#chatzy: roy

[sketchinwithgretchen]

A brush up version of a sketch I did for the crew in the royed fma03 rewatch chatzy group in like 2019

#FMA #edward elric #royed #roy mustang #fmab

[corpse--diem]

The Four Horsemen | Marley, Felix, Roy & Erin

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Wow. Seriously--wow.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Erin.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Marley’s body went limp.

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

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

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

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

“Will you shut the fuck up, already?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

#wickedswriting #chatzy #chatzy: marley #chatzy: felix #chatzy: roy #the four horsemen #gun use tw #head trauma tw

[drowningisinevitable-retired]

The Bugbear and the Water Maiden Fair || Roy and Mina

TIMING: Current PARTIES: @drowningisinevitable and @bearingwitness SUMMARY: Mina has a fright inside a haunted house. Roy reaps the benefits. CONTENT: Emotional abuse, gaslighting, gore.

Outside, it was bright, sunny, a perfectly clear autumn afternoon. But inside the strange carnival’s haunted house, it was dark, dim. Still, Mina could see enough of a trail of dark, thick liquid to follow it, her footsteps frantic. She needed to follow it. She had to follow it.

Mina had  gotten separated from the group that she’d been with as soon as she’d seen Bex walk this way. And then the smell of iron-rich blood had filled her nostrils, enough for even her to smell above water, and she’d taken off. As soon as she’d made it inside, the door has slammed shut behind her. Mina was alone. She could still see the blood, though. So she followed it.

Very quickly, Mina got lost.

“Bex?” she called. No answer.

Panic was building in Mina’s system, threatening to spill over. She could say that it was because she hadn’t properly been able to relieve it, hadn’t properly been able to run away from it. Now it was there, full force, and Mina didn’t know what to do to control it. She couldn’t control it. “Bex?” They weren’t supposed to be doing this, running from each other. Why was Bex running from her? Why was there blood? “Please, Bex!”

Bex’s voice echoed down through the gaudy pho-Victorian halls, muffled by gauzy cotton cobwebs and humming smoke machines. Her sharp words were instinct against the counterpoint of the cackling plastic skeletons.

A low ursine growl answered Bex’s distant voice, before being swallowed up in the delighted shrieks of disembodied witches.

“Bex!” Not again. Mina scrambled down the hallway, bumping into cheaply put together walls that gave if she leaned into them too much. A bear. There was Bex, somewhere, and with her was a bear. A bear. What kind of bear would wander into a haunted house? A bugbear.

The scent of blood was choking Mina, making her gag as it filled her nose. Mina hated the smell of human blood. It reminded her of awful things, terrible things. Bad memories. Worse fears.

Mina had to find Bex.

Bex let out a thick gasp of pain and claws scrapped on floorboards.

Tinsel-wire spiders swung down from down the ceiling on strings  as a campy Cryptkeeper voice gave an automated warning for Mina “watch out from the creepy crawlies! Ahahahahahahahah!”

Bex’s shout was followed by a concussive explosion. Violet light poured through the haunted houses' halls, casting paper-mache monsters and grinning jack-o-lanterns into stark silhouettes. A sweet redolence of lilacs mingled with coppery blood.

Mina was lashing out as soon as something touched her, claws on her fingers ripping at fake spiders, cotton webs. She was breathing heavily. Her heart was pounding. She was panicked as she searched for Bex and the bear.

The sound of Bex’s scream and the sight of her magic pulled Mina forward. Tearing apart paper creatures and carved pumpkins, she remembered a conversation with someone online. In this moment, attached to this scene, pumpkins were scary.

Mina was scared. It was all she could feel. She was scared, shaking with it, eyes filled with tears, nose filled with the smell of blood. Bex’s blood. Her heart didn’t even feel like it was beating. She felt cold. She stumbled forward.

An echo of Bex’s power hung thick in the air as a purple haze, Raw magic permeated the mansion's halls. The dime store candles lining the walls shone in electric distortions of amaranthine. Witches’ cauldrons bubbled with livid-colored broth that filled every room with a deep and richly floral evocative of roses with hints of vanilla. Halloween store kitsch lay scattered across the floor from the force of the explosion. The scent of blood led into a ruined foyer. Cloth bats and silky ghosts were strewn in tatters on hardwood amid red stains and the long grooves of claw marks.

A low snapping sound distrubed the hushed aftermath. Jaws squeezed and scratched on bone.

At the top of the foyer’s shattered staircase, a hulk of brown fur was bent over a limp pale form. Delicate hands vanished into a maw wet with blood and deep panting breaths. With a jerk of its shaggy head, the Bugbear ripped away a piece of the young woman pinned beneath its giant paws.

Mina came into the scene only to watch Bex get torn into pieces. It wasn’t like with Frank, where Mina thought Bex was dead but saw her whole, lifeless body. She had to watch as Bex got eaten by a beast, an animal. She didn’t go numb. Mina couldn’t go numb. Her brain stopped working stopped properly processing anything but the horror in front of her, but she didn’t go numb. She felt everything, pain and horror and agony, like she was the one being ripped apart.

Mina would have barely cried if she was the one being ripped apart. She sounded like she was the one dying, now. She was screaming, unable to stop it, the sound of it not quite blending with the mechanical screams coming through the intercom.

Pulling herself on hands and knees up the stairs, getting caught on floorboards specifically designed to creak, Mina made it to the top of the stairs, afraid to see what would be waiting for her, afraid to not see it. If Bex was dead, then Mina was alone. There were still people that cared about her, but Mina would be alone. She’d given her heart to Bex, her forever, her soul, though she still doubted the legitimacy of that last one, sometimes. Without her, Mina was alone. She’d been alone, always, even when she was with people. She’d never felt alone with Bex. Mina didn’t know how to be alone again, and the thought of that, the fear of that, was so overwhelming that it made it impossible to breathe. She couldn’t say anything. She just choked on a scream.

The great ursine creature huffed Mina’s scent in the shimmering violet haze and turned. Roy’s sceleraless eyes were inhuman as they reflected the dim light with a yellow shine, yet they surveyed the nymph with too palpable an air of purpose for him to ever pass for a real animal. The Bugbear was less a true bear then a creature that resembled a child’s nightmare of a bear. Larger than a kodiak, the ursine predator was covered in shaggy fur the same dark brown color as Roy’s human hair.

What was left of Bex was only a mauled suggestion of the women she’d once been. Her full lips and soft diamond shaped face were just broken pottery of skull fragments seeping cerebral mater now, stripped all down down from the cranium to her exposed spine. A dancer’s delicate body had been snapped and wretched by Roy’s bestial anger, torned ligaments and bloody hair laying like slick silks beneath the brute’s paws.

“You’re all alone now,” the disembodied voice had nothing of Roy’s baritone drawl as a man. A phantasmal sound created by the Bugbear’s inborn magic, Roy’s voice blended a softer masculine tone with the resonant growl of a bear.  

Yet, there was a quiet note of revelation as Roy felt Mina’s despairing panic, welling up so sharp and vivid in this final moment.

“Bex,” Mina finally managed to say, her voice broken. There was Mina, and there was the bear, and there was what was left of Bex, not enough left of her to properly be called a corpse.

What could Mina do against a bear, one of this size? She had no weapons, nothing but the claws in her hands, the sharp teeth in her mouth. But this was a bear. Creatures like this, she knew, were not inhumanly strong. When they were men, they were men. When they were bears, they were bears. This was a bear. Mina didn’t know how to fight a bear. There wasn’t even any fight left in her, not really. Just despair, pain, the sickening realization that her biggest fear was real.

Her dad always said she’d be alone, that it was better that way. This didn’t feel better. It felt like death. Mina didn’t even know how she was still alive. There was a corpse, there was a bear, and there was Mina, inserting herself onto the scene, looking at a nightmare and unable to get off of her knees even as the warm, thick wetness of fresh blood soaked in her knees.

The bear sounded nothing like her father, but his voice was all that Mina could hear. “I don’t know how to be alone anymore,” she whispered, her voice as shaky as her hands. “I don’t– I don’t know.”

Roy breathed in Mina’s fear. Mina had guarded her heart well, as warriors and survivors often did. But as the Bugbear slowly advanced on towards the kneeling nymph, it was like something buried flooded up to the surface, finally unearthed by the death of someone who’d given her struggle meaning.

Roy had known from their first encounter in the Commons that Wilhelmina Fitzroy would never fear him directly. Hunters had trained her too well, he suspected, replacing the natural fear of self-preservation with abnegation and a killer’s zeal.  Despite the blind assumptions that often came with size and gender, Mina was more of a killer then Roy would ever be. There was no ambush or suffering he could threaten that a Hunter’s child wouldn't see as a challenge to overcome, a contest of wills that Roy wasn’t certain to win. Even if he’d overcome and killed Mina, it would have gained Roy nothing, as Mina would’ve fought and shived him with nothing but wrath in her heart till the bitter end.  

No, the dread he felt from Mina now was not fear of his claws or bloody teeth. Even now that Roy’d caught her unarmed, Mina wasn’t paralyzed in the face of a woodland predator.

Perhaps loneliness, centuries of solitude, stretched out before the Fae women like a dark wasteland. Roy felt the horror with her like an adrenaline shot in his chest. A terror far deeper and more vivid than any jump scare or paranoia poured into the Bugbear.

Roy had spent much of his power to create phantasmagoria this large and intense for so long. Roy'd knew be feeling this like a brick to the skull later if he lived through this. But it was all worth it in that euphoric moment

The bear was lumbering towards her, but Mina didn’t care. She moved herself closer to Bex, getting iron rich blood all over her skin. She was so overwhelmed with fear that she couldn’t even feel the sting of it on her skin. Taking what was left of the girl that she loved in her arms, Mina felt like she was dying again, a little more every passing moment.

Mina always knew when Bex was there. Always. Now, there was nothing there. She couldn’t feel anything at all.

There was just Mina, and there was just the bear, still advancing on her, so close that Mina could feel hot breath on her skin. She didn’t look up at the bear. She was alone. The bear was there, but Mina was alone. “Please,” she whispered. “Please, please, please.” She didn’t know what she was begging for. She wasn’t even thinking, at this point. There wasn’t any thoughts, just spikes of awful, intense emotions in a sea of loneliness, nothingness. There was nothing that she could do.

Mina felt so heavy. She couldn’t even make herself move from her place next to Bex, head bowed, covered in blood.

Roy was close enough to maul Mina now, to just lunge forward and take her bowed neck between his dripping teeth. But he’d never wanted that.

Roy now knew that ultimate horror in Mina like it was his own. Her monophobia was so much deeper then he was ready for, it spun the Bugbear’s head in an euphoria of desolation. It felt like free-fall, as if Mina had been bound to Bex by a lifeline that gave life clarity. She’d lost people before, perhaps, and with the the snap of this last lifeline Mina could only plummet down, condemned to solitude in every crowd.

She was pleading with him now. For what? Death maybe?

Roy was a predator that could only live by making others suffer. He’d taken away Mina’s life so that she could help him live. The gift of Mina’s agony would let him survive the weakness that came with winter. But there  was no further to go, nothing more he could take. This Hunt was over.

She kept pleading “please…please”

“Alright,” Roy assented quietly.

The Bugbear released his hold on the phantasmagorical magic that’d permeated the haunted house. Layers of carefully wrought illusion peeled away from reality like make-up washing off in a shower. The purple haze of Bex’s power faded into the dim electric lighting. Claw marks became just  the scuffing of teenager’s shoes on the floor. Blood losts it acrid iron stench till it was red punch spilled spooked kids. The wreckage of a climatic battle between bear and sorceress was now just some overturned chairs booth tables.

Roy let out a huffing ursine breath as the power left him, and Bex’s mangled body became a large costumed witch doll on the balcony floor, floppy pointed hat squashed beneath one of the Bugbears paws.

As the body next to Mina changed, she screamed again, pulling back from it, eyes wild and panicked as her brain tried to catch up with the sensory changes. It wasn’t Bex. It wasn’t blood, just some other sweet smelling stain. That was why it hadn’t started hurting her.

Mina backed up until she hit a wall, staring at the bear. Her heart was pounding again, and she was looking around frantically, trying to figure out what was happening. She couldn’t process it. She was still having trouble processing it. There was what was left of Bex’s body, there was her, and there was a bear.

A bear.

There was a startling realization, but realizations didn’t calm down panic. Panic didn’t make any sort of sense, not like Mina wished that it would. She brought her hand to her chest, trying to calm down. She just wanted to calm down. She couldn’t calm down. “Roy?” she managed to gasp out. “I– You’re– Roy?”

“I am,” Roy answered in that disembodied bestial  voice, unable to speak in this form without projecting an auditory illusion. There was a certain amusement in the fact that all this started when he’d seen Mina in her Nix form and ended with confronting her in his ursine form.

Of course, judging from the nourishing panic pouring into him from Mina, nothing had sunk it yet.

The Bugbear cocked his large fluffy head curiously, ears flicking as he peered at Mina, gaze devoid of both kindness and hatred. “What would you have done? If I'd really taken Bex from you?”

“I don’t know,” Mina whispered, her words scratching at a throat rough from screaming. Her hand went from her chest to her throat as she cleared it.

As she looked around, Mina was finally able to catch her breath. There was no Bex. Just Mina and the bear, Mina and Roy. Everything else was just cheap props. She’d been fooled so easily. One thought that something was happening to Bex, and Mina had been fooled so easily. She hadn’t been able to think of anything else, and when she’d thought that Bex was death, ripped apart like a piece of meat, she’d crumbled.

“I don’t know,” Mina repeated. She looked at the bear, and the bear looked at her. He was truly just an animal. That was it. He was just an animal. “Let you kill me, probably.”

She stood on shaky legs. “I would’ve tried to take you down with me, though.” If she’d gotten the fight back. Mina didn’t think that any of them would have walked out of that situation. She was finally beginning to calm down. She couldn’t tell the time in the windowless haunted house. She had no idea how long she’d been in there, where the people she’d come in with had gone, if it was night or not. If it was night, she’d have to find someone to walk her home. Mina sighed. “What’s next, then?”

Roy seemed to consider the question for a time, tongue lolling a little as the residual euphoria of Mina’s terror still coursed through his veins. “Well I’ve got little dumbass cub-siblings to feed your fear to,” the Bugbear explained in his ethereal voice, blending benevolence and callousness as he described the ends to which the psychic energy he’d harvested from Mina would be put. “If I were you, I’d go home and hold Bex close, a tangible sign this was all just a rough daydream.”

