miidnighters

[miidnighters]

Isabell hums, considering.

She is not so stupid as to think there won't be any sort of intrusive measures. It's just that, perhaps, the lure of understanding - and of company - might outweigh the potential perils.

The vampire spends another few moments chewing her lip, mulling the idea over in her mind.

"Okay."

Of course, she may come to regret this agreement, but for now at least, she'll be useful to Rosie - and she won't be alone.

Rosie's smile ticks up at the question; she's glad to hear Isabell ask it. She hadn't thought her enough of a fool to agree without clarification, and would have been disappointed to be proven otherwise.

"Both. There are many ways I can uncover useful information, from simple observation to magical assessment." Rosie would like some of her blood, for instance. She would also like to spend some time prodding at the woman's mind, digging down to the depths of her. She would like to observe how fast she heals. She would like to know what makes her tick. Among other things.

"I can guarantee that my life is rather more interesting than most." See: chaotic and dangerous. "You will not be bored."

#sorrowsick #x. reply | bella | ☾ #x. queue | ☾

[miidnighters]

Hartley pinches the bridge of her nose, letting her eyes fall mercifully shut. She hadn't meant to make him recoil like a kicked dog (snapping at him was probably not the way to get him to accept help either) but holding his pride cannot justify insulting her intelligence all this time.

"I'm sorry for saying it like that," she says, pointedly not apologising for what she said, simply the delivery. "I know this has not been easy for you, even with the help I was able to give without making it obvious. You may not know everything but that's why I want to help you."

She opens her eyes to see him sloshing out of the water, and, after a moment, follows him. Her own trousers are drenched to the knee, but she seems largely unconcerned right now (if she'd thought of it, before she waded in to see to him, she should have rolled them).

"It depends on what circles you mean." This was not the most pleasant of topic, but may as well hash it all out with all the other unpleasantness of the morning. "Typical hunters that simply kill, no. But there's a market for everything, even beasts. It's not uncommon to hear that someone rich is looking for something in particular to complete a collection." Hartley shrugs, finally sitting to wring water from the ankle of her pants. "Besides, I know a wizard who can get anything for a price, and be quiet about it. We've dealt together before. She can get me what I need."

chastened,   the drow lowered his eyes.  the venom behind her words truly surprised him,   though he had overstepped and he knew it.   given his circumstances and that she was the closest thing to help he would ever find,   he knew he had no damned right to order her to do anything.  most of all,   he had no business telling her to do anything because she clearly knew far more than he.  he was the one foolish enough to get himself bitten and expect it needed to be cared for like any other wound.   she wasn't the one humiliated and bathing in filth.

“i thought it worth to mention,”   he responded,   a bit despondent.  “since it is clear by now i do not know shit.”   

this ought to be enough,   mercifully.  he'd managed to clean enough,   he thought,  that he would be able to get himself to a bath without much notice.  disgusted,  he waded out of the murky water and started to dress himself.   “i did not think 'restraining a ravening werebeast' to be a common question even among your circles.”   discretion or not,   surely it would raise someone's eyebrow?

#starlyht #x. reply | hartley | ☾ #x. verse | protect from evil | ☾ #not canon but i'm going out on a limb to say it would be a not unreasonable underground thing? #also these two need an R tag

[miidnighters]

"Is it too cold?" Her own sense of temperature, gauged by icy hand, is not always accurate. She runs some hot water, careful of his toes, to warm the bath up - but mostly she's just fussing. Bella doesn't want to leave him alone, necessarily, since his knees had buckled once before, but he was most certainly old enough to not want her there.

Finally, after a few long moments, she bites a lip. "I'll go, sweetheart, give you some privacy." Standing, she eyes the room to make sure his towel is in its spot and anything else he might want is close by. "I'll get you something to change into, but call for me if you need me, okay? I'll hear you."

august drinks his water. careful to sip rather than chug. bella’s warning. the trickle of the water inside the glass fascinates him. like otherworldly handprints.

obligingly, the boy putters into the bathroom. (crouched within tub, looking small and fragile in his boxers.) the cold water jolts him, fending off his topsy-turvy mindset.

