta without burning the water but she’d never consider herself a cook of any sort. Not even in a self-deprecating way. It was just a fact, and it was a fact that she was fine with. She could benefit from being around people who were very good in the kitchen, and she could also still learn (goodness only knew that she had forever to learn about it). “I like how you think! Cupcakes and froyo have had their time, it’s now time for raviolis to shine.” She gave a definitive nod.

“I feel like I can try to do it!” Which was honest, but also conveyed the excitement she felt. “That sounds very cool and totally awesome.” Ariadne offered them a smile. “Sometime maybe can you teach me to make filled cupcakes, though?”

—

With a flourish of two dancing finger guns, Teddy clicked their tongue in agreement. Never was one to shy away from compliments of their style and general vibe. That was the kind of thing they’d built for people to comment on. Those that got it, they were great. Those that didn’t, were less than necessary, avoid at all costs, or annoy until they change their mind. Teddy grinned over at their baking partner. “I’ll accept it, only if you give yourself one good accolade, my little ravioli apprentice.”  

“Ooh!” The younger cook’s phrasing passed through Teddy’s mind, connecting a series of seemingly unrelated things. “Star shaped ravioli would be excellent, that can be our big niche. Everything in the restaurant has a unique shape, but the best ones are stars so they can shine!” Of course, the simple idea of a whole establishment serving various types of ravioli had immediately settled somewhere between a bit and the start of an actual entrepreneurial endeavor. Teds wasn’t the best with the follow through, but in the moment they were ride or die for the sentiment. 

“Tryings all you can ever do, Jellybean.” They beamed. A little proud of finding the chance to offer a little guidance to the oft-anxious Ariadne. “We learn by making mistakes.” Just then, Teddy’s attempt at separating the egg yolk from the whites went sour. The gloopy substance missed the bowl and splattered right down onto the counter below. “And sometimes they have pretty comedic timing.” Maybe life advice wasn’t Ted’s forte. Oh well. Cupcakes were. 

“Absolutely, it’s way easier than you’d think. Just a little planning ahead of time is all you need.” 

—

“Uh, I …” she found herself at a loss for words, but she wasn’t exactly about to go advertising that. Especially not when Ariadne was pretty sure that it was pretty obvious how much of a mess she was when it came to complimenting herself. But for Teddy, maybe she could try. She tried for Wynne, and it was nice to try to do good things for good people, so trying for Teddy would be good too. “I’m pretty alright at ballet.” She paused, “no, actually, I’m really good at ballet.” She felt ever so slightly shaky at the self-compliment, but soon enough Teddy was walking about ravioli again and she shook herself out of any other pattern of thinking.

“I do like stars,” she started, “and yeah, they do shine.” There was the added bonus that they were something that kept her tethered to her humanity while also being a complete part of who - and what - she was now.

She nodded at them, trying to match the smile on their face (a near-impossible feat, she figured, even for herself before she’d died. There just seemed to be an endless aura of joy and cheer about them. Infectious, even. Ariadne appreciated that. Not that she figured they were never sad or scared or stressed, but they were also so calm, so wonderfully present, that she couldn’t help but be put at ease. Plus, the nickname. Ariadne grabbed a towel when the cupcake mixture made its debut and she held it out to Teddy. “Well, okay then. ‘Cause no offense at all to the Hostess cupcakes, those rock, but I’d love to make my own. Plus then I could make the frosting Wynne’s favorite color, and…” now it was her turn to beam. “Yeah. Like a cool fun surprise for our movie nights.”

—

“A good start. But there IS a whole lot more to be proud of, so if you need lessons I can absolutely just follow you around and list the good shit. I could probably rope Wynne in on it too. Get Van and— Well I’d say Nora but she might just follow you around and be amazingly spooky just to balance things out. She’s great at that.” All the kids knew each other right? Wasn’t really a commentary on every youth being buds, moreso that Teddy swore they saw them all chatting online once or twice, right? To be fair, their memory wasn’t wonderful, but hey. Could be a chance for new friendships? Or something? 

“Good, cause you’re a star too. Miss Prima Ballerina.” With a grin and a poke, Teds moved on to doling out the filling to the freshly rolled bottom ravio—let. Thing. Half a ravioli. Whatever that was called. The first few blobs were probably a bit big, compared to the cookie cutter. But that was okay. Learning curve. “What’s your favorite show? Either to watch or dance in.” 