For time it seemed like Roy was simply convinced that was that. Eventually it seemed to dawn on the Phobophage that a tad bit more closure might be needed for the two-legs he’d stalked, assaulted, and gas-lightened.

“You’ve sharest your deepest fears with me Mina,” Roy explained, something in his ghostly growl suggested this was something of significance between them. “So I won’t be coming after you again. This hunt is over,” the Bugbear explained with a note of finality, as if this all was self-evident.

“Sharing’s pushing it,” Mina managed to say. “You forcefully pried it out of me.” She didn’t think she’d ever stop seeing it. She’d never stop seeing it. But there was nothing human in Roy’s eyes. Sometimes, Mina wondered if she looked like that. When she’d been killing Frank, had he been unable to find anything human in her eyes? Anything that reminded him of a person.

Mina sighed. “I’m glad you can feed your siblings.” She didn’t get that, siblings, but she understood wanting to take care of her people. Mina had to assume that was the same thing, really.

“Bex,” Mina said, looking at the Roy bear frantically She needed to leave, probably, and soon, but she had one more thing. “You can’t hurt Bex, either. Please, I– Please. I’ll owe you, if you don’t go after Bex.”

Roy shook his head, the human gesture looking awkward on such a large quadruped. But Roy decided to dispense with assertions that he’d prey on whoever he wanted, when he wanted. He’d put Wilhelmina Fitzroy through enough and would prey on her no longer, leaving her worrying that Bex might be next wouldn’t be proper closure to a hunt.

So he shared a truth with Mina, the reason why Bexley, formerly Oxendine, sparked more then just idle curiosity. Roy idly supposed that if there was anyone who’d taken enough shit from him to deserve some clarity, it’d be Mina.

“Bex’s human, but her magic is similar in some ways to mine or a Mara’s especially,” the Bugbear explained, disembodied voice a low humming growl. “It’s probably a coincidence. But what if there’s something more to it? Should I risk killing Bex for a day’s high when I could  learn somethin’ about a connection between Mara, Bugbears, and humanity?’

Roy let out a long huffing exhale, a remarkably ambient sound for a giant bear. “Dunno,” he admitted with simple frankness. “Maybe I won't be able to resist in the moment.”

“What I do know is winter’s coming,” Roy concluded, “and soon I won’t have the strength or  inclination to hurt anybody, Bex included.”

The Bugbear’s form distorted as he wrapped himself in illusion again. The mutilated corpse of the late Tilly Wilkinson gave Mina a jocular bow before striding down the stairs, intending to give impressionable carnival goers a morbid audiance in the form of the town lastest murder victim.

“Happy Hallows Wilhelmina.”

#the bugnear and the water maiden fair #chatzy: roy tucker #emotional abuse tw

[royalbloodedbastards]

chatzy // driving past a beautiful place...

DATE: January 2021 CHARACTERS: Linnaea, Lucien, Roy, Sefa ABOUT: Linnaea and Lucien take a road trip. CW: blood, car accident

Keep Reading

#mus.linnaea #mus.roy #mus.sefa #rel.linnaea&lucien #rel.linnaea&roy #rel.linnaea&sefa #rel.roy&sefa #frm.chatzy

[ephrampettaline]

chatzy log for Soapberry Pride 2019 with:

@thisdaringdanny, @cassiegermaine, @ianncardero, @mayaparker, @bumblingbrujo, @alessafalling, @faye-andrews

Ephram knew there was a wide range of Pride events going on in town, but he'd made a conscious decision to not attend the more solemn things, vigils and memorials. What with recent events coming to terms with Anaxis, getting rid of the threat of Martin Adjaye, he wanted to glut himself in joy and celebration. So it was an atronach block party he decided to attend, the area divided into seven colours of the rainbow each run by atronachs whose glyphs were of the corresponding shade. So far he'd meandered through the Red Zone, getting a crimson arrow drawn in a thick stripe down his face from above his eyebrow to his jawline, and eating a handful of sour cherry candies.

Danny was soaking up as much of Pride as he could, all while trying to fall to the back of the crowd, this event wasn't for him after all but Danny was a intent on being supportive, and getting the fun out of it. Currently that meant pouring drinks for people. He'd made one for himself and when people had seen him making ombre cocktails he'd incidentally become a bartender. "Let's see your wrist band," he asked a couple who had come up to him. He wasn't on the clock but he wasn't accidentally serving teens. "Nice," he grinned, pouring liquid out into a plastic martini glass and handing it over. Spotting Ephram and giving him a wave before pointing to his feathered accent.

Ephram pointed at Danny. "You ain't an orange atronach!" he said in mock accusation. "Although I reckon with how tanned you are, it could pass for orange." Ephram grinned at the fairy, nodding at the martini glasses. "What you mixin' up there? Is it any good or does it taste like cough syrup? So many drinks taste like cough syrup."

"This is a natural tan, one that is from burning myself all day in the sun, mate, not a lick of orange," Danny joked, dusting himself off. "Depends on the cough syrup though, American's have awful cough syrup that all has gross candy flavours so probably," he shrugged with a quick laugh. "Least give it a try, see my amazing skills that now go to waste." Danny picked up one of the syrups on the table, putting a shot of it into the shaker, then a shot of something else, quickly moving through them.

Cassie arrived at Pride events for another chance to get out of the house and entertain Addie. Besides, she wanted to provide any sort of support she could. Cassie kept a firm hold of the little girls hand as they weaved through the events and people. The red head was currently distracted with crayons and coloring pages they had picked up at one of the arts and crafts booths. Cassie was surprised when the toddler promptly and seemingly out of nowhere decided to plop onto the ground and attempt to color against the rough sidewalk pavement. "Hey." Cassie was pulled slightly, "Silly, get up."

"Gross candy flavours is exactly it." Ephram noticed movement in the crowd at the border of the Red and Orange Zones, and recognized who was causing it. "Cassie!" he hollered, waving at her. "Oh, hey -- Addie's here too? Bring er over, Danny's makin' drinks!" He looked at Danny hopefully. "You can make virgin drinks too, right? You got the stuff for it?"

Cassie glanced up when she heard Ephram's familiar holler. She offered a wave with her free hand, her expression only falling slightly when she saw the bar and Danny nearby. It wasn't a situation she could exactly slip into, but at Ephram's insistance and the few grumbles from people trying to step aroud her and her daughter, Cassie hoisted Addie up and walked over. Her smile was slightly crooked as she looked at them, "Sure. What are you having?" Her gaze dropped to Addie again when she swayed somewhat impatiently, "I figured we could both come out for some fun." Cassie explained her presence half-heartedly.

Danny watched as Cassie approached with her daughter. "Not sure anything would be okay for a baby to have, definitely a virgin drink is possible but super sugar," he commented, totally spacing Ephram meant for Cassie and not for Addie.

Ephram shook his head quickly at Danny. "For Cassie," he said, then reached out to bundle Addie out of Cassie's arms and into his own. "Don't let my feathers tickle your nose, now," he told the little girl as he settled her against his shoulder and the brightly feathered epaulette there. "What you been up to so far?" Ephram opened his hand with the last couple of cherry candies -- faintly melting in the heat of his palm -- and offered them to Addie. "I reckon I'm gonna git my hair done in the Yellow Zone. I want it to stand up higher."

Cassie nodded to Danny after Ephram had already clarified thigs for him, "She doesn't need anything. And sugar is alright for me. Really. Just make whatever Ephram ordered minus the booze." Cassie was somewhat releived to hand Addie over, and watched with slight amusement as the few candies Ephram had left were snatched up and shoved in the toddlers chubby cheeks. "Just crafts and puppet shows and the like." Her nose crinkled slightly, "Kids stuff. Addie loves it so, that's all that really matters." She chuckled at Ephram's musing over his hair, "Straight up and down? Like you need any more height as it is."

Danny looked over Ephram picking up the child and playing with her as he spoke to them. Danny had only ever been confident picking up his sisters, other people's kids were a dangerous game. "Uh...yeah, sure," Danny agreed, finishing off Ephram's drink but sitting it on the table since he was holding the child. "Your hair is already yellow, mate. Hair as yellow as my skin is orange."

Ephram scooped up his drink with his now free-but-sticky hand, since Addie'd eaten the candy. "I'm only gettin' styled in the Yellow Zone!" he protested, jogging Addie a little in the crook of his arm. "I might get it coloured blue further on down the block, though. You should come with me, man -- ain't nothin' saying you gotta stay here serving drinks. Who even let you back there, anyhow?" Ephram raised his voice, looking around, and an older atronach woman turned to point at him. "Don't you poach Danny, now!" she scolded, but then laughed and patted the fairy's broad shoulders. "You go anytime you want, child. Have some fun. You can't spend the whole time working."

"Blue would suit you," Danny nodded, looking over the man's hair. Felt like it could suit him to be dyed but he had to wonder how bright blue hair would go over with Freddie...maybe styled well. "No one let me, I just wandered back, walk with confidence and you can go anywhere," but he took the opportunity to climb up on the bar and jump over with ease. "Guess I'm a free man," Danny noted. "Should we go get some blue hair, send Freddie some pictures so he has some entertainment, he's working right?" Danny asked, figuring if Freddie wasn't out celebrating with his husband he was at Stonefruit running events, that or he was celebrating and everyone had got caught up with him. "I think I could rock some blue hair. Match my gorgeous eyes."

Ephram gave Danny a look of exaggerated horror. "Whaaaat? Skip ahead from Orange to Blue without hittin' all the Zones in between? You gotta work your way through the ROY G BIV, Danny. We still got Yellow and Green to get through before Blue." He finished his drink, spinning the glass between his fingers before setting it down on the bar. "That was good. Tasted like if a grapefruit and a passion fruit had a love child." Addie made a disgruntled sound, and Ephram patted her back. "No no no, you're the only child here, punkin. Still the only one."

"Seems like you two know each other very well," Danny said of Ephram and the small child. He hadn't even really seen Addie in the alternate reality, Cassie was always alone with him, or in a crowded room. Cassie certainly seemed more attentive here, but perhaps that was because she could sleep with her husband in their home, rather than needing to get subordinates to do so. "What's going on in yellow then? In my mind it's a lot of blow up bananas, I love pool toys."

Ephram snorted. "Easy way to confirm or deny your dream of blow-up bananas," he said, strolling down the block until they crossed over into the Yellow Zone. There were no inflatable fruit to be found, although the area did weirdly have a bubblegum-banana smell. "Here, Addie -- gonna give you to Uncle Danny for a minute, okay?" Ephram bundled the child against Danny's chest before moving over to a hairstyling station. It only took a moment for him to tell the atronach staffing it what he wanted, and then he bent to offer them his head. The atronach put their hands on either sides of Ephram's head and then blew out a breath, and Ephram's hair immediately blew up straight as if he'd put himself in some sort of vacuum tube. "Whaddyou think?" Ephram asked, excited, as he turned to show Danny and Addie. His hair was piled in soft, semi-collapsing spikes; Addie took one look at him, though, and started to make hitching noises against Danny's chest.

Danny was handed Cassie's daughter and immediately he forgot how to hold a child hands catching her awkwardly and immediately knowing she had to be uncomfortable how he was supporting her, but at least she hadn't fallen. "Hi...there," he said awkwardly to the girl, wondering if she could remember him. Fortunately Ephram wasn't gone long and when he returned Danny looked down, the child making strange sounds, was she giggling or sneezing? "Dude, you look ridiculous, are you Bart Simpson in old age?" he asked with a laugh but evidently concerned for the strange baby sounds.

"Awww, everyone's a critic." Ephram reached out for the toddler again, and Addie gave his hair a long, hard look, still deciding if she wanted to cry or not. "Not so bad," Ephram crooned at her, "unless you're takin' this so-and-so's word for it." Finally she reached up and grabbed a clump of Ephram's hair; then, satisfied that it was still his and attached to his head, turned her attention to the enormous gumball machine that took up a large part of the Yellow Zone. "You gonna git yours done?" Ephram needled Danny, nodding over at the hairstyling booth. "Or you gonna mock the efforts of braver people?"

"Not sure my hair could get paler, plus I'm still pretty content on getting it blue," Danny insisted, watching as the small child pulled and played with Ephram's hair. He hadn't said much when Danny had commented on how well he knew the child but they were so familiar, even for a kid. Kids were crazy obvious when they got on with people, and when they barely knew them. "Looks like your look isn't going to last though so we should get a picture before it's gone," Danny noted, pulling out his phone and holding it up to snap a picture for the Sheriff's husband.

Ephram really just hadn't dwelled much on Danny's observation about him and Addie, taking it as conversation and not any particular inquiry. He held still for the picture, even though Addie herself was entirely distracted by the gumball machine. "If it's as awful as your reaction made it seem, then it'll be a good thing I'll be floppy-haired by the time I get home," Ephram laughed, leaning down as Addie squirmed out of his hold; he barely managed to get her down to a safe distance before she hit the ground and was motoring towards the gumballs. "Shoot. We best follow, huh?" Ephram moved towards the machine, remarking to Danny, "So is it just me, or are you and Cassie a lil ... awkward around each other?"

"Damn kids are speedy," Danny commented of how fast Addie was moving towards the gumball machine, following along with Ephram. "Uh yeah," he said, looking down at his feet as he walked. He'd told Freddie about how he'd been feeling, about Cassie, about Ruby, about just him feeling about himself, and Danny wasn't sure how much of that Ephram would know. They were husbands, if Freddie shared Danny wouldn't be mad, but on the other hand Freddie might not see a point, after all Danny's emotions weren't exactly something that if unmentioned would be bad. "She like apologised to me about some stuff that happened in that...place, and my feelings are just all mixed up," Danny scrunched up his face. "Not like we were friends before but not really sure what I'm meant to say to her now." /When I want to hold her./

Ephram slowed and stopped, since Addie had reached the gumball machine and it turned out to be some sort of weird ... carnival ride? ... for the kids, and wasted no time in having herself boosted into the top and deposited among the giant gumballs and other magic-encapsulated children to be jostled down to the dispensing slot. He looked at Danny as if trying to gauge something, and then said, "Yeah, her and me had some stuff what happened too. Although it was more, uh, cathartic for me. Than it seems like it was for you." Since Cassie and Ephram had been friends before, and lovers too, so they had some sort of common ground to work their way back from. "Was it a sorter situation what warranted an apology, what happened in that other place?"

