#nazulusoy

[atwoodesq]

"Hawaii? I think that's very doable. Lots of places to see and the food is always amazing." He had to push aside the part of his brain that was already starting to run through the options of places they could go and what they would both enjoy the most. "I've seen a lot of things but I can't recall just going to see Lava flows, so that's exciting so I like this idea."

He chuckled as if him not coming home was ever really an option. He loved this place and a few of the people too much to leave it forever. It would take drastic measures for him to be able to cut the connection he had to this place so until that happened he'd be here. But he could mess with her a little, "Ah yeah it was really rough there for a moment. The one grandma had a hell of a tonkatsu it was hard leaving that behind."

He beamed that she had order her more of whatever thing she had gotten him. She was sweet and well food was an easy way to a dog's heart and it was the same with him. "You are a goddess. You know how I get about food."

Leaning back into the couch he set his glass on the side table and sighed, the council was becoming more and more of a sore spot for him. He'd originally chosen to avoid the council afraid of what that connection might do to his ability to serve the spirits and greater supernatural community but perhaps that had been a mistake. "It sounds like that time is approaching quickly. If we're not prepared for it worse than that will be happening and the council will have to answer to the greater community for it.... I do not envy you, love. Should you need me, however, I will always back you up especially if the others are refusing to be helpful."

Her lips pursed as she tried to hide her smile. His enthusiasm had always been infectious and she could feel his excitement at the idea. How could she turn that down? "Alright, alright. What about Hawaii?" she relented. It was close enough that they could be back within a few hours. "We could go see the volcanoes?"

Naz knew she would listen to every story Elliot had from his trip, down to the small details which would be about every person he met along the way. "I'm glad that you were able to tear yourself away from the grandmother's cooking and come home." Naz knew it was selfish to want Elliot to come back to Vievecor when he could be happy anywhere in the world. She knew early on that Elliot deserved someone better than her, someone who could love him like he deserved to be.

"And I love them all. I've kept them all." It was less about the gift's that Elliot bought her, though Naz loved all things bunny themed. The fact that Elliot thought of her and still bought her gifts all these years later was special to her. There was no one else in her life who thought of her in that way. The spirit made an effort to do the same for him when she travelled, however rare it was. "I ordered you some more and they're safe in my office," she promised, seeing the disappointment on his face. As much as she had enjoyed the travel, Naz was glad to be home. There was too much going on to stay away for long.

"Ah yes, another one of those wonderful Artemis attacks. The council can't find the right way forward so we're at a stalemate again," she answered, shrugging her shoulders. It was much the same with the council, some members went to the extreme and others liked to stir trouble so it always felt so pointless. "I think at some point, someone is going to get angry and things will explode." Naz knew it wouldn't be the spirit's but she couldn't be certain about other species.

[atwoodesq]

He kissed her forehead ever so gently, "You will never, be a burden on me. Especially when you've almost died.... if anything I'm asking to for my sanity. At least if you stay with me for the night I won't have to worry about your safety for the moment." He could feel the grip on his heart tightening every time he spotted a new bruise or burn that he'd not seen earlier. He couldn't say what he really was thinking... that if she was dead he was certain that his grip on emotions would be broken and anger that he kept bottled and stored would be let loose. Elliot was certain that a world without her was not something he was looking to live in. "If there is nothing... then we start again. I'm sure we have blueprints of the house somewhere. New memories can be made, new things bought, but you... you are not replaceable." He gave her hand a gentle squeeze, this was a final straw for him if the council wasn't going to make a move against Artemis then he would. There had been at least three known attacks lately 2 of which seemed to be repercussions from the bullshit Izak had pulled.... but why at a witch and the spirit? Had they just decided fuck it? Perhaps so. He'd need to get his mind together and confront the council as a whole. The people and places that Elliot held dearest in heart were in danger and he would do anything and everything to protect them.

He looked back to where the house had been, an ache for decades of memories set in that house walking like ghosts in the smoke of the fire. "We can wait... maybe we'll get lucky?" He took her hand gently looking at her again as if too make sure he hadn't been dreaming her.

The spirit nodded, it had felt like they had done everything they could to ensure she would die but she had survived. She wanted to find out why she was a target and who gave the human's magic like this? It was easier to think about it like it was a case at work, like it was something she could solve. It wasn't though, the perpetrator was already dead, Judas had made sure of it.

It had always been important for her to maintain her independence, even when they had been married. The house had been part of that and without it, she didn't know what to do or where to go. "I don't want to be a burden on you," she said softly. It was instinct to say no and take care of things herself. Maybe it was one of the reasons why their marriage ended too. Naz didn't want to dwell on that when everything else felt terrible already.