“Hostess cupcakes have a time and place, the time is 3AM and the place is at a gas station while you are on a road trip.” The words came out a bit faster than Teddy could think about the… very recent not so pleasant road trip they’d just come back from. But that wasn’t something they could think about right now. “Filled cupcakes made at home are for every other occasion.” Maybe that’s where they went wrong. Didn’t bring filled cupcakes to meet their shitty dad and shitty grandma. Teddy shook the idea from their brain. Today was about hanging out and making food for the family that mattered. The ones they chose, and the ones that chose them. 

“Movie nights are about to get a whole lot tasiter.”  

— 

 “Oh no, please please don’t follow me around and list good things about me.” Ariadne buried her face in her hands. “Nora is amazing and spooky but shouldn’t have to do that, and Van’s great and I’ve known her since we were kids but again, it’s really okay. Wynne compliments me plenty. All the time. We’ve got a perfectly balanced relationship, so that’s not –” she cut herself off. “I do appreciate the offer though, you’re somebody who cares a whole lot, and that’s a good thing to be.” She couldn’t articulate just how good it felt that Teddy was assuming she had so many friends. She wasn’t sure how on earth she managed to give off that impression, but she welcomed it whole-heartedly. 

“Swan Lake, if we’re talking ballets.” That one was easy. It had been her favorite for just as long as she could remember. She’d watched the Barbie version dozens, if not hundreds of times as a child. “Both to watch and to dance in.” Ariadne scrunched up her nose.

She looked over at them. “That’s very specific but yeah, I agree. Though my parents sometimes sent them in my lunches when I was little. Not that I didn’t want to eat up all my salads but I’ve always had a bit of a sweet tooth, I think.” Had she, or was that just her new self bleeding into her old memories?

“I just want to do everything I can on earth to make Wynne happy, y’know? They deserve it, and I think new cupcakes could be a fun way to show my love.”

— 

“Well alright—“ Teddy raised their hands in very cheesy defeat. Both in that they hammed up the acting to the nth degree, and that most of their digits were at least two knuckles deep in the ricotta mix. “But I’ll be watching Jellybean, first sign of self-deprecation there’s gonna be an Ariadne Parade right outside your window.” Obviously, the very next step was to boop the young miss right on her scrunched up nose, leaving a flavorful splash of… well not color, the cheese was mostly white, but still a splash none-the-less. 

“Next time you have a show, lemme know okay? I’ll drag Emilio, and I’m sure Wynne would like the ride. We’ll be front row, alright?” In the Jones family’s ever present (and still continuing to this day) attempt to appear human, Leviathan had taken young Teddy to the ballet multiple times. 

The first one they ever saw was one called Giselle, and Teds being about eight years old, didn’t understand it at all. But they liked the costumes! And the sets! And the ways the dancers moved. Kind of informed a lifelong love of adding a bit of flare and grace to whatever they did. Trained? Absolutely not. Doing flips while fighting bad guys? More likely than you’d think.  

“Oh me too.” And Leviathan being…. An ancient eldritch sea demon and not a human man, didn’t really know what human children were supposed to eat. Took a lot of trial and error. And favors from more… earthbound lesser demons. “I’m surprised I’ve never gotten a cavity.” Probably because of the constant shapeshifting and reforming of their body that took its toll in other ways. Perks and Cons. 

“I know you already do. And I know it would make them very happy to see you being kinder to yourself.” On the jeopardy board of all the things Teddy wished they had heard when they were young, this was maybe… 2000$? Or something, honestly they didn’t know much about the gameshow. But they did know how hard they were on themself, and how easily people missed that when you pretended to be happy and sweet. “You got good people on your side, watching out for you. Time for you to do the same. Now, let's cook some raviolis.” 

[miss-sue-sylvester]

Listen up Losers! Presentation 11 is May 1st. Try not to suck so much this time, huh? Try to use those mushy things between your ears and be a little creative? If I have to sit through one more obstacle course or awkward couple smacking each other for no real reason, I will vomit repeatedly. There’s literally every toy, machine and apparatus that’s ever existed just waiting for you to use there is no reason to bore me.