Danny watched as Cassie's daughter got onto the ride. He needed to keep reminding himself Cassie was different here, that what he remembered there wasn't what things really were. "Feels like my heads just a mess lately," he admitted, not sure he should say more to Ephram. Getting down on himself at a party was fucking lame. "I didn't think it did. We slept together, a bunch, I just...was with her," Danny said, unaware of how much he'd actually missed that Cassie had done in the shadows. "When she apologised it just felt like she thought she'd somehow wronged me, screwed me over when it's the closest I've actually fucking felt to someone in a while." Danny looked around them for something to do with his hands, food to shove in his mouth, anything to distract him. It was fine to get this way in front of Freddie but, regardless of how good a person he knew Ephram was, he was starting to feel closed in on by opening up.

The way that Danny started to get sort of ... soggy and discomfited by the topic of what happened with him and Cassie made it pretty obvious that the fairy didn't want to be discussing his feelings about his other self. Or more specifically his other self with Cassie. Plus there was a familiar sort of downtrodden defensiveness to his behaviour that made Ephram suddenly wonder just how much time Ruby and Danny had been spending together. But that was none of his business, nope, he'd come to that decision and he was sticking by it. Ephram had had enough of offering to talk to people about what they were feeling only to have them then end up kind of resenting him for it. "Sounds complicated," he went with, then stepped forward to collect Addie from the dispensing slot. He collected two gumballs and somebody else's squalling selkie child first by accident, but then Addie came duly rolling out of the metal chute and into his catch. "Had fun, chickadee?" Ephram asked, hoisting Addie up to get her better situated. "I'm glad you're back. I need somebody to keep me from inadvertently turnin' folks into Gloomy Gusses when I talk to em."

Danny relaxed as Ephram concluded the conversation, it wasn't that he'd have resented Ephram, he'd have resented himself for eventually running out on the situation. Bailing because he felt like he was drowning as he often did when he shared his feelings in a situation he wasn't prepared for. Seeing Cassie he wasn't prepared for. "Yeah," he nodded, watching Ephram collect the small child, almost taking another. "You weren't making me sad, I'm just bad at talking, sure Freddie will tell you as much," Danny smiled. "I'm glad the experience was cathartic for you, I don't think you're alone."

The atronach in charge of the ride buttled forward to thrust one of the enormous beach-ball-sized yellow gumballs into Danny's arms with no explanation before returning to his station, and Ephram loped closer to inspect it. "Wow," he said after sniffing its sugary scent, "I think it's a real gumball. Cain't imagine how you'd go about chewin' it though, it bein' big as all that." He didn't address what Danny had said apart from a quick grin and a nod, not wanting to send the fairy into a tailspin or anything. “Listen,” Ephram said as he handed Addie over to Danny, “I’m just gonna run to get my hair blued, I’ll be back by the time Cassie comes back from the bathroom, okay?”

Iann was actually feeling sleepy, in a good way. It felt mellow, and Iann knew that in a few hours he'd be off to sleepyland even if it was the middle of the day. For now, after working with late night functions at the Inn for party-goers and a fascinating trans vampire cabal, he was strolling through town with a purpose. The problem was, he'd forgotten what the purpose was. He still walked though, figuring eventually he'd remember why he was walking about. Aside from watching all the various events going on around town. There was always something going on at any given time.

Maya had, despite going to bed late the night before, woken up early. Today the Soapberry Chamber of Commerce had organized an open air Pride market with every stall donating at least some of their profits to charity. While she and Tuah hadn't quite gotten their bakery open, she was operating a stall under their banner. A little sign proclaimed that 100% of the profits would be donated. Maya herself was dressed in jean shorts, a Pride crop top and had finished the whole look off with rainbow sunglasses. She lounged in a camping chair, sipping a Jones Soda from the nearby cooler.

Towne Square apparently turned into a Pride-esque market at some point - yesterday? Today? Iann couldn't keep track, but it was certainly nice to discover it. He was properly distracted, forgetting completely to think about what he forgot about. Instead, Iann realized maybe he should get some food for his apartment. He'd been eating out this month - mostly at the Inn - and was craving something he could just make and eat at home. Slowing down, Iann tucked his sunglasses onto his baseball cap to browse.

Maya watched the crowds from behind her sunglasses. A few proprietors were calling out to passersby, trying to entice them to buy. She had never been good at that kind of thing. Besides, she liked to think that her array of brightly colored baked goods stood on their own. However seeing Iann, she shouted, "Hey Iann, how's Pride treating ya?"

Iann heard a voice, but there was a crowd around a stall where it seemed the voice came from. Was...a pastry beckoning him? Literally? "Outta the way, I got a date with a prune danish," Iann said, shouldering his way through the gathered purchasers, to reveal a stall with baked goods, and Maya Parker. "Hey Iann, Pride's been great," Iann replied, making a joking riff on their last encounter. "You...uh, running this thing?"

Maya laughed at his greeting. It was far far easier for her to laugh now about their whole Freaky Friday situation. She knew she'd been a bit of a pain to deal with at the time. "Running might be a generous term, but I'm in charge of it," she replied, "Can I get you anything?"

"Mmm I dunno yet." Iann peered at the piles of things. "What do you got? Show me whatever's savoury, I guess. I don't have any sweet tooth."

Ephram lurched up behind Iann. "I got about eight sweet tooths to make up for him. You got anythang with berries?" Having finally gotten to the Blue Zone of the atronach block party, Ephram's hair was now in soft blueberry-coloured spikes to go along with the painted red arrow down one side of his face. He blinked at Iann. "Shit, Cardero -- you look like you're gonna fall over. Late night at the Stonefruit? Freddie said the place is hoppin'."

"Well," Maya replied, taking off her sunglasses, "I've got some croissants, non-magical, zucchini bread that'll boost your energy and in the cooler some take and bake pizza dough if you want something for later."

"Oh I want berries," Iann said, staring at Pettaline for a moment. He didn't recognize the other man immediately. He hadn't seen Pettaline since the witch got the Cinquefoil and now with him all painted up and Sir Pride-a-lot, he was virtually unrecognizable. "Fresh berries, though," Iann amended, and then hummed at Maya's offerings. "Isn't zucchini bread sweet? More like a cake...unless you make something different and just call it zucchini bread to fuck with people, haha."

Maya glanced over at Ephram, gave him a smile and replied, "Raspberry sweet swirls that'll literally make you feel like dancing, Linzer cookies with huckleberry jam and no magic and then blueberry ice cream in the cooler that'll make you feel like you're seventeen again." To Iann's question she shook her head, "Not especially. At least not as sweet as cake. You can try a slice if you want."

Iann held out his hand, never one to turn down samples of anything, especially things he could put into his mouth. "Give me a slice!"

"What, you think she's gonna use dried-up berries in the middle of berry season? What's wrong with you?" Ephram's prodding didn't hold any real annoyance, though, unlike his and Iann's usual interactions. "Back home in Apple Fall my cousin Jenga used to eat zucchini sandwiches. Most people would think that was zucchini in slices of bread but she used to make em from slices of zucchini between other pieces of zucchini. She said it was more authentic that way. I mean, she grew zucchini that was like the size of them Nerf baseball bats so they was pretty big sandwiches." He rubbed his hands together at Maya's recitation of what she had, saying, "I ain't never heard of a sweet swirl before! But I'll take one and a couple of them Linzer cookies. Don't much feel like ice cream, though." More like he didn't want to feel like seventeen again, but that wasn't anything he wanted to dwell on.

"Wow, thanks for the trip down to Apple Fall, Rose Nylund," Iann replied dryly, unable to help himself. He'd stopped listening after Pettaline mentioned he had a cousin named 'Jenga'. "Blueberry ice cream isn't baking. You're like all-purpose dessert-maker. There's a French fancy word for that, isn't there? Patisseroise, or something."

Maya cut Iann a slice of zucchini bread and handed it to him. "Wouldn't it be easier to just eat the zucchini whole? Skip all the cutting?" She nodded at his request. She packed it all into a little rainbow box before telling him the total. As far as Iann's comment, she shrugged, wearing an easy smile. "I'm also halfway decent at plain old cooking. Figured I should be well-rounded," she replied.

Iann "Do you have any butter."

Maya pulled out a small packet of butter from the cooler and tossed it to Iann before picking up one of the plastic butter knives and handing it to him.

Ephram gave a high hooting laugh at Iann's likening him to Rose, resolving to tell Freddie about that. "You'd think so, right?" he nodded at Maya. "But Jenga said she liked the sandwiches on account of she could alternate with green and yellow. She was a big one for stripes." He considered for a moment. "Actually she never ate zucchini whole. Her husband din't like to eat nothin' what looked much like it was phallic. He'd leave town when it was cucumber season."

Iann labouriously but thoroughly spread butter on the slice of bread. "I'm tired, yeah," Iann finally said, answering Pettaline's question from three minutes ago. "June's a busy fucking month. People with rainbows and shit, I don't know if you've noticed Sheriff. You cops sure are doing a half-ass job this month. Any excuse for the pigs to be lazy, huh?" It was grousing but of course it was ironic grousing. He'd taken note of the Sheriff Department's mission statement for their institutional involvement in Pride month, and of course it made sense. It was the epitome of goodness, really. But naturally, Iann had to give Pettaline a hard time about it, even mildly. Aside from some issues here and there, Pride month in Soapberry was an oasis for happiness and charity and awareness and all that socialist paradise crap. Iann took a bite of his bread. "Mmf. Not bad. Do you make them in buns? Baps? Muffins, or scone-ical forms? Like small ones."

Ephram handed over his money and accepted the little rainbow box with a pleased exclamation over its cuteness, but then stood there holding the pastry box in both hands as Iann scolded him about the police presence at this year's festivities. "Uh," he said, not familiar enough with run-of-the-mill Iann orneriness to be able to sort it out from the more usual Iann belligerence where he was concerned, "we's still around, I mean--" Ephram shrugged one shoulder, setting his feather epaulette waving. He figured that was good enough. "Happy Pride, oink oink."

Maya raised an eyebrow, "Seems a bit excessive, but to each their own I supposed." She took another sip from her Jones Soda while Iann either teased or mocked Ephram about Soapberry's policing of Pride. She couldn't quite tell which. As for Iann's question though, Maya considered a moment before saying, "Yeah, probably could make muffins out of it."

Ephram grinned at Maya, relieved to have somebody else to address other than Cardero. "So!" he said brightly, gesturing at the banner above her stall. "This happenin' soon? The shop I mean? You'ns gonna be sellin' ice cream and stuff as well as coffee and bakery baked goods?"

"Are those feathers from your own chickens?!" Iann exclaimed in mock-horror when Pettaline flicked the feather epaulette. "Don't pluck your chickens, man! Buddy owns fancy-ass chickens," Iann explained to Maya. "The type that look like they have better hairstyles than yours." Iann gave her a wink. "I guess they're more...feather-styles." Iann folded the bit of bread he still had and ate it in two bites, listening as the witches talked. He didn't quite follow what Pettaline was asking, and so he just looked at Maya to hear her response.

Ephram said serenely, "My chickens ain't none'a your pluckin' business, Cardero."

Maya laughed at Iann's teasing. "Hey man," she joked back, "This is my 'I woke up like this' hair." Turning back to Ephram, she nodded. "We're still settling on a location, but yeah, the whole thing's coming together. I haven't gotten as far as an exact menu, but I'll probably do some ice cream specials in the summer."

Iann glared at Pettaline, mouth working under his moustache. Because that was stupidly-funny and Iann did love stupidly-funny. But he resented that Pettaline thought of it, with his dumb blue hair and silly facepaint. "What're you even supposed to be?" he demanded, then motioned to Maya. "At least you look normal. Run-of-the-mill, even. None of that outlandish stuff for you." Then, at Maya's answer to the other witch, Iann finally remembered. "Oh - right - shit. A thing. You...ah...and Tuah. Right?" Iann licked butter off his thumb, and looked away, over Maya's shoulder and into the middle-distance. "Moving along at the usual Arjuna-pace with that, I see."

Ephram said before he thought better of it, "Ohhhhhhh yeah, you and Tuah used to be a thing! I forgot." He cleared his throat and said dryly to Iann's question, "I'm supposed to be queer and havin' a good time of it, Iann," before picking up the conversation with Maya. "You into all the sci-fi stuff too? Or is it gonna be a different sorter theme for the new place? I love theme stuff. It makes places stand out more to me. Like how there's those two shoe stores in Grieselle? I never remember the name of the one what just sells shoes. I only remember Rubber Sole because of how the salespeople dress like the Beatles."

Maya, not having the same hang up Iann did, was free to laugh at Ephram's reply. She laughed too as Iann referred to her look as run of the mill. "Ah, yes, what anybody's dying to hear that they look run of the mill," she teased. She was hardly offended though. It wasn't as if she'd especially put much effort into her look this morning. There were more important things on her mind. "Yep, Tuah and I are business partners," she said before adding to his second comment, "I don't mind how long it's taking. The whole endeavor still kind of freaks me out." To Ephram, she gave a shrug, "I do like my sci-fi, but I don't think we'll go that route this time around."

"Well to be fair, I look under-the-mill. The chaff that gets milled out and fed to....chickens," Iann said, satisfied that (in his mind anyway) they'd come full-circle. He was about to ask why it freaked Maya out, but then remembered her thing about being asked questions. So Iann nodded instead, and waited with considerable interest to hear more about her vision for this co-owned bakery. When she provided none (and again Iann knew better than to ask) he nodded once more. "Okay give me a pizza dough. I'm gonna make pizza tonight. And another slice - er, sample - of that zuchinni bread..." Iann got his wallet out. "Oh by the way, I found that nymph, Collette. I have to take down those signs."

"Well I'm sure you and Tuah are gonna come up with somethang real interesting between you." Ephram pried open one side of his pastry box to extract a cookie which he ate in two bites, giving Maya a thumbs-up at the flavour. But then he frowned at Iann when the man mentioned Collette, saying, "What was with that, anyhow? I know she din't show up a couple mornings for my birds -- which is fine, that ain't an issue -- but I din't realize she was missing. And you shoulda come filed a report with us at the station, Iann, come on now. Jes because you'n me don't get along it don't mean you need to bypass the help that the police could of given you."