The spirit relented after a few moments. It would be nice not to worry or panic about where to stay or even how to pay for things for a few hours at least. "I can stay for the night, we can re-assess things tomorrow. I'm not sure Judas will. He'll probably want to stay with that deity boyfriend," she answered.

"I'm not..." she hesitated, her eyes returning to the house. That was the issue, Naz couldn't bring herself to leave because what if she came back to nothing? "What if there's nothing here tomorrow?" she asked. "I'm sorry, I'm being silly. You're right, we should get out of here."

[atwoodesq]

“Just a week, a little trip, we can go somewhere close even.” He couldn’t help the excitement, had he been in his other form there would be a tail wagging wildly. Instead she got that beaming smile that was filled with the prospect of adventure. Despite having just gotten back an adventure, but an adventure with Naz was more important. “That way should things go side ways here we can come back quickly.” He spun the ring on his hand out of habit, he didn’t wear it all the time but having had it for 50 years it was hard to take it off. That awkward feeling of something missing like a phantom limb. “Well I did have at least three so you don’t need to be disappointed.” He’d had some very cunning grandmothers try their best but if there was one thing he couldn’t do was get into a relationship with humans. He was too loyal and when it came to his life span it just wasn’t an option. He’d had his heart set here, there was no convincing it to move now, he’d buried it too deep in the ground of Vievecor. “It was rather tempting, Grandma Mai’s cooking was to die for.”

Her smile hit him like a baseball bat, reminding him that he would always come back to her no matter where she went even if it hurt a little sometimes. “I always look for the cutest bunny thing that I haven’t gotten you yet every time.” He couldn’t help the laugh at her admission, it was part of why he liked traveling too. Those stereotypical love languages were accurate sometimes, her certainly loved to give gifts. “Oh! So that’s why you wanted me to leave so I could bring back presents! I shoulda known”

“Well that’s mildly annoying, she knows how I feel about food.” He huffed a little in frustrations. The man was serious about his food and how could you not! Food was something he loved both to eat and to make. “I’m glad you enjoyed it and forgot about work, you deserve it. You always work so hard, you help as much as you can, its okay to take a break and breathe sometimes.” He took a sip of his wine gently rolling it in the glass and humming a bit. “Japan is kinda the best, you should go again soon. Not yet though. You gotta give me at least a month to get back on my groove.” “How have you been? It seems like a lot happened recently. How’s Judas I heard about his event getting… interrupted.”

It was easier said than done, mostly because of her. Naz was too much of a control freak to allow someone else to run things aside from him. "That's true. Maybe we can organise a small trip... just to test the waters," the spirit agreed, albeit hesitantly. She knew that they were long due for a holiday together, perhaps the first since they had gotten divorced.

"That doesn't surprise me," she replied. Elliot was a beacon of joy that drew people to him. "You're handsome, polite and have an excellent job. You're like a grandmother's dream candidate for a grandson-in-law." Elliot was indeed a catch and Naz should know. She wasn't blind to the ring he still wore despite hers being neatly tucked away in her jewellery box. "I would have been disappointed if you returned how with fewer than three marriage proposals."

She smiled fondly, always appreciating the gifts that Elliot got for her. "You know I'm a sucker for anything cute with a bunny," she replied, already excited to see it. Her only regret from her trip was not taking enough luggage for all the shopping she wanted to do. "Thank you though. Selfishly, it's one of my favourite things about you travelling."

Naz always knew a movie was worth watching if Elliot managed to sit through it. Sometimes she didn't understand the appeal but she could appreciate it nonetheless. "I think I've heard that about his foot," she mused, wondering it he had told her himself. "That one is a better story."

Naz had been back long enough that it felt like a lifetime ago. "It's okay, although your secretary might have eaten one of your gifts I left in your office," she chuckled. "But it was nice. I actually forgot about work for a while. I liked Europe and I loved Türkiye but I keep thinking about Japan. I think that's where I want to go back to the most."

[atwoodesq]

"I missed you too, we'll have to get things sorted so we can actually go traveling together next time. Hard to miss you if you come along for the trip." Plus any excuse to take her a long was bound to be a win as far as Elliot was concerned. "We have a firm full of good lawyers we just have to find some we actually trust enough to watch over it for us sometime." He'd add that to the agenda later. Now was a bout fun and catching up not about work. They had plenty of time to talk about work later, he wanted to just enjoy his dear friend for now. "I did manage to stay out of legal trouble this time. Most of my trouble was getting a little too much sake and the old ladies are very nice and treat me like a grandson. 'Oh you're so nice wont you marry my granddaughter? She beautiful.'" He couldn't help the reenactment and as always thanked the gods that he kept his old wedding band on him to escape such situations. Though that usually opened other questions, like where was his wife and he'd have to awkwardly skirt around those but it was an easy fix most of the time. "I did! I brought some back specifically for you. I've got a whole 'Naz' box around here somewhere. Complete with some very cute bunny themed things I found that I thought you'd appreciate. I'm glad you took me up on that, No matter how many times I go I think I may always do that route."