Frankie and Cal

Jackson and Jamie

Jeff and Marco

Steven and Melody

Caelan and Silas

Wilder and Jeremy

Mateo and Evan

Devyn and Davina

Deacon an Xavier

Evander and Jesse

Sam and Annabeth

Spencer and Lennon

Quinn and Sugar

Ryder and Hailey

Billie and Jeremiah

Emerson and Monica

Carson and Santana

Dave and Mike

Nate and Cat

Pepper and Hunter

Lyric and Cady

Zoe and Robin

Daniel and Nick

Sebastian and Marley

Charlie and Kolbe

Jace and Elle

Molly and Teddy

Kurt and Axel 

Gabe and Harlow

Keenan and Emrys

Ainsley and Sawyer

Jezabel and Blaine

Partners will present a scene in front of the headmasters in the performing arts center at their allotted times. Please do not go longer than 25 minutes. New students, please make sure you know your limits and have plans for aftercare. Partners are non-negotiable. Presentations are mandatory. Name listed first is Dominant, second is submissive.

OOC Information:

Please post your chatzy/para with the tag presentation11.  

Basically, you’re doing a scene in front of Sue and Will, who will be grading you and awarding up to 100 points. Please keep them short and focus more on what can be seen and heard rather than on inner thoughts. If you have a gif or picture that sums up the set up, feel free to use that instead of writing out all the set up. Grades/points are based on creativity, communication, degree of difficulty (also depends on individuals experience level), demonstration of D/s skills and safety.

Please remember!!!!

Sue and Will grade the interaction between the two students, not the scene’s concept. So, while giving us the head cannon of what the scene entails is important, it’s much more important to tell us how the student did, what they said and how they were acting.

NEW RULE: For all headcannons, please include at least four lines of dialog during the “meat” of the scene. We need to see how they are communicating and interacting. This is especially important when there is an NPC involved. Remember the slaves have all been trained and are rented that week, so they can practice with them in the dungeons if they’d like.

Options:

1. For up to 100 points, you and your partner can chatzy/para out the scene.

2. If, for whatever reason you two cannot get together to write the whole thing out in detail, one person can write the framework of the scene and the other can fill in their characters reactions etc. DO NOT godmod you partner. Communicate.

3. If one writer cannot or doesn’t want to write things out, the other writer may write a scene with an NPC. The NPC would be a slave rented by the school for doing exams. Both writers can take this option, but your max score will be lower. Please keep in mind, we’d like to use this option sparingly, so please do the best you can at communicating with your paired partner first. This option is for ooc problems like hiatus or too busy or the like. This option is not to be used because one character doesn’t like the other character.

4. If the character does NOT show up for presentations, please message the main and let us know. There will be repercussions IC.

5. If you want your character to get points, it needs to be either written out in some way. There is the option that the writer does not have to write something out and nothing will happen IC to your character, however, they also will not receive points.

If you have any questions about presentations or your options for turning them in, please message the main.

-Admin J-

[howlingforapack]

Rescue Operations

We will now start the rescue operations. The pairings are as follows.

Scott & Isaac to rescue Liam: Liam has been kidnapped mostly by students of Beacon Hills High. Only a few of the students are hunters. They have him in the high school’s basement. Number of kidnappers is up to you.

Derek + Malia + Kaden to rescue Aiden: Aiden is being kept in a motel outside of town. There are two hunters in the parking lot on the look out, while the remaining 4 are in the room with Aiden torturing him. One of the hunters is the owner of the motel so every other room is empty.

Kali & Keller to rescue Tracy: Tracy is being kept in an empty warehouse somewhere in town. Kidnappers are hunters. Number is up to you.

Cameron + Allison + Erica to rescue Jedikiah: he is being kept in a warehouse as well. All the kidnappers are hunters. Number is up to you.

Stiles + Samael to rescue Parrish: He is being kept in the freezer room of a butcher shop. While the two employees on the front desk are unaware of the hostage, the ones in the kitchen are hunters and keeping guard. Number up to you.

Sink & Xavier to rescue Teddy: Teddy is being kept in his own apartment by five hunters, waiting for their boss to come.

Note: How you roleplay these rescue operations are up to you. You can do it on the dash, discord or another medium. We recommend to at least use chatzy or discord to talk and discuss. Also, the hostages do not have to actively participate on the thread before they are rescued. Finally, for those players who have multiple characters in the same rescue team, you can use one blog to RP as the multiple characters instead of reblogging from each of the perspective characters.