Maya didn't provide many details because she simply didn't have them at the moment. There were so many decisions to make and without an actual location everything else was still kind of on hold. It wasn't something she minded talking about, but there just wasn't much set in stone yet. She nodded and pulled out a plastic wrapped pizza dough for Iann. She cut him another slice of bread, but didn't add that to the price she gave him. It was all for charity anyway. Maya handed over too another tab of butter. "Oh good," she said to the news that Iann had found Collette, "Is she alright?"

"Hell no, I wouldn't file a report. Cops, amirite? Gosh," Iann snorted and rolled his eyes at Maya, thumbing at Pettaline like 'get a load of this guy'. He took his dough and plopped it into his fannypack, waiting for Maya to tell him how much it was. "But no, she wasn't missing-missing. She just - well - it's complicated nymph stuff, but ah. I'm not sure if she's alright. She's alive and functional."

Ephram pointed at Iann's fannypack, noticing it for the first time when the man secured his pizza dough into it. "You're wearin' a fuckin' fanny pack in public and you tried to make fun of how *I* look? Jesus, Cardero." He shook his head. "I'm glad she's found. Is it like a Perl situation? How she was missing for a while but then when she came back she was all different and jumpy?" It would be a deeply sad thing if that were the case. Ephram was still gutted about Perl having to leave the Department.

Maya could understand why Iann wouldn't go to the cops. Especially if Collette wasn't 'missing-missing'. Maya had her own complicated history with law enforcement that had caused her to only go to them when she had no other choice. She gave Iann a 'what are you going to do' kind of shrug before telling him how much the pizza dough was. Her brow furrowed a little to hear that Collette was alive and functional, but not for sure alright. "Could you tell her I have that lavender fudge for her?" she asked. It wasn't much obviously, but maybe it would make the nymph feel a little better.

"These are all the fashion now! Ask the trend-setter here," Iann said, motioning to Maya first before handing her some cash. He pat his fannypack (which was currently sitting on his hip) in contentment. "I tried carrying around a satchel? Messenger bag? Whatever you want to call it, the purse for dudes who don't want to say they're carrying around a purse. But it kept getting lost or I forgot it places, or it got hooked onto things. It's bullshit. This little guy's never leaving me." When Maya mentioned lavender fudge, Iann had to bark a laugh, somewhat bitterly. "I will, sure. But is it Scottish lavender, little Iann."

Ephram didn't miss the little by-play between Iann and Maya when it came to the subject of police. It was jarring to him sometimes, how people seemed to assume that since he was the Sheriff here and now, it meant he was clueless as to what it was like on the other side of the law, but ... oh, well. He decided to take it as a sign that he was doing a good job, if he gave the impression that he'd rolled out of the womb wearing a badge. "I have a satchel. It's great."

Maya had to nod, "The fanny pack is making a comeback, especially with The Gays." She didn't miss the somewhat bitter quality to Iann's laugh. "Yep, as requested I made sure to get Scottish lavender, not that I really think it makes a difference," she paused, considered then added, "Although she is a nymph and can probably taste the difference."

"Fannypacks are Pride," Iann concluded. "Oh you better believe it makes a difference. An insurmountable difference that us mortals will never understand. Anyway, Collette's not living with me right now, so if you do see her, don't assume that I've told her about your fudge."

"I'm gonna keep right on with my satchel, if it's all the same to The Gays," Ephram snorted. "Collette ain't stayin' with you, what?" he asked Iann. "Where's she at? Is she doin' all right? What did you do to her?" It was an unfair assumption, of course, but considering the normally acrimonious relationship he had with Iann, Ephram automatically figured the human was the one to blame.

"No she moved out, she's at a motel. I suggested June's House," Iann offered, suddenly mild and even somewhat passive. "Since it's cheaper, cleaner, and overall better than a motel, so. She just has some things to figure out. And yeah, probably because of something - or things - that I did. Yeah. Can I get another 'sample' of that bread?"

"Basically," Maya agreed although to Ephram she added in a teasing tone, "I think The Council will be okay with that." She hadn't realized that since her return Collette hadn't been staying with Iann. With that new piece of information, she shook her head, "Oh never mind then. I thought you two were still living together. I can just tell her next time I see her." She listened quietly, taking another sip of her soda for Iann's explanation as to why Collette wasn't staying with him anymore. Unlike Ephram, she didn't assume Iann was completely at fault, even though he admitted it might be partially. "Which motel?" she had to ask, "Do you know?" Maya had to laugh when Iann asked for another sample of bread. "Sure," she joked, "Just know I'm considering feeding you as the charity this bread is going to."

Ephram recognized that particular flavour of resigned self-recrimination when he saw it -- he'd tasted it more than a few times himself -- and he felt faintly bad for having shoved Iann into that corner. "Sorry," he said, rubbing the back of his head. "I shouldn't jump to conclusions when I don't know shit bout whatever you'ns are to each other." He didn't say anything about June's House, that being something of a sore spot for him personally. "So long as she's not missing anymore and she's doin' all right. I mean, she's some sorter ancient war nymph, right? Ain't like she's a wilting flower."

Iann shrugged. "Don't apologize, it's a reasonable conclusion," he said, giving Pettaline a wry look. "When someone's upset, must be Cardero who got them there, huh? Makes sense to me." Iann adjusted his baseball cap, then started the process once more of meticulously buttering his third slice of zucchini bread. "I don't know the motel name, no. She wouldn't tell me." He smirked back at Maya. "Ohhhh great. Pity-bread. The saddest part is, I'll take it." He took a huge bite, then made a muffled noise behind his teeth, "Vut now ah neef currffee."

Ephram said testily, "I'll apologize when I reckon it's warranted and whenever I damn well feel like it, Cardero! And no, it ain't no foregone conclusion that you's the blame all the time. We might not get along but shit, I know enough bout you to know that much." After all, Ephram's husband counted Iann as one of his closest (if not THE closest) friends of all time, and Freddie felt no compunctions about talking up Iann's better qualities to his less-than-enthused audience of one. Ephram might have groused, but he'd still listened to all those glowing reviews and taken them to heart. "Maya ain't sellin' coffee, nimrod." He looked at Maya, one eye narrowing as he confirmed, "--you ain't sellin' coffee, are you? How bout them soda pops? I'm feelin' a mite parched my own self come to think of it."

Maya watched the interaction between the two men, but didn't comment on it. "Okay," she said. She would have to ask Collette next time she saw the nymph, just to make sure it wasn't the same motel she'd stayed at when she first arrived in town. Although as Ephram had pointed out, Collette wasn't exactly incapable of taking care of herself. "The sign does say 100% of proceeds go to charity, you were warned," she joked back. She pointed down the way and told him, "There's coffee about three stalls down. Mostly iced drinks though I think."

Iann made a face. "Guh I hate cold coffee. I don't get the point." Most of the stalls here were set up for 100% charity, which amused Iann in one way. People trying to out-do each other with how 'woke' they were, as the kids liked to say. Iann liked it; because true altruism was, after all, partially selfish in order to be true. The feel-good feeling people got for being so damn generous was worth all the charity information signs that beamed 100% with rainbow pride. Win-win for everyone involved. "Okay I give up. Give me the bread. This charity will pay your charity for whatever's left of the loaf. It's delicious and addictive."

Iann blinked, shocked and a little unsure how to respond to Pettaline vociferous and rather pleasantly unexpected reply; and since Iann had no idea how to respond to bouts of sincerity - especially if it was meant to be good towards him - instead Iann grinned and changed the subject entirely. "Show me the Cinquefoil!" He looked at Maya. "So buddy has a Cinquefoil, and he's made it work!"

Maya gave Ephram an apologetic smile, "Sorry, this is my personal stash. But I know a couple of fairies are selling homemade sodas in the next aisle over." To Iann, she argued, "Well, I'd say cold coffee and iced coffee aren't the same, but that's kind of semantics. Someone's probably got hot coffee for you though." She handed over the bread without any further argument. Considering the whole event was for charity she wasn't at all concerned about the dollars she was missing out on. If everyone had a good time and they made some money for organizations that did good work then it was all good. It was her turn to blink though at Iann's excited words. "He has a what?" she asked.

Ephram likewise made a face at Iann's sudden and loud demand. "I'm sure Maya don't wanna be exposed to the sight of it," he demurred, returning a mirror of her apologetic smile before hissing at Iann, "--since it's on my god damned hip and I'll have to hike down my trousers some to show you."

"Yes, I hate cold coffee..which is what iced coffee is," Iann said in confusion, then remembered that Maya was a very exact person. So he added for her benefit, "I hate iced coffee." He handed over more money for the loaf (he didn't ask her this time; her prices were notoriously underselling and this was no exception, even for the 100% charity proceeds) and then Iann laughed aloud when Pettaline explained where the Cinquefoil was. "Oh shit, it's on your hip! Well never mind then, you can show me later, I want to take a photo of it for my records." He tried to explain to Maya without getting into too much detail about the demon. "It's this thing - it's like a - well it's..." Iann spun a hand, then made an annoyed sound and turned to Pettaline. "You explain!"

"I just mean that cold coffee seems like hot coffee that's been left out for too long and gone cold whereas iced coffee is still fresh," she explained although she knew it was still all rather semantic. She took his money although she hadn't asked for it. It didn't matter to her personally, but she was happy to take money for other people. She listened as the two men seemed to change their minds based on where this Cinquefoil was located on Ephram's body. Although it wasn't as if Maya hadn't seen a man's hip before. Seeing as they seemed to decide against it, she didn't comment on that though. Instead Maya listened as Iann decidedly didn't explain what it was. She turned to look at Ephram when Iann turned the duty of explaining over to him.

"I'll tell you what iced coffee is: it's cold. And I don't like cold coffee - whether it's been left out too long, or had some ice tossed into it to make it cold. It's still cold and gross. Here - hold this," he handed Maya back the bread and marched off to find a cup of coffee.

"Fair enough," Maya replied as Iann walked off in search of hot coffee.

Fortunately, finding plain drip coffee wasn't too difficult, and Iann returned with a cup, looking far less agitated. He also had a bottle of sarsaparilla beer. "Here, this is for Foghorn Leghorn," he said, handing the bottle to Ephram as he then took his half-bread back, tucking it into his elbow like a precious child.

"Uh," Ephram said, not at all convinced that Maya was terribly interested in hearing about the Cinquefoil, but since she'd turned her attention to him he figured he might as well. "It's this lil magical artefact what helps to integrate a demon with the person it's inhabiting. Which is ... me?" To be honest he couldn't recall if Maya knew about Anaxis, even. None of this might make any sense to her at all. "I dunno if you know, but yeah. I got a demon in me and now it's completely under my control. Thanks to the Cinquefoil." Which he wouldn't have minded showing Iann, even in public, but Ephram had no intention of forcing Maya to witness anything even close to the act of him showing skin. He accepted the sarsparilla gratefully when Iann handed it over, bolting down a third of it.

Maya had, in all honesty, only passing interest in what a Cinquefoil was. But Iann seemed excited about it, so it seemed worth hearing about. She'd heard, awhile ago now, about the demon inside of Ephram. She listened as he explained what exactly the thing was. Upon learning that it had allowed him to completely control Anaxis, she made a mental note to try and do some research on it later. Maya wasn't entirely sure what to say about it now though. It had to be a big deal for Ephram. She could only guess at what having a demon riding shotgun might be like. "Congratulations," she settled on although she wasn't happy with it, "I guess, that seems kind of like an understatement, considering."

Ephram ducked his head a little in acknowledgement. "It's awright," he said hastily, faint annoyance with Iann rising up again. Why in God's name had the man brought up the damned Cinquefoil and by extension Anaxis in front of Maya, who couldn't possibly give a shit one way or the other? Embarrassed as he usually got when talking about the demon in front of people who didn't know or care, he finished his drink and wagged the bottle at them both. "Gonna go find somewheres to recycle this," he mumbled, readjusting his pastry box in his grip before loping off towards one of the disposal stations set up periodically through the venue.

Iann mildly watched Pettaline leave, still a little fascinated by how different the witch looked. Had it been that long since he'd last spoke or seen Pettaline? The answer was yes; but also the change was remarkable enough to be not just a matter of time. Pettaline didn't just change in terms of the demonic control - although that was a huge thing. But it also belatedly occurred to Iann that the whole Pride thing was being truly celebrated and embraced by the witch, perhaps for the first time in his life. Iann tongued the inside of his cheek, thinking about the various changes he'd witnessed in people, recently. He looked over at Maya. "What were you again? A Lady of whatever? Servant girl? You seem quite recovered from all that. 'Seem' being the operative word, of course."

Maya watched Ephram go without saying anything since she wasn't sure if he was going to come back. But clearly he'd been made uncomfortable. She turned her attention to Iann as he asked her about that strange alternate reality they'd all ended up in. Her memories around it were mostly foggy, but she picked the general gist. "Both, I think," she answered, "And I mean, it wasn't so bad for me, I got bit by a snake and yelled at, it felt like a lot, but not so bad all things considered. What about you? Didn't you, like, die?"

"That's right! I was there when you were snake-bitten, you were saying such strange things. Well, strange for that world. Makes me wonder if maybe when the snake bit you, you reverted into this-Maya's modern mind...now that would be interesting." Iann licked his teeth, considering that possibility. "I still can't quite figure out what the hell that was all about, even. Why it happened. I mean I've been in this town long enough to know shit will happen, but I get antsy when there's no real rhyme or reason." Not that Iann had much time to contemplate. Between all the other work he'd thrown himself into with other people - and then Pride month on top of that - Iann barely had much time to himself at all. Which was exactly the way he liked it. "I totally died! My brother gave me a plague that made me eyeballs explode and my internal organs melt and my skin break out into pustules. It was terrible." And 'terrible' was an understatement. "Apparently, then Inquisitor Savin found and destroyed Miguel."

"Maybe," Maya replied, "Although, I was also pretty out of it. Whatever that sage dude gave me was some strong shit. But maybe high medieval Maya was the same as sober normal Maya." She understood what he meant about the lack of apparent reason being uncomfortable. "Yeah, I'd like to know why too. If there even is an answer," she agreed. "Shit, dude. Miguel killed you? How's that working out?" Maya asked. They couldn't exactly be blamed for their actions in that other version of Soapberry, but still having someone kill you seemed like it would strain the relationship.

"Ah, we worked it out. I personally thought it was pretty epic what he did, but Prince-me was really really sore about it. 'Prince-me'." Iann snorted. "If only I was talking about Purple Rain Prince, the only cool Prince to ever exist, ever."