“ does it have to be so c-cold. ”

#soulmissed #x. reply | bella | ☾

[miidnighters]

"I'm back," Lulu confirms, even though technically she hadn't gone anywhere at all. Still, it seems like the past of least resistance right now. She doesn't think zey'll have any sort of bad reaction, given how ze acted last night, but there are anxious fingers twisting in the hem of her shirt as she stands in front of zem.

The last thing she wants is for this to come between her and a friend.

"Oh, no, you're fine. You could have taken the bed, if you'd wanted it. It's not like I needed it." A wry smile. "I'm good. Yeah totally. Are you...okay?"

Okay with all this, she means.

Aura follows easily as Lulu guides him back out to the living room, grabbing the bag of food left on the floor on the way. Ze settles into the blankets and lets Lulu do most of the leading so she can be comfortable before flipping on the television and popping open a carton of fried rice.

°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。

The rest of the night had been mostly chill—relaxed enough he had managed to fall asleep there on the couch with her. He hadn’t meant to, but it seemed like she needed the company. He’d gladly stay as long as she wanted him there.

At first, ze didn’t stir when Lulu suddenly shifted off of zem. Ze was sound asleep until the realization hit that there was no longer that warm weight pressed up against zir legs. Head lifts, rubbing at zir eyes. Ze squints up at Lulu when ze notices her standing at the other end of the couch. A sleepy smile brushes zir lips.

“Hello,” he replies, voice hoarse from sleep. “You’re back.” He starts to sit up a little, pushing messy curls back from his face. A light clearing of his throat.

“Sorry. I, uh… Guess I fell asleep.” He scratches at the back of his neck sheepishly.

“Are you all right..?”

#goldenboybridgers #x. reply | lulu | ☾

[miidnighters]

ah yes. time for all the mothers day email marketing blasts to start coming thru

#x. ooc | ☾ #why is aldi sending me mothers day emails

[miidnighters]

autocorrect keeps trying to change barty to barry as if barty is not an actual name

#x. ooc | ☾

[miidnighters]

"Of course I put your latte art on my Instagram. You're my bro." In fact, Barty pulls out his phone to show Clark the photo of a wobbly latte heart nestled in amongst all the other latte art photos (rosettas, mostly, or swans when he's feeling fancy) and photos of the cafe. "Do you have an Ista? I'll follow you."

Still - as much fun as he's having, Clark looks like his head is going to explode, so Barty relents. "No, I don't want to go to Ireland, I'm just fucking with you. Or, like, Ireland is great but I don't need to crash your trip."

Clark feels...lightly overwhelmed. Whether it was a rapid playing into the bit or rapid, well, genuineness. It was rapid regardless and, for once, he had a hard time keeping up.

He lifted a hand and scrunched his brows as if to signal for the man to slow down, to backtrack. ❝-—You put my latte art on your what? Gram? Instagram? ❞

The cambion noted he had never even given Barty ANY of his numbers, lips parted to call this out only to instead fall on another previous point. ❝ I can't value what I didn't know what a THING. Did you want to go to Ireland? I can't tell what you're exaggerating and what you're being serious with, dear. I think I'm still reeling over the fact you put my shitty latte heart on Instagram... ❞

#kxllerblond #x. reply | barty | ☾

[miidnighters]

"What's your like. Go-to prediction?"

She notices his eyes on her chips and, ever generous even when being an unintentional menace, she pushes the bag towards him.

"I mean. Kind of. But it's more the long-life aspect of it all. We just live regular lifespans," we, of course, being her and her shifter ilk. There weren't exactly a lot of immortals out in regional Queensland. "So it's interesting to me how you interpret things differently. I don't have the like, vision to see patterns the same way you do." She pauses, just for a second. "I wish I'd met you before I took my gap year. You probably could have warned me away from that nudist beach in Denmark."

His brows knit at the blunt confession that he 'had one of those faces'. Clark wasn't sure what to think of that one. In the grand scheme of things, he was a very young immortal. The fact his face was already showing such obvious signs of world and time weariness was...well, not that surprising actually.