Elliot couldn't deny that the introduction of movies had been a great boon to him. Books were fine but he didn't have a long attention span sometimes and films were a wonderful escape. "It was great! They did funny accents and voices. They all seemed to love bringing up the bit about Viggo kicking the helmet and breaking his twos in the second one. My favorite is that he bought the horse for the rider that was Arwen's stunt double and the horse that he rode in the films. I thought that was very sweet." "How about you? How was your trip? Are you happy being back? I worried about leaving before you came back I should have waited a little."

It had been at least a hundred years since they had been able to travel together. The firm had taken over their lives in the years since. Naz had a tendancy to be a workaholic and Elliot was the only one who could make her slow down. "I'm glad you're home, I missed you."

With a glass of wine, Naz could listen to his stories all night. She had a feeling they might go all night. Once they started talking, they could talk for three hours before noticing the time. "You always do but I didn't get a phone call to bail you out so take that as a win."

Naz had taken the other spirit's travel tips and advice about what to see and where to go when traveling through Japan. She had not been disappointed. "Of course you did. You always find the one unfriendly dog to make friends with," she replied, smiling fondly at him. Elliot continued to be the puppy dog he always had been and far too good for her, too sweet and kind. "I liked the Kumano Kodo route when you sent me there. Did you at least get the tea?"

The spirit's legs curled beneath her as she sat, turning towards him to listen to his stories. "That makes sense that there's a walk thing for a movie about walking," Naz replied, knowing she shoudn't make fun of the movies Elliot enjoyed though so she quickly patted his knee. "I'm sure you still had a ball. What's the best bit of trivia you learned?"

[atwoodesq]

Elliot chuckled, finding the bottle he wanted with a exclamation of excitement. He grabbed the bottle opener and started to work on the cork looking up to her and smiling. "Shame, it would have been good to travel with you again. It's been a long time since we've done that."

He poured her glass and smiled wide as she spoke, he did have a tendency to find himself into trouble. "Well I mean not just the temples of course but that was a highlight. I did get into more trouble as usual." Elliot handed her glass over to her with a smile and grabbed the bottle in his now free hand, "I did the Kumano Kodo route again. Even after all these years it's still so much fun. It's all a bit different now than the old days but the people are pretty nice and I can't complain. I did scare the shit out of a woman when her dog that hates people loved on me the second he saw me." He nodded for her to follow over to the couch bringing the bottle with. "I also went and did the Lord of the Rings walk thing in New Zealand that was a blast met a bunch of nerds. Loved them, good people, they know WAY too much trivia."

She would take it as a good sign, hopefully he hadn't got into too much trouble. "Well good because I wasn't going to allow it," she assured. They hadn't spent enough time together recently with all their travelling and she wanted to make it up to Elliot.

As they stepped inside, Naz left her heels and bag by the door, ridding herself from distractions as well. Leaning against the kitchen counter, she watched Elliot move around the kitchen, enjoying listening to him speak. He always made things sound more exciting, it was part of what made him a great lawyer too.

"You know, if you had left a few months earlier, we could have got to Japan together," she said, having come back from her own trip recently. Unfortunately for them, someone had to keep things running so someone had to stay. "I'm sure they will be," she said, rolling her eyes at the thought of Ayumu. "They are beautiful and peaceful. It was very different to Vievecor. So did you just go to the temples? I'm sure there was more trouble than that."

[atwoodesq]

"You are a great and merciful woman." He chuckled before pulling his own phone out and doing the same. "I don't need anyone cutting into my Naz time." Elliot opened the door to his place and offered her to step in first before following after. He made sure to kick off his shoes and start heading to the kitchen, he flipped open the cabinet door and pulled two wine glasses and started looking for the bottle opener. "It was a good trip, I think I needed the walk about to get the old spirit back where it should be." He chuckled a little, "Well I started in Japan, picked up a few things for trouble maker there. I'm sure they'll be happy with them, I love going to the temples there. They're so stunning, no matter how many times I've seen them."

She laughed as she was lifted from the ground, hugging him back tightly but mostly so he wouldn't drop her. "Oh I missed you," the spirit admitted. As much as they liked to tease him, Naz had longed for her friend's companionship again. Elliot had a way of making her smile just from being near him but maybe that was because he was still a puppy at heart.

It felt like they hadn't spent any time together outside of work in far too long. "I promise to go easy on you unless you got arrested or something wild," she promised. The spirit pulled out her phone and began fiddling with some settings. "That sounds like heaven, I'm going to put my out of office on right now."

"Okay, I'm ready. Tell me all the stories, starting from the beginning please," she requested, already turning back towards his home. She was ready to make herself at home and kick her heels off in favour of wine.