Maya had to nod, "Sure, reasonable to be sore about someone murdering you." She laughed at his claim, but couldn't disagree with him. "Well I'm glad to be in a world where talking about a prince usually either means Prince or someone finally watched Game of Thrones. I would not have wanted to get stuck in that world."

"I guess..." Iann said doubtfully, as if he was personally questioning: was it reasonable to be sore about someone murdering him? Was it, really? Suddenly, Iann didn't feel too sure about that. "That's true. No flushable toilets, guhhhh. No showers. No anti-perspirant." He returned to the thought about soreness. "I wonder if Miguel's mad at Savin for destroying him?"

Maya wasn't entirely surprised that Iann's tone suggested that he doubted his princely self had a right to be sore about being murdered. She still thought it was reasonable, but she wasn't surprised that Iann might take a different, less traditional view. "Depending on the situation, I suppose it'd be reasonable too not to be sore about it. But seems like being murdered by someone would be as good a reason as any to be upset with them." She nodded, an expression of fairly enthusiastic agreement on her face when he listed just a few of the drawbacks of that world. "Don't know," she said, "You'd have to ask Miguel that."

Iann hadn't been thinking of his Prince-self so much as just...himself. "Oh yeah? What sort of situation are you thinking of?"

Maya shook her head, "I wasn't think of any specific situation. Just that I couldn't definitely say how a person might feel after getting murdered."

"Well I can definitely say how a person might feel after getting murdered..." Iann said, slightly gloomy as he thought about it. It wasn't even the first time, even; and perhaps that made it even more weird. But it was nothing he was going to bring up with Maya, and not while the day was sunny and bright and cheery. "Well..." Iann said, because by now he'd kind of run out of safe topics to broach with Maya. He looked hopeful that maybe she had something to comment on.

Miguel was enjoying this pride a lot more than the last one. Maybe the fact that he didn't have to put any of it together, didn't have to deal with dramatic drag queens or getting a heinous number of permits from the sheriff department. All he did was show up and eat the pretty colorful foods, and sniff at the pretty colorful drinks and wonder if they were actually edible. His ears caught his own name and he glanced around to see his tall dumb brother, who he made a beeline for, he careened into Iann, bumping shoulders with a thud. "Talking shit, 'mano?"He said it with a grin.

"Yeah, I've only almost been murdered a couple of times," Maya replied with an easy shrug, "I was pretty sore about it though." She shrugged, not exactly eager to go too much further down this path of conversation. She took another sip of her soda. From what she had gathered Iann wasn't a big fan of small talk for it's own sake, so she didn't want to ask him something just for the sake of it. She was about to ask if the Inn was having any events for Pride, out of genuine curiosity. But then Miguel appeared before she had a chance.

Dressed for the block party Alessa'd walked all the way there before she spotted the sheriff and turned 180 degrees and walked directly away. She was NOT risking her job just to go to a party. She walked or a while before coming to the town square where there were she headed for a baked goods stall. She stands on her toes to see around the people already there wondering how bakes goods could lead to the trailed off conversation of murder.

"Oh - looks like you got another customer, watch out this guy is very particular about heart-health so hide your croissants," Iann said, when Miguel popped up beside them. Iann was grinning though, teasing his younger brother. Another young woman stepped curiously towards the pastry display though, an actual legit customer (he didn't consider Miguel legit, he was just Miguel) and Iann helpfully said to her, "I recommend the zucchini bread. She's handing out free samples, so you could try it if you want."

Miguel flashed his grin at Maya then. "Ooh, I want free samples. And I'll buy a croissant because they're delicious and I'm not particular about heart health, nope, nu-uh, not me." He wanted to support the other witch in her business, sometimes it was hard to integrate magic with your job - but Maya had found a way to blend the things she liked, and Miguel thought it was interesting. It was also tasty.

"Unfortunately, Iann bought the last of the zucchini bread. I went for variety over quantity. But I can hook you up with a croissant," Maya said and handed one over on a napkin. She told him the price as well. "And you should probably let the person behind you through too," she added, gesturing to the person peeking over their shoulders.

Essie simply raises a hand in the air to be noticed from behind the two men. Responding to the first with a quick "I'm in it for something sweet actually, you got a recommendation for that sort of thing?" sharing her question with the woman behind the stall counter with a smile she hoped could be seen.

"I do not, but the baker will! She's that one right over there -" Iann said, pointing at Maya.

Maya laughed, "See, I'd recommend just about anything, but I did make all of it and I am trying to raise money here. So not sure I can be trusted." She sat up a little straighter, "What kind of stuff do you usually like?"

Miguel took his croissant and stepped aside so the next person could go, sticking his tongue out as his brother as he went. It was a good croissant, warm and fluffy and flaky. Miguel mentally kicked himself for not having Maya add chocolate to it. That would have been ideal.

Iann reached behind Maya and retrieved her bread knife. He flopped the half-loaf of zucchini bread on a wood counter space and carved off a slice, handing it to Miguel. "Here, try this now."

Alessa gaining full access to the spread on the table Alessa looks on with eyes like saucers at the variety. "Anything with fruit, anything with chocolate." she tells the other excitedly. "And I'll take three."

Maya smiled to see the newcomer's eyes light up when she looked at the table. To her that was at least half the point of baking anything to make people happy. "I've got raspberry sweet swirls that'll literally make you feel like dancing, Linzer cookies with huckleberry jam and no magic and then blueberry ice cream in the cooler that'll make you feel like you're seventeen again as far as fruit and well, what's in front of you as far as chocolate," she explained.

"Oh that reminds me, there's a fruit stall over there with local strawberries," Iann said, when the young woman mentioned fruit. "Apparently the strawberries are from this vampire's secret garden of enchanted heritage-strain berries. I want to try them. Apparently they taste like 'real' strawberries - you know, how they used to taste before mass production."

Miguel happily ate the bread and was surprised by the flavor. It did taste a bit like zucchini, but not in the way he had expected. He watched the person who had been behind him stare hungrily at all the confections Maya had made, he could related. He wanted to try a bit of everything. But then Iann was bringing up strawberries and... "¿Las fresas de herencia? ¿No mames?" He wanted to get his hands on those strawberries. "We gotta try that 'mano."

Alessa making a decision was tough but she made a quick one before her attention was torn reluctantly away from the confections towards a fruit stall. Staring off at the fruit stall she ordered "Three swirls if you have 'em and some of that ice cream maybe?" squinting across the way she asks "Is the 'real' taste supposed to be better or worse?" glancing back over her shoulder at the men and then over to the woman once again with a smile "Oh sorry, i would like them please." polite, very comically belated but still polite.

Maya gave a nod, "Sounds good." She started packing up the swirls and scooping out the ice cream while Iann and Miguel talked about strawberries. Like them she was curious what these pre-industrial ag strawberries might taste like. However Maya was stuck at the stall. Perhaps she could convince one of them to bring her back some. She shook her head at the young woman's apology. "Don't worry about it," Maya said before telling her the price of everything.

"Hell yeah," Iann grinned in pleasure, as if he and Miguel had just agreed to do something totally wild and spontaneous like slam back a bottle of tequila and then surf down a waterfall. But, well. Sometimes one just wanted to be wildly enthusiastic about strawberries. "If I could only eat one fruit for the rest of my life? It'd be berries," he proclaimed to Miguel, and then looked down at the piping voice of the small woman. "I think real taste should taste better. Like an actual strawberry taste which...who knows if any of us have ever tried." Iann tapped his fingers together in an 'oooh hoo hoo hoo' way. But before heading to the fruit stall, he said to the younger woman - "Who are you anyway? I haven't seen you around town, but then you are very small." (Iann was secretly pleased that he managed to work a Treebeard quote into his daily conversation).

"Woah woah woah!" Miguel held up his hand to stop his brother. "You can't say all berries that's way more than one fruit. I would choose mangoes, and if you can choose all berries then I choose all mangoes like South American mangoes plus Asian mangoes. That's my fruit." Miguel didn't think it would taste that good, but he wasn't going to tell Iann that. Mostly he just expected it to be less sweet. He looked over the young lady and smiled, he wanted to know who she was too.

"Okay maybe not..." Iann squinted, trying to think of a berry he'd reject. But he was coming up blank. "Okay you get all the mangoes, I'll get all the berries. Lopez can have all the boring fruit like citrus." Iann gave a mean laugh, but then shook his head ruefully. "No, no. I can't be mean to citrus, it's a damn good family. Not as good as berries, but."

Digging in her pockets for the correct change Alessa smiled brightly at the woman and thanked her "I can't wait to try it." she told her genuinely. Now she turned around fully to the two men. "Essie Caird." she introduced. "I'm particularly new to town you could say." she emphasised with a small flourish of her hands, holding out two of the swirls to the men. "And I find the best way to meet people is to buy them food, am I correct? And I can already tell they're delicious." she compliments the woman flashing her a bright smile also.

This Essie was certainly chipper and bright, and knew all the right things to say. Iann wouldn't eat the proffered pastry because he knew it would make him feel like dancing (although he hoped Miguel didn't know that, because it would be funny) but he took it anyway as a sign of good faith. "Well that's certainly a nice way to meet people. I guess I should extend the same courtesy. Here --" Iann extracted another slice off the zucchini bread, and offered it to Essie. "Right back atcha, Essie Caird. I promise my hands are clean. Just a little jammy from the swirl."

Offered bread in return Alessa takes it and smiles. "Thank you, can I have your name too or is it a one way thing?" She hadn't expected anything in return but she stood by her opinion that food shared was the best way to get on a persons good side. She takes a bite herself before offering the bread to her open purse, where her familiar poked his head out and took a nibble. She only allowed him one single small bite before she pulled it away.

"Oh shit where are my manners. I'm Iann, Iann Cardero. I run an Inn, over in Grieselle," he replied, and was about to offer his hand to shake, but then got distracted by the little head that poked out of Essie's purse. "Holy shit, is that a rat?" He didn't seem too alarmed, just curious - because the creature had to be a familiar of some sort. It looked intelligent. But was it a fairy familiar, or a witch familiar?

"And I'm Miguel... Reyes Ojeda," he awkwardly added his last names as Iann said his own. "It's a ferret," Miguel sounded excited, but he held it in so not to make the familiar feel awkward. Where was his head? He hadn't even shaken hands with Essie yet. "Hello to you too, little fella."

Faye wandered through the crowd, stopping here and there to talk to people she knew. She wasn't doing anything in particular, just mingling for the moment and taking in the atmosphere of the day. This was always a fun event, and it made Faye happy to see so many other people being happy. Spotting a few familiar faces, Faye made her way over with a small wave of greeting. "Am I the only one day drinkin'?" she grinned, taking a sip of her drink.

"What're you drinking, mamacita?" Iann asked, watching as Faye sauntered over. "You look like you're soaking up the festivities."

Alessa tried not to be offended by the rat comment, she reacts very calmly shaking her head, Finn on the other hand poked his head further out of her purse and fixes his beady eyes on Iann. When the other man introduces himself and identified correctly the species of her familiar she introduces the men to him "This is Finn." She grows quiet as a woman she doesn't know makes her way over, she doesn't want to be in their way at all so takes a step backwards to make room in front of the stall.

"Not sure," Faye said to Iann as she peered into her glass. "Some fairy was passin' 'em out over there." She nodded towards a vendors stall across the way. "Tastes like cherries." Noticing the unfamiliar woman, Faye waved. "Hey there. I'm Faye. Don't mind me," she smiled.

"Maya," Maya said by way of introducing herself, "And hello Finn." She knew better than to not treat a fairy's familiar like anything less than a full sentient being. She smiled at Faye's approach and replied, "I mean, if you bring me one I'll day drink with you."

"Give me a taste," Iann said, because he suddenly wanted to try everything here. He always had an appetite, but communal food was way more enjoyable. "Oh! A ferret," Iann said, and wasn't surprised at the creature's glare. That unimpressed look certainly confirmed to Iann that the ferret was no witch familiar. "Finn, the...fairy familiar, I'm guessing. Pleased to meet you, Finn," Iann gave the familiar a nod. He grinned at Essie. "Which makes you a fairy!"

Faye gave the little familiar a nod of hello as she let Iann have her drink. "Like mother like daughter," Faye grinned over at Maya. "Hang on..." She jogged back over to the fairy with the tray of drinks and came back with one for Maya and one for Iann if he liked the sample of hers. If not, Faye would just add it to her glass. "Here ya go." She handed Maya the cup. "I"m sorry I didn't catch your name," the witch said to the fairy with the ferret familiar.

Alessa raises a hand at each woman as they introduce themselves to her, she repeats her own introduction back when Faye returns from fetching more drink. "I'm Essie and this is Finn." she bounces her purse much to Finns chagrin. "Yeah, makes me a fairy." she confirms for Iann. "You're all very familiar with each other I don't mean to butt in or anything."

Iann took the wine, and handed it to Alessa. "Here - I hope you're legal enough to drink. If not then who cares. I actually gotta butt out - I suddenly remembered why I even had to emerge from Stonefruit in the first place. I'll be back later, hm? I can't forget the strawberries." He gave Alessa a nod and then gave Maya and Faye a wave of goodbye, at least for now.

"Nice to meet you Essie." Faye smiled at the bouncing ferret. "And you ain't botherin' nobody, honey. You're more than welcome to hang out. I like meetin' new people, and somethin' tells me you're new to town?"

"Nice to meet you too." Alessa responds waving Iann a goodbye as he heads out, adopting his glass as her own easily. "Very very new in town." she confirms. "Still waiting to see if I'm getting a job sort of new."

"Oh yeah? Where're you applyin' to?" Faye asked.

Essie shoots both women a little bit of an embarrassed glance, brushing hair behind her ear "Well I've only ever been a receptionist before so I started with those kinds of jobs. I've only had one interview so far. The sheriffs department. I think it went well but honestly it was unlike any interview I've ever done."

Maya gave Iann a wave as he headed out. She felt perfectly content to sip her fresh drink while Faye asked Essie about her being new in town. "Unlike any interview how?" she had to ask though.

"And I've only ever really been a bartender," Faye told Essie, giving her a smile. "Until I got here and they decided that I was qualified to be a teacher. Who knew?" she grinned. "

"Well the sheriff, seems very nice but much more lax than I'm used to. Said it clearly that it was more of a chat than anything, I didn't know quite what to do with it." Alessa admits to Maya. A lighter curious expression is aimed for Faye "What do you teach?"