❝ I'm sure time aids in the probability. Looking at behaviors now, I'm sure it's not hard to make intelligent assumptions about what events that might likely cause in the future. Wars, society collapses, off world travel, etcetera. So, sure. I imagine I will to some capacity. ❞

He shrugs and eyes her chips, lifts coffee to his lips. ❝ Is that something that interests you? Unlikely events? ❞

#kxllerblond #x. reply | lulu | ☾

[miidnighters]

The sort of laughter Lulu graces her with is undignified at best. It's not intentional, she just cannot take this woman seriously (a problem, given Zahrosa's, well, everything).

"I'm sorry. I understand, magic is big and scary and needs equal input for output and all of that but your organs turn to soup?"

It really does just sound easier to be able to turn into a dingo. Maybe the witch should try that some day.

"Just seems like a shame, is all, that you have all this power but it can't be used to anything useful, you know."

"You have a basic misunderstanding of the point of magic." Her voice is even, cool. She shan't be riled. Even if Lulu isn't actually trying to, she's good at it. A natural talent.

Rosie sighs; this is often one of the more difficult things to explain to young magi. It's technically an opinion, but Rosie rarely treats her opinions as anything other than compulsory. "Every use of power has a cost. There is a balance that, if not maintained, will kill you easier than you or I take a breath. Upsetting that without need is foolish, if not dangerous. Create a casual attitude to the use of magic and some day, you will forget the cost."

All very ominous. Then she adds, "And then your organs turn to soup."

#sorrowsick #x. reply | lulu | ☾ #x. queue | ☾

[miidnighters]

"I know exactly what the beast will do if it notices me, or anyone else, because despite how you seem to see me I am not a stupid woman, Sol'rys." This is spat with perhaps a bit more venom than it warrants, because after all this time ducking her, he sees fit to make demands of her now?

No.

"I will do whatever I very well please." Exactly the same as she'd always done, long before she got tangled up with him. Besides, her oath was protecting people - and it just so happened he was a people she was fond of, despite the way they were arguing knee deep in a muddy creek.

Hartley hadn't come to find him this morning to argue, but unfortunately, this person she happened to be so fond of was also one of the most bone-headed men she'd ever met. "No, Sol'rys," Her eyes are narrowed, now, words hissed. "I've spent all this time trying to get you to let me help you and distracting those in camp and turning people away from your path to instead get you caught by the carelessness of indiscrete enquiries." Honestly. Of all the stupid things she's heard recently, that's up there with this is a cloaker bite while she - she! - kissed his throat. Madness.

“a    ---”   wait.   how in the hells did she know that?   “why would you risk such a thing?”   he demanded.  she was a damned hunter,  he had to tell her not to get close to such a beast?   “you know it will tear you apart if it notices!”   regardless,   it did offer some peace of mind.  at least he would not run the risk of being turned upon for murder.

“do not try that again.”   her recommendation of enchantment,   however,   piqued his interest.  he should have thought of that.  something enchanted.  not that he would have known where to start,   or what would work.  information of this affliction was difficult enough to come by as it was,   and surface common was not a language he deciphered readily on paper.  he struggled enough as it was in his own tongue.   sol'rys glanced at her.   “but if there is no risk of anyone   ...   discovering,   then   ...”    he hesitated a moment and ran his fingers through his damp hair,   trying to make it seem almost acceptable.   perhaps he had been a fool,  trying to last so long on his own.  damp with pond water and desperate or not,   his pride twinged.   “i suppose it would not hurt.”

#starlyht #x. reply | hartley | ☾ #x. verse | protect from evil | ☾ #good luck sol lmao

[miidnighters]

The slice of cake she picks brings a smile to his face. Rosie is so predictable in so many little ways, Barty finds, and it makes spotting those patterns one of his favourite things to do.

He nods along as she outlines the things she has still to do. "It does look rather empty there, doesn't it." There's another moment of quiet while Barty drinks his too-warm tea. Rosie knows him well enough, by now - she might be able to tell that he's working his way around to something. He'll get there, in a second, especially given (for everything else he adores about Rosie), Barty doesn't think she will be the one to ask.