[honeysmokedham]

Call Me Maybe || Nora & Teddy

TIMING: 4/28 at 3:12 pm LOCATION:  A Cell Phone Store PARTIES:  Nora @honeysmokedham & Teddy @eldritchaccident SUMMARY: Nora goes to steal a new cell phone and Teddy is ready for a fun little time. CONTENT WARNINGS: N/A

There were a lot of things Nora enjoyed about her new life. Namely it was the freedom to exist the way she wants to exist. Nora was without eyes watching her move, ready to write tweets about the pathetic attempts Nora was making at living her life. The one thing Nora didn’t like was the lack of money. Sure, stealing things was easy, but having an unlimited credit card was easier. The amount of ham she could be dining on every night was nothing compared to the few crumbs she managed to scrounge together each night and call her nightly meal. 

Today Nora had a “shopping” list of one new cell phone. Her last one she’d smashed into the wall of a crypt. She didn’t want to talk about it. It was a sore topic. Nora walked around the electronic store, eyes glued to the many devices in front of her. If she was going to steal something she might as well steal something good right. Iphone or android? Big or small? God Nora hated electronics. Her last phones had always been whatever her fathers gave her. And those were normally sent by electronic companies so people would see her using them in public and people wanting to be like her would buy them. “What’s the difference.” Nora murmured out loud, staring between what she thought was the newest android and the newest iphone. She didn’t actually know. 

Teddy had spied the kid the moment she stepped into the store. They knew that look, knew what it meant. Knew the hunger that was behind it. Technically it was their (temp) job to stop people from doing exactly that sort of thing, but in a store like this? Stealing wasn’t as easy as just picking the latest model off the display. For one, the displays were hard locked in, each with a massive charging/safety port thing super glued to their back. For another, a phone was almost nothing these days, not without a proper sim card. 

Fortunately for the would-be thief, the demon was in a particularly good mood that day. Despite, or maybe to spite the man they’d taken this job for. Filling in miraculously right when Robert Whatshisname had called out. The job was about as interesting as they had expected, nothing compared to being a line cook, or doing deliveries, or tending bar. Teddy really liked bar tending. You got a lot of stories out of that one, and most of the patrons delighted in the strange concoctions that the demon liked to make. (Usually because they were already too drunk to care about the strategic and strange flavor choices.) 

Like always, the demon had a little knack for knowing where to be, and when. And they got another temp job. Johnny Phonecompanyguy didn’t even care so much to look into the fake ID Teds had set up for themself, he was just happy to not have to be in his own damn store for a whole day. That was fine by Teddy. That was the way they liked it. 

The store was pretty much otherwise deserted. Another woman was in the back corner, deciding which case to get her four sons for their very fancy iPhones. She demanded a whole host of attention earlier, and Teddy demanded (silently, without her knowledge) a little payback. The demon sauntered closer to the kid though, quietly making their way around until they were just behind her. That’s when they leaned down, put on their best smile, and whispered. “Phones usually work better with data.” 

The last thing Nora wanted today was an employee getting into her business. Nora turned to the employee, a shit-eating grin pasted all over their face. Rose-colored glasses reflected her own blank face back to her. She looked past the reflection to the eyes beneath, looking at her and her phone choices with interest. “I have data.” Nora reached into her pocket, rummaging around to find what she was looking for. A snake, someone who caught a ride in her jacket a few days ago and hadn’t left due to the free food, wrapped itself around her wrist and started moving up her arm. Nora found her phone, holding it out to the employee. It was a pre-paid android she’d traded someone for six months ago. She knew it had six months of service left before she had to figure out what to do. 

With the attention of what seemed to be the singular employee in the store, Nora now knew this game had to play out differently. Get the information she needed from the employee. Trick him into leaving her along with a phone ready to go and then get out of there. Easy right? Nora’s posture changed. She’d played the game of the rich and famous before and she could do it again. Easily she slipped back into the mask of Eleanor Pine. The daughter of Gregory and Damien Pine, rich and powerful men who know their worth and expect to be treated in a reflection of it. Eleanor Pine would have never been allowed to walk outside in her tattered and dirty clothes. She would have never worn a repeat outfit, and she would have never been at an electronics store. She had also never been Nora Pine. Nora could do this. 

“My phone broke.” A hand came up to play with a strand of her hand. “You don’t happen to know which model I would need, do you?” In the back of the store, Nora could see another woman picking out phone cases. Maybe her distraction could be scaring that woman. Then the employee could go saunter over there, help her and Nora could sneak out. "The best of the best." The mask of it all was exhausting. Years of being who she wanted to be had destroyed the calluses of the mask. "In black." She had an aesthetic to keep up, after all. 