Maya relaxed back into her chair almost immediately. Despite her trust in the current Sheriff's department, she'd heard too many stories to not ask about a statement like that. "Hopefully that's a good sign. I think they just promoted their receptionist, so they're probably in need," she said.

"Defense Against Dark Magic mostly," Faye said as she sipped her drink. "Though they're thinkin' of changin' the name to 'Defense Against Misused Magic.' To be more politically correct." Faye huffed. "As if I need people runnin' around make 'DAMM class' jokes."

"yeah hopefully, seemed like a really good job, I'd really like to work there but I guess it depends if my personality was alright. Got a little tense about it all at the time. But hey we'll see right?" Essie snorts at the abbreviation "That's a road to certain destruction that name change is."

"It definitely is," Faye said. "Hopefully they just leave it like it is."

A nudge from Finn leads Alessa to look at her watch and realize she had another interview in an hour. "Speaking of interviews I'd better go get ready for my next one. It was really nice to meet you both, I hope to see you around." and with a small wave she's jogging off quickly through the crowd.

When Ephram got back to the atronach block party, it was just in time for Danny to hand Addie back to him, making some sort of excuse about having to go that was so mired in Aussie-isms that Ephram only barely grasped what he was saying. But the fairy was making rapid tracks when Cassie rejoined them, and Ephram said, "Uh ... he had to go ... throw some shrimp on the barbie? I really got no idea what he was sayin'." Ephram indicated his now blueberry-coloured hair, saying, "I got this done while Danny was takin' care of Addie, ain't it neat?" He shifted the child from one arm to the other so that she could accept one of the huge gumballs from a passing ride attendant, saying, "Is there somethang awkward between you and Danny? He seemed mighty het up bout it. The other place, I mean."

Cassie blinked a little surprised, "Danny was looking after her?" It wasn't somethig she'd ever ask of the fairy anyways. They weren't overly close here anyways. But Addie looked perfectly content, especially since Ephram helped her get one of the large gumballs she was so keen on. "I like the blue-" She smiled slightly, "By the way," But the pull of her lips faltered when Ephram asked about Danny's mood. Cassie wasn't exactly surprised but...she'd only been gone for a few minutes. She ran a hand through her hair, "We might have been...um-" Cassie cleared her throat, "Comfortable with one another. And it's hard. Cause it's different here." She sighed heavily, "That's all."

Ephram looked sympathetic. "Awww, I'm sorry, Cassie," he said sincerely. "Reckon I got off lucky, all things considered -- no lasting awkwardness or memories of havin' killed people or been killed. It must be hard for you two, gettin' close there but not here. Memories and emotions that cain't quite be reconciled." Although Danny seemed to be taking it harder and on more of a personal level than Cassie, which was to be expected. The fairy was surprisingly fragile when it came to his emotions. "Come to think of it I did sorter leave 'im no choice when it came to lookin' after Addie for a few minutes, whoops. But she's a lil trooper, ain't you, darlin?" Addie was more concerned with her big yellow gumball than anything else, trying to figure out how to eat it when it was beach-ball sized. Ephram clucked and took her hand in his, pressing her fingers against the candy. "Jes think about makin' a lil hole in it," he urged the baby witch. "You can do that. I hear you's all sorts've talented when it comes to magic."

Cassie nodded slowly in agreement with Ephram. There wasn't really a more simple way to put it, and clearly with Danny still sore, no proper way to fix it either. "Yeah well," Cassie shrugged, "What can you do? I'm just trying to keep moving forward is all." She was glad when the attention was shifted back to Addie and watched with raised brows as Ephram tried to show the toddler how to eat her oversized treat. "I don't think a hole-" Cassie began, but was cut short when the gumball exploded into several pieces, some of the yellow chunks hitting those walking past. Cassie ducked slightly, with a cringe on her face but Addie broke into squeals of laughter, clapping her hands, "Boom, boom!" Before she reached for one of the gumball shards and stuck it into her mouth. Cassie reached out slightly, "Make sure she doesn't swallow that. Oh geez."

Ephram urged, "Chew chew chew!" to Addie, snagging a shard of gumball and shoving it in his own mouth to demonstrate with big exaggerated motions. "It's gum! You gotta -- hey, this stuff's really good, Cassie, you gotta try it." He laughed and blew a bubble, the gum swirling into different shades of yellow as Addie squealed gummily in delight.

Cassie watched in amusment as Ephram and Addie enjoyed the colorful, slightly enchanted bubblegum. At insistance, she took a chunk of the gumball, but slipped it into her pocket for later. "I'll chew it in a bit. There's gotta be some snacks with more substance we can try."

Ephram nodded enthusiastically. "The Green Zone! I skipped over it so's I could get my hair done in Blue, but there was tons of food there." He chewed his wad of gum to one side of his mouth like a cow, linking his free arm in Cassie's and steering her forth from Yellow to the next zone. Almost immediately, the air was flooded with all sorts of savoury scents, the Green Zone enchanted to be bigger once inside than its actual physical footprint and to contain the foodie aromas. Ephram immediately bought an ice cream bar covered in rainbow-coloured crunchy bits, explaining as he devoured half of it, "--appetizer."

Cassie followed Ephram as he guided her to the correct area with all the food stalls. The smells almost instantly got Cassie salivating, and when Ephram stopped to grab a rainbow popsicle she bent slightly, and fished the chewed gum out of Addie's mouth before tossing it in a nearby trash can. Before the toddler could put up much of a fuss, Cassie purchased a small cup of rainbow softserve and handed it over. She got a small spoon for the girl, but Addie went into the icecream hands first. "Sorry." Cassie sighed, taking a step back to grab handfuls of napkins. Her brows raised when she noticed another stall and pointed, "Is that chocolate dipped cheesecake?!"

Ephram only laughed at Addie's dive right into her softserve. "Don't even worry bout it," he assured Cassie. "Back home in Apple Fall I used to look after my cousin Lilybee's twins when they was just startin' to eat solid food and they'd insist on feedin' each other. Only neither of em was a dab hand with utensils so they'd use their hands and then when they got frustrated with that they'd jes sorter ... dump food on each other and lick it off." They'd reached the cheesecake stall by that point, which turned out to also serve salty flavours, so Ephram asked for chocolate-dipped for Cassie and blue cheese and pear for himself. "Ain't I fancy?" he boasted with a grin. "Freddie's opened up my palate from what all I grew up with. Although I still do eat pimento cheese whenever I get the chance, don't get me wrong."

"Dumping food?" Cassie repeated a little wearily, "Are you telling me that's what I have to look forward to with two?" She was contented though when she received her cheescake slice, and took a hefty bite carefully chewing the cold treat as she watched Ephram pick out his second snack. "Well, I'll say you surprised me." She commented on his expanded palette. "If you like that, have Freddie make you try a baked cranberry and brie log sometime." She grinned at the memory of the appetizer, "It's delicious."

"Cranberry and brie, will do. It sure sounds good. When we was makin' them cranberry and popcorn strands to decorate the tree at Christmas, Freddie got extra because he knew I'd eat em before they even made it up." Ephram chortled at the memory, then said, "Might not work that way with one older and one littler! Twins are weird, we all know that. Oh, shoot, Cassie--" Ephram stared at her with rounded eyes, the blue vivid under his blue hair and against the red arrow-stripe down the side of his face, "--there ain't no chance you're havin' twins, is there?"

His words were scandalized but from his tone it was obvious that Ephram thought this notion utterly amazing. "I mean I know we talked about you havin' multiple babies because of possible multiple fathers but I don't mean that this time I just mean normal twins! Well as normal as twins can be, since they ain't normal, they got them twin-languages and all."

Cassie looked at Ephram a little strange due to his fallen expression. She didn't know what was running through his mind exactly, but she didn't get why men always seemed to want more. "Lilo would like it I'm sure." She mentioned, her voice a little flat and dry, "But I'd need more than just a bigger pram. Try extra arms and a bigger house. To start with." The corner of her mouth upturned, showing Ephram she didn't take it too much to heart. She got a corndog snack along side Ephram, breaking off a few pieces for Addie. Both mother and daughter made a slight face, the mineral enhancements weren't something they were a fan of. When Ephram mentioned Iann though, Cassie pouted her lip slightly in thought, "What? Mmm...I think he mentioned Elena a while ago. I didn't realize she was still there, or that he invited a nymph after moving out of Stonefruit." It was slightly surprising, given what she knew about him and Ciara. "What? Are you jealous?" She laughed suddenly.

"All's I'm prepared to offer is the pram, woman." Ephram grinned, also intending to keep it light. He held out his hand for the rest of Cassie's ... cornrock? rockdog? ... thing, since he liked them fine. "Jealous? Naw, I ain't jealous. My livin' arrangements suit me right down to the ground, thank you, and neither Freddie nor Oliver's super keen on havin' extended house guests. Hell, I totted my own Daddy out when he was in town and asked to stay, heh, so I reckon I'm the same." He raised his eyebrows as he finished the last of the food and threw away the sticks, looking around for the next enticing item.

"Your dad was in town?" Cassie inquired. It was really the only thing that stuck out to her, but the news of Ephram kicking him to the curb, or just short of it seemed well fitted to, from the little she knew. She looked around with Eprham for their next tasting spot and started to head towards a cart that made fresh crepes. "Well, that mansion has tons of room. But I get it, wanting your own space. I'll just make sure the babysitting isn't extended." She snickered, "Although, I have to say Freddie is being very sweet about it."

"It was a while back! He wasn't here long, which is to be expected. The man's slicker'n an otter givin' birth in a vat of olive oil." Ephram perked up at the sight of crepes, requesting one filled with spinach and cheese, one with lemon and sugar, and one with ffluvofruit paste which the crepemaker assured him tasted like currant jelly. "Extended babysitting's so different though! You don't gotta make conversation and deal with any emotionally taxing stuff or worry bout whether or not having real loud graphic sex is gonna be an issue. Not that any of that sex is gonna take place near the baby, of course," he hastened to add with a shake of his head, telling Addie, "same for if you come over with your brother. You don't even know what that is and we aim to keep it that way."

Addie wanted her mother again, though, so Ephram set the little girl down on her feet so he could collect the crepes. "Freddie's being incredible. I know when he decided on this, he was doin' it for me, but I think he's really gettin' into it now, the idea of bein' uncles to lil Albie. I mean if nothin' else, it gives him the chance to shop for baby things, and Lord knows baby things are adorable."

"What did he want though?" Cassie asked. Parents like Ephram's father didn't just show up for a friendly hello. At the crepe stand Cassie ordered nutella and strawberries and cream filled crepes. Her sweet tooth had yet to be satisfied. She chuckled at Ephram's view on babysitting, "I suppose some of that's true." She was glad Ephram caught and corrected his own slightly questionable adult topics, though really he was safe. Addie didn't know anything, the only worry Cassie had was she might parrot it at the worst possible moment. "Baby stuff is the best to shop for." She agreed with a grin. "I'm glad you're all getting some fun out of it."

Ephram shrugged. "Harlan? He had some cockamamie story bout business in town, but I reckon he got antsy that Freddie rumbled him. I married a con man same as my Momma did, heh, only mine's reformed." He folded his lemon sugar crepe up and mowed it down in two bites with a satisfied hum. "Everthang's so tiny! And cute! And it gives Freddie the chance to--" Ephram stopped himself, and when he continued his voice was much more gentle. "His mom left him when he was very little, and his dad's sort've a D-I-C-K. Might be doin' him some good to spend time thinkin' on what might make a sweet lil' baby boy happy."

Cassie never thought of Ephram marrying Freddie as a mirror of his father, but of course Ephram would know better than anyone. "Well, as long as he didn't cause any trouble." She watched how Ephram ate his crepe without any utensils and attempted the same folding. Except it took her a few more bites, and the last one once again went down to Addie who was watching it intensely. Cassie smiled a bit sadly at the news of Freddie's parents. "It seems like most fathers are D-I-C-K's." She muttered, "I'm glad he's getting the chance. And I'm super lucky our tastes sort of align." Cassie smirked, "When it comes to fashion and decor anyways."

Ephram polished off most of his cheese and spinach crepe, saving the last morsel for Addie as well. "You two really do have the same tastes in baby stuff, it's sorter uncanny," he chuckled. "I mean, you don't really have the same dress sense -- he's more glitzy -- but I suppose dressing rooms ain't the same as dressing your body, huh?"

Cassie nodded, "No that's fair. I forgot he has a mansion to decorate." Cassie laughed, watching as Addie happily took the pieces of crepe from the adults and took nibbles back and forth from savory to sweet. "Yum, yum!" Cassie folded her arms for a moment on her belly, "But he does have good taste in more traditional pieces too. That's all I meant."

Ephram sampled his ffluvofruit paste crepe, opening and closing his mouth a few times to try and figure out if he liked it or not. Addie clamoured for some so he pinched off a bit for her, in case she didn't care for it, and said, "His major concern was if Albie would need a bunch'a big brightly coloured plastic things, heh. But tell you the truth, I ain't so much for those neither. I like baby stuff what's handmade and looks like your family could of made it for you, not the latest Duplo toys." Ephram grinned, scrunching his nose. "One of the very few things I'm a snob about."  

"Ah right, well the wood sheep should have been a sign of that." Cassie spoke, watching Addie hesitantly try Ephram's second crepe with him before tossing it on the ground and sticking out her tongue. "So that's a no then?" Cassie asked, bending down to discard the food properly, "No!" Addie repeated. "You don't think Albie is too close to Addie hmm?" Cassie inquired, since Ephram and Freddie clearly favored that nickname and made it known, "I just didn't want to confuse them down the line. You know, the similarity really was not on purpose." She grinned somewat guilty.

Ephram made a face. "Naaaaaw," he said. "Plenty of kids have similar names when their folks wanna have em in like, a theme or a matched set or whatever. Besides, if we's the only ones callin' him Albie, he'll get used to bein' somethang else at home, right? You'ns gonna call him Albert proper? Or Mateo? I like Mateo, it sounds like a smart kid name."

Cassie let out a loud laugh, "Matched set? Oh my god..." Not that Cassie doubted the idea at all. She shrugged, "I was thinking Bertie. But Albie is good too. It really just depends what seems to fit him best. Albert is for when he is in trouble. You know how that is." Her smile still lingered as she pulled Addie a little bit closer and wiped some of the food and crepe leftover from her mouth. "And Albert doesn't sound smart? What about Einstein? Or Prince Albert." She squinted playfully at Ephram then, "You're funny."