[atwoodesq]

He sat beside her one arm wrapping around her, he immediately kissed her forehead as soon as her head rested on his shoulder. "A house can be rebuilt, if you were gone.." He didn't want to think about the dark place that would put him in. She was still here and he had to focus on her, he couldn't think about the anger that was welling up inside his blood. "I don't know why, Naz. But they did everything they could to do it." His jaw tightened and his other hand gripped tighter pushing down the inner rage again. "Possibly from the party or the fact that you are one of the few people in our community that make public appearances? Either way, we will find them." Elliot's arm around her gently brushed against her taking another look at where the house once stood. "Will you come stay with me? You and Judas both, I don't want you ending up just fucking somewhere. Like some shitty hotel with no one to help..." "Please... Please let me take you away from this for now?" His free hand moving to her face to wipe a tear from her cheek. "We can come back in the morning, and see what we can find."

Seeing a familiar face amongst the crowd should have been a relief but seeing Elliot brought around a new set of tears. Naz had been certain that her tears had run dry but they still welled up in her eyes as he stopped in front of her. "Elliot," she said softly. "You better not." Her throat was still to sore to speak too much so instead, she straightened her legs for him to see the bandages around them. Once her powers returned it would heal, a witch had told her it would take time.

Naz understood the look of sadness and fear in the spirit's eyes. This home had been theirs for a long time and the memories they made were now ash around them. Reaching out for his hand, she pulled him into the place beside her so she could rest her head on his shoulder. "I thought I lost me," she murmured, knowing how terrified she had been. Naz had lived a long time as a spirit that it was easy to forget what pain and death felt like but the evening had been a dark reminder of what human's were capable of.

"It's all gone," she said, looking back to her home. Judas had told her it was an Artemis follow and all the information that had gotten to her since had confirmed it. "They tried to kill me, Elliot. They took my powers and set my bedroom on fire while I was asleep." Naz knew the other spirit would want to know what happened. "Why do they want to kill me?"

[atwoodesq]

The moment he spotted her he ran over and pulled her into a hug, "Hello, Beautiful." He could kiss her he was so happy to see her, but he wouldn't. He gently set her back down on the ground again smiling down to her. Seeing her always made him feel better, he'd missed her, as nice as it had been to get away for the crazy life that was Vievecor. Naz was always there whenever he needed her and him for her, it just worked. "Ahhh" He let out a long sigh, "I have missed you picking on me. Well come on lets head inside I have gifts and wine. I want to hear all the fun I missed."

Naz had heard a rumor that Elliot was returning that week which was confirmed by his secretary. The rabbit spirit would not complain about his absense, despite him missing the big festival for the year. They had been in business together and friends for so long that they could take care of things on the other's behalf. Naz had taken her own extended leave from their business and Elliot hadn't complained so she wouldn't either. When her phone started buzzing, Naz had already picked up and left the office, wanting to catch up and hear their travel stories face to face.

Arriving at his home, she only had to wait a few seconds before he appeared, almost like he was summoned. "It's about time, I've been waiting for hours for you to show up," she joked. "Welcome home!"

[atwoodesq]

Elliot broke more than a few laws to get to her house. The cops that tried to stop him only did so for a split moment before he used his job as leverage. He'd stopped breathing the moment he'd gotten word, he wouldn't till he got to her. First, it had been the tattoo artist now Naz. "Naz!" He ducked past someone and got to her. The worry all over him. It was evident in his face and the way his eyes darted over her looking for wounds. He finally let the iron grip around his heart loosen as he could now finally see her. "I..gods I'm not going to fight you I promise." He couldn't remember feeling this scared in his life or death. He finally looked to see the burning house a reminder of their life together they'd lived in that house together for 60 years and now it was ash. "I thought I lost you..." he turned his attention back to her his hands afraid to touch for fear of hurting her.

aftermath | open starter

for: open! @vievecorcitystarters location: the remains of Naz's home

The animal spirit in the back of an ambulance with a blanket around her shoulders. They were still monitoring her but Naz refused to go to the hospital while her house burned around them. It was all gone, she had watched the walls fall, the fire burst through room after room all before the firefighter's arrived. Centuries of a life lived and items collected and it was all gone. All that she had now was her burned clothes and the trembling rabbit who stayed sat on her lap.

Judas had been right, Artemis had gone after her directly and not in an attack to show power. They had intended to kill her. That thought made her shift uneasily, feeling like she hadn't done much to deserve being targeted and she racked her brain, trying to think what she had done to deserve this.

Her powers were slowly starting to come back. It was enough that she was able to push away her oxygen mask when someone approached. "I'm not going to the hospital," she said, pre-emptively trying to shut down anymore questions about what she should or shouldn't be doing. "I want to be here."