Teddy’s smile only seemed to widen at the sudden snakey influx, and at the game being played. One they’d been on the other side of before. The Joneses didn’t always have extra cash to throw at any problem, and who could say no to an adorable little face like Teds when they were young? Few folks said no to it now, ‘hardened’ as it was with age and the scars of the road they’d taken to get where they were. (Fewer folks would say Teddy looked like they ever had a hard day in their life. The carefree attitude didn’t quite match with the experience they’d earned. The most edgy thing about them was maybe the scar, and even that could be explained away as a port wine birthmark rather than a tale of nuns with guns and knives.) So yes, Teddy knew this game. 

They were, however, wrestling with which side to play on. Give a challenge to the young girl, or a helping hand. Maybe that depended on how well she kept up. Maybe they’d play a different game entirely. See how much help they could give without ever being spotted. “Ahh. Happens to the best of the best of us.” Teds repeated the phrasing, hopefully letting on that they had been listening well. Though, that tended to be the kind of thing the demon picked up on while not many others did. 

Teddy lilted into an easy laugh, bobbing their shoulders as they strolled around the counter. Prowling almost like a shark would, or maybe like a cat with a very interesting hair tie. “I’ve shattered more than my fair share. I’m sure we can get you exactly what you need.” And go. Roll the dice, see where they land. From then on out, each sentence would be a calculated code. 

The girl looked clever. A bit tired, sure. Had that layer of dirt that only really ever comes from sleeping outside for so long. The kind you can’t quite get off even with a few showers. Smelled of earth and damp. Maybe something underground? Hard to tell. Harder to let slide. If the kid did well in this game maybe they’d have to arrange something else. Hire that damn detective to track her down. 

“So what is your name miss?” Teddy clacked away at the keys behind the counter, acting as if they were doing anything more than just strategically keysmashing. “Did you have insurance with us?” 

 “Cassiopeia.” The name slithered out of Nora’s mouth in tandem with the snake sliding its way up Nora's arm. "It really does happen to the best of the best of us." Nora's voice had shifted from her comfortable monotone to the one her acting instructors had drilled her on. She missed the days when she was young and got away with being non-verbal. Her first words at the age of 8 had been a mistake that opened the floodgates to something else. 

This employee was so easy in their interaction. Nora doubted the tension that held her together would be reflected in them. An easy laugh. An easy approach to strangers. The appearance of being carefree. Nora itched to scare them. Nora thought it would be fun. Would they still laugh in the face of a monster? Nora wanted to know. It was the thing Nora wanted to know about everyone. 

Rich people didn't ask for the names of their help. That wasn't how the rules were played. Nora was never good at the game. "And your name?" Nora caught her mistake instantly. "Just in case." To sound like a threat. As if to say so if anything in this interaction goes wrong I can speak to your manager. That was the kind of customer employees hated to deal with. Maybe this one would be scared of those employees. It would be a fun little treat. 

Nora's eyes floated back to the phones in front of her. "I didn't get my phone through you. My last store's work was unsatisfactory. I will be getting what I am owed from them." A threat of a sue. That was the play, right? Companies hated being sued. "Now I'm here. I'm sure I won't have that same problem here." Why did the hoity-toity talk so much? Nora wanted the employee to just use their little key and pull out a brand new phone so she could make her escape. "Can I see more options for that phone?" Nora pointed at the closet model. 

“Ahh, lovely name. Some might say even prettier than Aphrodite!” Teddy grinned, loving the classic nature of the pseudonym. It had to be one, right? Not that it was impossible for someone today to pick a name from an old Greek Tragedy (or more likely, from the constellation), but more likely… improbable. Considering Teds would never give a real name when they were trying to steal something. Though, what the demon would do was hardly a metric to measure the world by. They’d learned that lesson many many times. Ah well. 

“Me? I’m Cetus.” The sea monster that came to wreck Cassiopeia’s kingdom. Really fitting, all things considered. And absolutely not what was on their nametag. Teddy wondered if she’d notice. If she was looking. Honestly probably not, nerves so often got in the way of little details. “And I certainly hope we can do better than your last store.” All smiles, sweetened honeyed words. “Maybe if I work some magic over here we can get you set up with a discount and it won’t cost you five fingers.” Was that too obvious? Or not enough? Did kids still use that phrase? It wasn’t like they were saying it was ‘so discounted it was practically a steal’ or something. 