"Bertie at home and Albie with his uncles! I used to get my full complete includin' the middle name called when I was in trouble seein' as I din't have no shorter version of my name. Only Harlan called me Effie now and again but it wasn't ... he wasn't meaning it in a nice way, really." Ephram rolled his eyes and unconsciously touched his floofy blue hair, the feathers on his shoulders. "Anyhow. Einstein I'll give you, but Prince Albert? I'm fair sure most folks think of the genital piercing when they hear that, not no actual prince." He grinned at Cassie's teasing comment. "I'm funny 'cause Ephram sounds like a funny kid name."

"I just hope he doesn't have an identity crisis at a year old." Cassie commented, "My parents just liked calling me by full name all proper like. Big surprise right?" She rolled her eyes and scoffed, "Thanks Ephram. For that. I think when looking at a baby you might be the only one who'll think of a genital piercing." Her gaze was blunt and irritated, "Really." She flicked one of the feathers on his shoulders, "I'd say your funny past the name. But at least it makes you unique."

"Listen, if Southern folks can be fine havin' roundabout five separate names each, Albie's gonna rock the double name with no problems." Ephram laughed at Cassie's confession, saying, "Considering I call you Miss Germaine in my head half the time? Nope, no surprise." He looked innocent and wounded, though, when she scolded him about mentioning piercing. "What? It ain't my fault nobody knows no more bout the human prince and just know the piercing now! I din't make it up!"

"Miss Germaine is too formal." Cassie said, fiegning a sort of shock that Ephram continued to use the title. In reality, he still made up names for her all the time. "What was the last thing you called me? Miss Britchypants or something?" As Ephram tried to defend his reasoning though, she wasn't exactly convinced. "You can't say nobody knows about the proper Prince Albert. He was a Queen Consort of England, supported sciences and arts during the 1800s. You're telling me Freddie never rambles off about royalty?" Cassie would find that even harder to believe.

"Miss Germaine is exactly formal enough for the likes of you." When Cassie tried to remember the last thing he'd called her, Ephram crowed and said, "Missy Britches! For when you's being insufferably hoity-toity, like right now." He looked shocked at Cassie's protests concerning the dignity and reputations of royalty, putting one hand to his chest. "Are you kidding? Freddie's English! Don't nobody give less of a shit about British monarchs and the throne than English folks. He'd probly say that havin' a--" Ephram lowered his voice so Addie couldn't hear, "--dick piercing named after him is a bigger honour than this ol' Prince Albert deserved."

"Whatever." Cassie waved off Ephram's nickname again trying to fight back her amused little grin. She looked at him exasperated then though, placing a hand on her hip, "I know Freddie is English." Her expression pulled into uncertainty when Ephram insisted the fairy wouldn't give two figs about monarchs. Sure, he knew Freddie better but it still just seemed wrong. Maybe if Freddie was a disgruntled peasant he wouldn't care, but he clearly had come from some sort of class distinction. She wondered if this was just her alternate reality brain fogging in and shook her head to try and clear it away. "Either way. He'd still know who Prince Albert was." Cassie said, sticking her tongue out stubbornly.

Ephram responded by raising his nose loftily. "And I'm tellin' you -- he'd know, but he'd have as much reverence for Prince Albert as he does for Colonel Mustard." He considered for a moment. "Maybe less. He knows I really like eating mustard. Right out of the bottle sometimes."

Cassie looked at Ephram incredulous, trying not to break into giggles at him, "What Colonel Mustard? That's a board game character!" Her brow creased for a moment, "Do you mean Colonel Custard?" She made another face at the witch's proclomation towards the yellow condiment, "Yeah, I remember. Definetly worse than how you used to go through peanut butter." She teased lightly.

Ephram looked incredulous now. "Colonel Custard? Girl, are you talkin' bout General Custer?" He guffawed heartily, slapping his knee. "Man, we's at all sorts of cross-purposes now. I did mean the character from Clue! That's my point, Freddie's got just about as much respect for him as for real life Prince Albert! Hell, if /I/ got a Prince Albert, he'd be waaaaay more invested in bending knee to that." Ephram smirked for a while, then snickered at Cassie's remembering his eating habits. "Only on account of I'd eat peanut butter out of the house too," he said. "So it seemed like I wasn't havin' as much of it. But you din't know the extent of my peanut butter eating habits, Cassie." Ephram shook his head sadly. "I had a problem."

"Colonel Custard is a better name." Cassie said, though at the correction she couldn't help but laugh at herself underneath her own defense. "He was the worst anyways, so who cares. Just don't tell my son he's named aftera genital piercing. He isn't." She looked at Ephram seriosly then, since he seemed to take peanut butter consumption so grimly, "Does Freddie know the extent of the problem? I can't beleive he introduces you to delicacies like blue cheese and pears and you still eat condiments and spreads right out of the jar." She smiled some, "The only thing that should be allowed with is chocolate. Or nutella." Cassie couldn't rightly tease Ephram without bringing up a few of her own discretions.

"I cain't argue with you there. I'd wanna be called Colonel Custard, for sure." Ephram laughed at Cassie's wholesale dismissal of Custer as being a shitheel, promising, "My lips are sealed on the subject of exciting dong piercings, you have my word. Lil Albie's gonna be told that you named him after the wide wingspan of the mighty albatross. Or this weird English kids' cartoon show where the main boy was named Albie. Not a single body modification in sight." When she moved onto the very serious matter of the peanut butter, though, Ephram matched her tone.

"Oh, he knows. Why d'you think he tries to distract me with stuff like moraba havij and rillettes and guava cheese? Although I reckon there's two reasons he hasn't cracked down directly on peanut butter. One, it keeps me from eating pimento cheese. And two, I like makin' fluffernutters and he's secretly a fiend for marshmallow fluff." Ephram gave a firm nod, tapping the side of his nose. "And you, Missy Britches, are a public menace when it comes to nutella. If I knew you liked it so much I would of eaten a lot more of it when we was livin' together." The wolfish grin he gave Cassie following this statement left no confusion as to what sort of salacious activities he was hinting at.

Cassie frowned, "What weird English kid's show?" She looked on impressed though as Ephram rattled off the names of food that she didn't recognize by title alone. "At least he's educating you." Cassie pointed out the bright side light heartedly to him, giving him a nudge on his shoulder. "Oh, ho, ho. Your loss Ephram Pettaline. But I think you know to pay closer attention to your partners now." She laughed, rolling her eyes and biting the inside of her cheek at Ephram's glinting smile.

#cassiegermaine #thisdaringdanny #ianncardero #mayaparker #sbs pride 2019

[starcityhq]

EVENT 001 — ANNUAL UNITY FESTIVAL — PLOT DROP

The mayor, a fat, arrogant man, takes the stage, a number of the VIPS who were at his dinner on stage with him. The elegant stone fire pit in the center of the stage has a table next to it stacked high with old capes, cowls, figurines of superheroes and other memorabilia from the time before the ban, ready to burn. 

He moves to the microphone, a grin on his features, and the crowd falls silent as he’s about to speak—

And with a thump, the power goes out. All the street lights, all the traffic lights, the stage lights, everything, goes out. Everyone, too shocked to say anything, falls even more silent. Nothing is happening. No one is moving. No one is breathing.

It’s when the lights come back on that all hell breaks loose as bullets are sprayed into the crowd, the mayor falling to the stage, dead before he hits the ground.

As the festival descends into chaos, no one even notices that the memorabilia is gone.

Under the cut, you’ll find OOC information for every character who was at the masquerade! If your character isn’t listed below, please, send a message to the main so we can fix it! The character groupings don’t mean that you have to have a chatzy or that you have to interact only with people in your group, but instead, it’s a guideline for where your characters are in the aftermath of this plot drop! Feel free to continue threads from before the drop, but remember that any threads taking place during this plot drop should be at least started by MIDNIGHT, EST tomorrow, APRIL 12TH. After that, you can feel free to continue threads, but refrain from starting any new threads. 

SELINA KYLE, DANIELLE MORENO, JOKER, HARLEEN QUINZEL, LEONARD SNART, STEVE ROGERS

As soon as the blackout happens, SELINA knows that this is her chance. DANI picks up on this as well, and both of them manage to get away with all of the memorabilia, with some help from LEONARD. On their way out of the festival, however, they run into JOKER and HARLEY, who are waiting for DANI to give them what they asked for. Selina begrudgingly hands over some of the memorabilia she had stolen, if only to get JOKER out of her hair. SELINA and LEONARD take half of the memorabilia to her safe house, while JOKER and HARLEY take the other half after paying DANI.On his way back onto the stage JOKER runs into STEVE. 

HARRY OSBORN, TONY STARK, JAMES RHODES, JUBILATION LEE, MALLORY BRICKMAN, PEPPER POTTS, ADRIAN VEIDT, GARFIELD LOGAN

For the VIPS on the stage, as soon as the shooting starts, they’re immediately ushered off the stage. HARRY and JUBILATION are taken directly towards OSCORP, the tower only a couple of blocks away from the festival. TONY and PEPPER are pushed towards a squad car, but pull away, going into the crowd to search for their friends, immediately running into JAMES.  GARFIELD is separated from his adoptive parents, and ADRIAN offers to help find them.

BRUCE WAYNE, DAMIAN WAYNE, DICK GRAYSON, JAMES GORDON, HARVEY DENT, JASON TODD, TIM DRAKE, BARBARA GORDON

When HARVEY sees that the mayor is on the ground, he drops to his knees, pressing both hands over the bullet wound in his chest to try and stop the bleeding. JIM gets on his radio and immediately starts directing officers to evacuate the festival and get medical personnel on stage to help. BRUCE offers his handkerchief to help stop the bleeding while his kids and partners gravitate towards him. He directs DAMIAN and DICK to go look for the missing memorabilia while asking BARBARA and JASON to try and patch into the streetlight system and figure out how the lights suddenly shut off. TIM and BRUCE immediately start looking for clues, trying to piece the situation together.

CLINT BARTON, KATE BISHOP, CONNOR HAWKE, OLIVER QUEEN, ROY HARPER, DINAH LANCE, THEA QUEEN

JASON immediately tackles ROY when the shooting starts before running up to the stage. Before ROY has time to react, CONNOR is dragging him towards a nearby building. OLIVER and DINAH are already climbing up the side of the building, where CLINT and KATE are already on the roof. After butting heads with CLINT for a moment, OLIVER takes the lead, directing CLINT and KATE to the building across the festival while sending CONNOR, THEA and DINAH down towards the crowd to help evacuate people from the street, leaving OLIVER and ROY on top of the building just in time for OLIVER to get hit—and hand ROY his bow.

(TIME-DISPLACED) HANK MCCOY, BART ALLEN, CONNER KENT, KYLE RAYNER, ARTEMIS CROCK, CASSANDRA SANDSMARK, KORIAND’R, ROSE WILSON, RACHEL ROTH

Before anything starts, ROSE sees it happening in a precognitive flash. She immediately reaches her hands out to both BART and HANK, ordering them to get down, pushing them both to the ground. People in front of them both fall, dead from gunshot wounds. CONNER immediately comes over to help BART up, while KYLE, RACHEL, AND KORIAND’R start ushering the people around them away. ARTEMIS and CASSANDRA start looking around for the people who are shooting, but ROSE drags them away from the scene, seeing nothing but trouble ahead.

FLASH THOMPSON, WADE WILSON, GWEN STACY, KAREN PAGE, MJ WATSON, BILLY BATSON, PETER PARKER

When the shooting starts, GWEN immediately goes to MJ. FLASH and MJ were together, and  the three of them manage to move about the crowd. WADE notices PETER off to the side, and grabs him by the arm to go with the others. KAREN, realizing that BILLY is alone, does what she thinks she has to do—not knowing that he’s perfectly capable of caring for himself—and pulls him towards the small group of people shifting out of the way, guiding FLASH over as well. The eight of them duck into an alleyway and wait for everything to quiet down.

ALEXANDER POWER, JACK POWER, SAM WILSON, KATIE POWER, ANDREW PULASKI, JAMES GORDON JR., LUCUS TRENT, CAITLIN SNOW, FELICITY SMOAK

SAM and ANDREW immediately go into work mode when the shooting starts. SAM starts guiding his drone to scan for any suspicious figures above them while ANDREW starts guiding people to safety. ALEX looks for DICK for a moment before giving up, instead finding KATIE and JACK and following ANDREW to safety. LUCUS stands by to help ANDREW, rounding up JAMES, CAITLIN, and FELICITY, all of them ducking into a nearby store and waiting for things to die down.

BUCKY BARNES, BOBBI MORSE, NATASHA ROMANOVA, ORORO MONROE, PEGGY CARTER, BARRY ALLEN, CHARLIE ROSE DUBOIS

BUCKY and NATASHA are together during the blackout, and immediately know that they’ll need to act fast once the lights are back up. They, along with BOBBI, ORORO, PEGGY, BARRY, and CHARLIE start guiding civilians away from the festival.

(TIME DISPLACED) BOBBY DRAKE, FOGGY NELSON, LOGAN HOWLETT, MATT MURDOCK, (CURRENT TIME) JEAN GREY, LAURA KINNEY, CLARK KENT, JON KENT, KARA DANVERS, SHIERA HALL, ROSEMARY ATKINSON

BOBBY acts without thinking when the shooting starts, immediately putting up a wall of ice and watching a number of bullets slam into it. MATT tackles FOGGY to the ground when the bullets slam into the ice, not realizing that the bullets that he heard coming towards them were stopped for a moment. JEAN immediately starts dragging BOBBY away from the ice wall, not wanting him to be associated with the use of his powers, while LOGAN and LAURA follow closely behind. MATT starts running towards the building where he heard shots coming from, immediately slamming his shoulder into the door to push through and run up the stairs to where he can hear someone disassembling a gun. CLARK, SHIERA, KARA and JON start to fly towards the opposite side and fan out, looking for shooters in the top floors of that building. ROSEMARY catches up with JEAN, BOBBY, LOGAN and LAURA, and the five of them realize that people are watching them—having noticed BOBBY put up the ice wall—and must decide what to do next.

FRANK CASTLE, JAMIE MADROX, JULIAN KELLER, LEOPOLD ZOLA, LESTER BENJAMIN POINDEXTER, EMMA FROST, FELICIA HARDY, YELENA BELOVA, CHATO SANTANA, EDWARD NYGMA, GRANT WILSON, MICK RORY, OSWALD COBBLEPOT, ENIGMA, ISABELLA FLYNN, KOMAND’R, LISA SNART, SARA LANCE, MICKEY IVANOV, ALEKSANDRA NOVIKOV, VALENTINA VEDRAN, Pamela isley

VALENTINA’S vision starts again, this time from the point of view of the same spot she’s currently standing in. She manages to duck out in time, grabbing YELENA’S arm on the way The two follow behind FELICIA, KOMAND’R, and CHATO— all of them making it to an allyway that was being used as a hideout by PAMELA, OSWALD, EDWARD, ENIGMA and ISABELLA. FRANK remained unfazed, his eyes searched the crowds for any sign as to who could have caused this. GRANT, utterly bored by what’s going on, runs into LESTER, EMMA, and LEOPOLD, all of whom are watching from that same alleyway with the same disinterest. MICK runs into LISA and SARA and the three of them leave to look for LEONARD. MICKEY, JAMIE, JULIAN and ALEKSANDRA all take cover in one of the vendors’ stalls, waiting for everything to end.

(TIME DISPLACED) SCOTT SUMMERS, TOMMY SHEPHERD, (CURRENT TIME) WARREN WORTHINGTON, (TIME-DISPLACED) WARREN WORTHINGTON, ANNA MARIE, REMY LEBEAU, LORNA DANE, (TIME-DISPLACED) JEAN GREY, WANDA MAXIMOFF, HOWARD REYES, LEORA MORETTI, MARNIE BOND

(TIME DISPLACED) SCOTT and (TIME-DISPLACED) WARREN hear the gunshots go off and immediately look for (TIME-DISPLACED) JEAN and HANK. Unable to find HANK, they meet up with (CURRENT TIME) WARREN, ANNA MARIE, WANDA, and REMY , who quickly decide they need to make a hasty exit before one of the time-displaced gets hurt in the wrong timeline. HOWARD looks for NORA running into TOMMY. Both of them see LEORA and LORNA held at gunpoint by an unidentified assailant and decide to help.

AMERICA CHAVEZ, MEGAN GWYNN, JAY GARRICK, JOHN CONSTANTINE, ARTEMIS OF BANA-MIGHDALL, IRIS WEST, JESSICA CRUZ, LOIS LANE, NORA FRIES, ZATANNA ZATARA,

AMERICA, MEGAN and ARTEMIS OF BANA-MIGHDALL were all participating in small talk by the bar when their smiles fell. ZATANNA quickly realized this had been the blackout Valentina had mentioned and managed to move LOIS, NORA, JESSICA and IRIS away from the side stage before the shooting began. When the first shot was heard JOHN’S cigarette fell and he ran, bumping into JAY along the way.

#starcevent #starcmasquerade #starcadmin #starcstarter

[newnormalhq-blog]

With this you can officially start your plot drop threads! 

What we did with each of these groups is make sure that every single member has something unique to bring to the team and that their powers/abilities are suitable for the task that has been given to them. These teams were not assembled by the government or anyone in power, but by the superheroes themselves. Each leader either knows of these people or found them by word of mouth. Speaking of the team leaders, they can call the shots when it comes to tricky situations, however they absolutely must take the advice of their fellow teammates and be prepared to risk themselves first and protect the rest of the team. Because everyone had such little time to prepare for the invasion, it is completely normal for some tension in the team, especially when it comes to who is going to lead. A lot of these characters are not used to being in teams, and you are all free to explore that aspect and see how it will affect the overall gameplay. 

Since there are quite a few teams, it wouldn’t be unnatural for many of them to cross paths and help each other and work together. The tasks cannot be switched, however, and every team has to focus on theirs first and foremost. Particularly with TEAM I, the members should be solely focused on fighting the Dominators and not rescuing civilians. Team VIII has one task only: to deactivate the bomb, which means they should not engage in combat with the Dominators unless they absolutely must (which is up to the players whether or not it will happen). The teams that are extracting the aliens and rescuing civilians have a lot more freedom in terms of what they can do, so you are free to use your creativity and work on ideas together.

Since this should be an action-packed plot drop, it is only natural that a lot of the characters will get injured, some more, others less, just make sure for it to be realistic and suitable for the occasion. Another thing worth mentioning is that no one should engage in god-modding -- we know it can be very easy to do this in situations like this, but communication is key so make sure to always run your plots and ideas with your fellow teammates. You are free to do the threads on the dashboard or in Chatzy rooms, just make sure to post the transcripts on the dash so we can all read them and be caught up with the events on what is happening. Make sure to read the plot drop post once again if you’ve forgotten anything, and finally, if you guys have any questions or concerns, don’t hesitate to ask us! We will be doing at least one more post on how the plot is progressing throughout the week, so stay tuned for that.

Have fun everyone, we can’t wait to see how this plot drop develops and what you do with each of your teams!

                                              You will find the teams down below!!

TEAM I  - TASK: Alien extraction 

Rick Flag (Team Leader)

Daisy Johnson

Leah Taylor

Susan Storm

Dinah Lance

Billy Kaplan

TEAM II - TASK: Alien extraction and civilian rescue

Bruce Wayne (Team Leader)

Roy Harper

Tim Drake

Selina Kyle

Harley Quinn

Jack Power

Alex Power

TEAM III - TASK: Alien extraction and civilian rescue

Kara Danvers (Team Leader)

Mon-El

Jean Gray

Johnny Storm

Helena Wayne

Jade Nguyen

TEAM IV - TASK: Spaceship assessment and overrun

Alex Danvers (Team Leader)

Winn Schott

Cassie Lang

Zatanna Zatara

Zachary Zatara

Tommy Shepherd

Anna Marie

TEAM V - TASK: Alien extraction and TEAM IV defense

Steve Rogers (Team Leader)

Young Scott Summers

Matt Murdock

Jessica Jones

Patsy Walker

Jason Todd

TEAM VI - TASK: Alien extraction and evacuation of Star City Hospital and Precinct

Scott Summers (Team Leader)

Patty Spivot

Maggie Sawyer

Kate Bishop

Wally west

Bucky Barnes

Adrian Veidt

TEAM VII - TASK: Alien extraction and evacuation of schools and public buildings

Barry Allen (Team Leader)

Jon Kent

Thea Queen

Clint Barton

Peter Parker

Peggy Carter

n514A

TEAM VIII - TASK: Locating the atomic bomb and deactivation

Tony Stark (Team Leader)

Clark Kent

Caitlin Snow/Killer Frost

Illyana Rasputin

Cassie Sandsmark

Czarean Mahoe

America Chavez

TEAM IX - TASK: Travel back in time to 1951 in Redmond, Oregon to capture a Dominator and question them.

(Information: This is of course inspired by the crossover episode on Legends of Tomorrow when Nate, Amaya and Mick travel back in time to the first time when the Dominators arrived on Earth back in 1951. Thanks to SHIELD, the team was equipped with a ship that can take them back into the past, similar to the one on the show. Their task is to capture a single Dominator and learn more about their race as well as find out how and if they can stop the destruction of all powered species on Earth.)

Barbara Gordon (Team Leader)

Remy Lebeau

Damian Wayne

Koriand’r

Charlie Gage-Radcliffe

Lorna Dane

TEAM X - TASK: Escape the alternate universe artificially created by the Dominators

(Information: This one might be tricky to understand if you haven’t watched the CW crossover episodes, however we will try to explain it best we can. This team was supposed to extract aliens, however they started to get defeated and were cornered. Instead of killing them, the Dominators abducted them and brought them inside their spaceship in a chamber where no one can find them (Team IV whose task is to overrun the spaceship is not aware that they have been abducted therefore they aren’t searching for them). The team has been put under a chemically induced coma which uses every person’s memories, desires and hopes to create an alternate universe, a perfect reality of sorts, where anything is possible. If they stay long enough in this false reality, their minds will slowly forget about the real world and they will not be able to escape. In order to wake up, at least one of the characters has to become aware that something is not right and try to alert the others. This can be in the sense of seeing something strange, remembering a memory from the real world that feels like a dream, anything at all. If you have not seen the episode of Arrow where this happens, we highly suggest watching it, or at least checking out some of the videos like this one. In order to leave the alternate reality, the team will have to fight their greatest fears which can manifest in different people, whether they are former or current foes, loved ones they’ve lost etc. Also, there is no team leader here. Whoever realizes something is not right about the situation will automatically become the leader of the group, but we are giving you guys full permission to plot that out together.)

Sara Lance

Megan Gwynn

Wanda Maximoff

Bruce Banner

Ruth Aldine

Kate Kane

TEAM XI - TASK: ALIEN EXTRACTION

(Information: Unlike the other alien extraction teams, team xi is going to provide help to every other team that might need it as well. They will communicate with the other teams via earpieces that will allow them to come up with strategics together. This group will not be fixed in one particular area, but they will have the freedom to move around and offer themselves as backup where needed, especially if a team has been cornered or is suffering from injuries. What this will mean OOC is that the characters in this team can plot with every other character, not just these five. You are still required to do at least one thread together as a team, but the goal of this team’s mission is more flexible than the rest, which also gives you a lot more freedom when it comes to plotting.)

Jackson Grey (Team Leader)

Kitty Pryde

Gabriel Summers

Sam Alexander

Artemis Crock

#newninvasion #newnevent #newnpltodrop

[corpse--diem]

Burn The White Flag | Erin & Roy

TIMING: Current PARTIES: @corpse--diem and @theshadowandvalleyaremine SUMMARY: Roy visits the funeral home for the first and last time. Things get heated.

The front door was open when Erin reached the porch steps. Then she heard the whistling. A relaxed, upbeat rhythm that normally wouldn’t have been as creepy as it was if she hadn’t come home from a viewing to an open door and that. Still, she paused at the foot of them. Dug into her bag for the knife she always kept on hand now. Creaky steps grew louder as they approached the front door and a deep voice bellowed out from the shadows.

“Ms. Nichols! I was just looking for you!”

She knew that voice. It echoed in her mind in quiet moments and haunted her nightmares. That giant smile, sharp and sure, was the first thing she saw when he sauntered out of the shadows into the light of day. Roy Chambers steely grey eyes locked on hers. “I was looking for you inside but all I found were a bunch of blue-haired children gossiping in the lunchroom. Are funeral homes some sort of new macabre hangout spot?” There was judgment in his voice and tone but he kept his expression light. A bunch? Erin’s chest burned. Rio and Blanche were here? What the fuck was Blanche doing here? Hadn’t she told her to ask before just dropping in? She was going to kill her if she made it out of this. “Doesn’t strike me as the most professional move but I suppose it’s your business. You do what you like, don’t you?”

“What do you want?” Erin cut to the chase, stepping back when he started down the steps. One of the most annoying things about this man was the way he took his time getting to the point. He made his audience wait, like he was the most interesting man in the room and not just the most dangerous. Roy, naturally, fancied himself as both.

His smile dripped into a quick frown, holding a hand to his heart. “Erin, I’m wounded. What makes you think I want something? Can’t your former employer drop by and see how you’ve been doing? You never even call anymore.” It didn’t take long for his grin to return. “A two-weeks notice would have sufficed, by the way. You didn’t have to blow up half the town to get your point across.”

It took all of her strength not to hurl her bag at his face. “But that’s how you’re going to justify poisoning Pat’s and all of those people, right? You’re going to make this my fault?” She narrowed her eyes at him incredulously.

Roy didn’t flinch. “You and your cohorts are responsible for their own actions and you both were reprimanded accordingly. But that stint at the Ring was clever. I’ll give you that. I didn’t see it coming, especially not from you,” he pointed at her, a dark gleeful glint to his eye. “And that was my mistake.”

Erin straightened up. Was she supposed to be flattered? Whatever leg up she had before was over now, she knew that. He opened the front of his suit, pulling a cigar from the inside pocket. It was like she could smell the smoke before he’d even lit the flame. With a snap of his finger, fire blazed between the fingertips and he watched it grow until it became the size of a baseball in his hand. “I could kill you. Right here. Right now.” He mused, manipulating and twirling the flames between his fingers like only a skilled practitioner had the ability to do. He looked up from his hand to find her eyes, wide and terrified. Good. He had her attention.

“So why don’t you?” She asked, even if she didn’t really want the answer to that one. Glanced at the house again, worrying for the two still inside. If he even thought about touching them--her jaw clenched together, hard and unrelenting.

His smirk curved up higher and he brought the flame and his cigar closer to his lips. “Where’s the fun in that? Actually--there would be a lot of fun in that. For me, not for you.” A hand dug into his front pocket as he inhaled a puff of the cigar, surveying the yard. Even gave a wave to a passing neighbor walking their dog along the sidewalk with a friendly smile that eventually fell hauntingly on her. He took slow, thoughtful steps until he was close enough to stand beside her. “You’re giving people around here ideas and unless those ideas benefit me, I don’t care for ‘em. So I’m glad to make an example out of you instead.” No. Even a small uprising wouldn’t do, wouldn’t be tolerated. When he gripped her shoulder, all she could think was how surprisingly cold his hand was despite the fire that had just lived there. He leaned in closer, cold breath tickling her ear. “If you want a war, Ms. Nichols--I’ll give you one.”

Smoke curled around his hand, his lips and the smell made her nauseous. He made her nauseous. For all of her fighting words and all the rage simmering within her, he still terrified her to her spot. And she hated it. Roy knew it too--he could feel her tremble under his tight grip. But then suddenly it was gone, he was gone, and she heard the gravel crunching behind her in his retreat. He was leaving. Was that it? Was this just some fucked up threat? She didn’t move. Didn’t dare to.

A black car pulled up to the end of the driveway. Roy opened the door, a hearty laugh shaking his shoulders when he saw the smoke building towards the top of the house. Erin just watched him, confused and angry but oh--oh, no. She still had no idea. Oh, this was good. He laughed even harder now as he waved at her, slipped into the backseat and finally, disappeared down the road.

His words echoed in her mind, the smoke from his cigar lingering in his absence. Stronger now than ever, actually. Her eyes narrowed and turned to the house. It was billowing out from the front door, from the windows, orange flames cutting through the dark. In such a short time, the house had become overwhelmed by it. Fuck. Fuck.

Rio and Blanche were still inside.

This was more than a warning, she realized, a white cold fear shooting up her spine. He’d allowed her to stand by like an idiot. Let her watch him leisurely light up his cigar and bounce casual threats off of her. Confident. So fucking confident because he’d already made his move. He was just waiting for her to realize it--this war had already begun.

#wickedswriting #burn the white flag #solo #roy #chatzy: roy #chatzy