“Sure thing, lemme show you which phones you could walk out with today.” Not willing to just throw the game right there, Teddy pulled out the docked iPad instead. Flipped to the app that had all the options in an easy slideshow esq parade. “You could even get it personalized.” That part was true, and something Mr. SellCellService had asked his new temp clerk to upsell. “You could get a black phone with an engraving of a snake like your little buddy there. We have the laser right in store. It’s fascinating to watch.” 

No one could ever say Nora was good at math, but something wasn’t adding up. Nora’s eyes flickered down to the employee’s name tag reading ‘Viktor’ then back to Cetus’s face. Okay. That one? She wouldn’t judge. Nora would hate working in a people-facing position and giving her name. Not that Nora would ever deign to work. Working was for poor people. Where the math started getting too complicated for Nora to follow, were subtle words she thought were calling her out. It would not cost her five fingers and walk out with today. Those rose-colored glasses appeared to hold more knowledge of the world than Nora had hoped. 

Nora's jaw jutted out as she fought the urge to wrap herself in illusion. To send the smug and satisfied employee fleeing away. Nora swallowed back the rash of emotion. It was that desperate need to scare everyone around her that developed her poker face. The whole while, struggling with confusion from everything Cetus had said to the urge to scare them shitless, her face had remained as impassive as ever. What Nora wasn't, was witty. When it came to words she was a blunt object. Cetus seemed to be a fine-edged tool, dancing around the conversation. Nora would have to be careful, but she found herself struggling with how. Then to make all of it worse, they weren't even scared of the snake on her arm. What kind of shit was that? That should have at least been a level-one nerve factor. 

Nora looked down at the iPad in front of her. "Personalization won't be necessary. Just the phone and nothing else." Nora couldn't control herself anymore. An illusion of scales flickered across her body. A whisper of a story that she was as reptilian as the snake crawling up her arm. Even her pupils elongated into long slits for just a second. Perhaps that little glimpse would be enough to get Cetus startled enough to pull out the phone in a hurry. "I'm sure you can understand. I'm in a rush." A rush to get out from under those fluorescent lights and the laminate flooring. Nora just wanted to go curl up back in her crypt and sort through everything that had happened the last few days. 

Well that was different. Sparking up something even more delighted in the demon. Who’s fishy side was often confused for a large mutated crocodile. (The running theory on the cryptid watcher boards was something about Big Finn being an escaped lab experiment, or a croc that ate plutonium but survived, it was all very scientific you know.) A subtle sniff and things didn’t quite match. Teddy didn’t detect the distinct… fragrance a lamia carried. Nor one a snakey fae might either. Was she trying to scare them? Was that it? It would’ve worked on a regular employee but uh, Teds wasn’t exactly that. 

Few things in this world scared Teddy Jones. Kind of comes with the territory of being an eldritch horror. Though, maybe it went back further than that. Leviathan always liked to tell stories of how the young human child seemed to enjoy seeing the great sea beast. Back when it seemed larger than life. Impossible. Horrifying. Maddening. And yet, itty bitty Teddy saw that as a friend shape. And then it was a dad shape. The rest was history. Whoever the Joneses were before, a newer, better version stepped out of that shack. 

But how were they supposed to respond to this? Gosh it was such a conundrum. Thinking it through in bullet time, Teddy had a situation on their hands regardless. Option one; be scared. But they didn’t even have the phones out yet.. Or was this meant to speed them up? The cell that Cassiopeia showed was pretty busted. It’d be a miracle if the sim card wasn’t messed up too. Demons didn’t hand out miracles. Only expertly placed misfortunes that benefited someone else. In this case, the girl. Hopefully. Their mind had already been dead set on helping before, this new scaly excursion kind of only made them want to help more. 

So, option two; cool as a cucumber. Hopefully it’d indicate something collaborative rather than combative. “Even without the personalization I bet I can help you get something even better than what you got there.” A flick of the eyebrows. C’mon kid. It was almost out in the open. The demon’s eyes darted to the other presence in the store, then back at the straight faced… teen? Was she a teen? Honestly Ted was so bad at picking out ages. She could have been twelve or twenty five, and the clerk probably wouldn’t have been able to tell you which. 

It was rude that the people of this town had such a high fear tolerance. Was Nora not always out here doing the most? Creating beautiful pieces of art for people to tremble before, and now no one cared anymore. No one was scared in this goddamn town. Everyone in this town really was liars. And probably the rest of the world, convincing Nora that she was scary. Now she was nothing. Nothing and with a broken phone. But the employee was looking at Nora like they were trying to convey something to her. Nora stopped sitting in the cesspool that was her own internal monologue and tried to follow what Cetus was telling her. Eyes darted from Nora to the other lady in the store. Did... Did they want Nora to scare that customer away? 

Nora turned from Cetus and their rose-colored glasses to look at the lady, still engrossed in her phone cases, then glanced back at Cetus. Okay. You really didn't need to ask Nora to scare someone twice. The weird thing was this was the first time someone was asking Nora to scare someone. No one had ever utilized her penchant for pranks before in that manner.  Generally, Nora picked her victims and worked from there. Most people who found out about her pranks didn't stay around for long enough to weaponize them against others. This was... New.

"Hey, lady." Nora's monotone voice filled the store, echoing off the linoleum floors and vibrating in the small space. The woman whipped around, confusion speckled across her features. "Eat shit." Nora stated. The illusion around her swelled. In a sequence of images, Nora's human skin shredded off her body, falling into translucent heaps on the floor as a giant king cobra emerged standing there and hissing. The woman was, understandably, screaming by then. The cases she was holding tumbled to the ground as she ran towards the exit. Nora made her dance for it, the snake striking out at the lady. She dodged and screamed, slamming into the door before she finally made it out. Where she had stood, Nora could see she left her purse. Nora hoped she wouldn't need to come back for it soon.

The illusion shrunk around Nora as she played it in reverse. Her flesh picked itself back up off the floor, sewing itself around her and wrapping her in her human cocoon as the snake disappeared deep inside her. Then there was Nora. Standing there, petting her snake with a finger. "The discount?" Nora asked, looking back at Cetus. No fear drifted off the employee, but the woman had left a wonderful trail of fear to devour. "It's rude not to be scared," Nora added. Because it was. It was rude to her and her craft that she worked so hard on. 

“Ooohoo hoo! Masterfully done!” This little spider wove quite a web now didn’t she? Teddy’s eyes lit up with glee, even just watching the back of whatever Cassiopeia had going on. It was gruesome, it was wretched, it was incredible. It made the demon a little jealous. The way the woman had fled the store worked perfectly into the plan Teddy had started spinning the second they realized what this kid was trying to do. 

“My sincerest apologies about that, Miss Cassiopeia.” Teddy humbled themself with a deep and reverent bow. The queen of fear, as far as they could tell, deserved as much. Once righted though, their grin returned, with absolutely no sugar coating. “But now that she’s gone, we can get some real work done. Stealing the phone and putting your old card into it is only going to work as long as they don’t catch on. As long as they don’t track it. I got a better method for ya, if you’re interested.” A sly tilt of their head to the side, and it was clear the demon was no longer working on behalf of the store. 

Nora had read a book before. It was Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Alice had been an idiot, but there had been one singular character that Nora had drawn quite a fondness to. The Cheshire cat. This employee, standing in front of her with twinkling glasses and a mischievous grin, had to be the embodiment of the character. Frankly, that meant Nora was fucked. Not for any real reason. Simply because Nora refused to be Alice in any scenario. No, she could be Not Alice. The better Alice who is capable of making choices and doesn't have a breakdown at the slightest inconvenience. Last night... didn't count. 

At least the clever cat had manners and was interesting. Nora had finally caught on the Cetus might not be their real name and they were playing a game, just like the cat. Nora's head tilted to the side. "Why are you helping me?" She asked, point blank. As usual, she was a blunt object, never a sharpened blade. "What will I owe you?" 

“Bored mostly.” A beat. A consideration. She was so young. “And I’ve been where you are right now. Can’t say I know why you’re doin’ all this, but uhh. Y’know. One friend of Lupin to another.” Teddy softened slightly, not by much, maybe not even perceptibly. It wasn’t easy being a kid, double or triple that if you weren’t human. And unless she had an accomplice somewhere around, it didn’t look like she had her own version of Levi either. 

Alone. 

Maybe that’s what likened the girl to the demon the most. Teddy hated being alone. Hated needing other people too, which was a bit of a conundrum sometimes. Showing that the world didn’t have to be lonely, well maybe that was a good thing. And maybe that’s why they didn’t really care to ask for anything in return. Well, nothing of substance. 

“Owe me? You already paid by getting rid of Uptight McShouty back there. You didn’t see the storm she was making before you came in. Or the mess her boys made that I had to clean up before she went off to look at phone cases.” Ted's head quirked again, this time along with their gaze. Upward, thinking for a second, running the mental math and possibilities. Finally landing on something and nodding as if Nora had been able to hear the stream of consciousness. “Do you want a case? It’ll keep your next one from getting shattered like that. Though, the way I’m hooking you up you can just get a new one anytime.” 

Quick hands made quicker work of the technical side of things. Boxes were pulled, primed, and set up for the girl’s inspection. A very nice expensive model, and a few of their more hardy cases. As well as some other goodies too. Cause why not? If someone else was going to foot the bill, what did it matter? 

“Hellen Richardson was very rude to me, and if I do this riiiiiight, she won’t even notice the extra fees hidden in her bills. Honestly she’ll probably think it’s one of those rowdy teens racking up the price.” Teddy winked, feeling particularly proud of themselves for this one. “She gets just desserts for being a terrible customer, and you get unlimited data and our best coverage for breaks and losses!” 

What Nora could understand was making fun choices out of boredom. What she didn't understand was who Lupin was and why Cetus assumed she was friends with this Lupin. Nora's brain did mental flips, trying to figure out who this Lupin was. Finally, she settled on saying, "Yeah, Lupin." A simple agreement surely couldn't get her in too much trouble. Surely. She was going to have to google this Lupin when her new phone was up and running. 

Nora watched Cetus work with quick hands, selecting options on the iPad, and presenting everything for Nora to see. This was a lot to handle in a new way. Had Nora not just shown the Cheshire cat something to fear, and in return gotten praise and a free cell phone? A phone that was billed to the lady she actually had scared. Unable to see the best in people, distrust bubbled around Nora. Her eyes shifted to the door every now and then, expecting this was a stall and the police or animal catchers would be here to get her soon. Maybe even those "hunters" Metzli and Emilio had talked about. What a joke. 

"Thank you." The words felt like bricks. It wasn't something she was used to saying. Thanking people. People didn't stick around long enough to be thanked. While this whole experience was leaving her confused and unsure of how to act, she figured that was the next step. "I am glad I could help with Hellen Richardson." As boxes got ready, Nora placed them in her pockets, like a little mouse eating all of its cheese before the scientist could take it away to begin whatever odd experiment she was part of. 

Part of Nora was ready to announce to Cetus that she could scare other people for them. Any place you needed her to go, she could do it. Easily. For fun. For enjoyment. For friendship. That voice was quickly shoved into a box of things to digest later. This was a trap. It had to be. A lie in its own right. Nora needed to be smarter than this game. The problem was, she couldn't see where this game was going. "I'll remember this, Cetus." That was probably the safest at this time. It wasn't an, I'll owe you, or I will give you my first child. It was an if something comes up in the future and we meet again and I can help, I'll do it. 

"I hope more people are rude to you." Boxes in her pockets, Nora was starting to back up slowly. "So you can have more fun." Nora bolted. Nora wasn't sure why she ran, but she felt like she had to. A stranger being too nice to her in a store. Maybe they knew who she was and were waiting for other people to show up so they could get the reward. What was a few million spent in a store when there were millions on the line. 

Before Teddy could do much of anything to ask about the girl’s real name, or anything about her she was off like a shot. Leaving the demon a little perplexed and snapping two finger guns in the direction of the swinging door. Well that was something. A neat little interaction. Wrapped up and packaged in a bow. Teddy was intensely curious about this girl, who she was, what she was (though they had an idea), and what had brought her to the store that day. Plenty of things could shatter a phone, less could lead you to have to steal its replacement. It was amusing, and a bit worrying. 

The demon couldn’t help but hold a little concern for her wellbeing. Something that would absolutely hold their attention more than anything else that could possibly happen in the phone store the rest of the day. Even the (expected) frantic call from Hellen about the ‘terrifying monster’ in the store, of which Teddy assured her there wasn’t one. Citing that the ‘Strange Wicked’s Rest’ nonsense had to be getting to the woman’s head, and that it was all fine. They checked the tapes and everything. Gave her a discount on her next visit anyway. She deserved that much for being such a good sport in Ted’s big plan. Even unknowingly. 

Ahh well. Maybe Ted would call up old grumpy pants and make this another case after the otter incident was resolved. Kind of felt like an invasion of privacy though. Mostly, they hoped, they’d get another chance to see her. Make sure she was alright. And hey, they had to check how the new phone was doing, right?