"I spoke to Jason."

Rosie very graciously waits until Barty holds out the cake to her, and takes her piece (more frosting) with a little nod of thanks. The tea is set on the little shelf behind her while she allows it to cool a little, and she pulls the cake apart with her fingers. Whatever herbs she has been working with she is at least willing to ingest traces of, apparently. It's not as if it can kill her.

"I am almost done processing what I have already dried." Mostly that's just separating leaves and stalks, though some others require more work. A few are simmering away so that she might create a concentrate or allow them to crystallise. "Afterwards I will bring in a few things from the garden to hang up." The space above the oven side of her stove is terribly empty right now, where usually she has bunches of this and that drying. It's a sign of a good day's work.

#sorrowsick #x. reply | barty | ☾ #x. r. | your anger in my bones {barty && rosie} | ☾

[miidnighters]

It's almost laughable the way the tension visibly falls out of Isaac's shoulders. The place he felt most relaxed was the orchard, of course, but a close second was anywhere he could feel a bit of fresh air on his face. He barely gives it a thought before he moves to stand alongside the other at the railing, looking out at all the lights.

At the question of why he was here, Isaac offers a wry smile. "Family obligations." It's a vague way of saying his mom was on the board of whatever charity this part was for, and had all but strong-armed him into making an appearance. "Not my scene, but sometimes you've gotta pick your battles, you know? I figured if I said yes to this, they'd let some other things slide." He pauses, gaze drifting to the other man as he lets out a laugh. "I'm not gonna tell you to fuck off. It's fine, really. I'm just not the best in social situations. What about you? You didn't seem to be having the time of your life either?"

𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐚𝐢𝐫 𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐨𝐥 and refreshing when they step out on the balcony. keanu turns to close the doors and the night quietens around them pleasantly. being apart from the crowd like this quiets the buzzing of emotional resonance in head, a welcome relief, and keanu gives soft sigh as he moves to the edge. he leans over the railing, violet eyes finding the scene of twinkling city lights below them. ❝ it's pretty up here. ❞ introspective statement before empath is once more focusing on other man, arching brows as he leans against the cool metal.

❝ so, isaac, right ? what're you doin' at a party like this ? doesn't seem like your definition of a good time, just judging by your face in there. ❞ the same could be said of keanu; he's a people person, sure, but only to a certain point. crowds can easily get overwhelming for him, given the nature of his powers and the intensity with which alcohol tends to exaggerate them. ❝ that isn't me judging, by the way, just curious. feel free to tell me to fuck off. ❞ easy, playful grin coming to lips to accompany words.

#peacereflected #x. reply | isaac | ☾

[miidnighters]

@whileurmine | Send 🍆 for my muse’s reaction to being sent a very intentional nude - Frank to Hartley | accepting

[ text; frank ] image attached [ text; frank ] I'm already all tucked in to bed. you better come here

#whileurmine #x. answer | hartley | ☾

[miidnighters]

@whileurmine | Send 🍆 for my muse’s reaction to being sent a very intentional nude - Nash to Bella | accepting

[ text; nash ] look at this sexy as fuck man !! [ text; nash ] i recognise that beadspread [ text; nash ] give me two seconds to come see all of that in person <3

#whileurmine #x. answer | bella | ☾ #x. r. | paint your sunsets {bella && nash} | ☾ #she's so excited bc he never struck her as the type to send nudes? #gotta go reward him stat so he does it again

[miidnighters]

@whileurmine | Send 🍆 for my muse’s reaction to being sent a very intentional nude - James to Callisto | accepting

[ text; james ] is this payback for the upskirt I sent you from the meeting room last week? [ text; james ] bc if ur trying to make me horny at my desk it's working [ text; james ] where are u?

#whileurmine #x. answer | callisto | ☾ #x. r. in your corner | {callisto && james} | ☾

[miidnighters]

@sorrowsick | Send 🍆 for my muse’s reaction to being sent a very intentional nude - Yan to Callisto | accepting

[ text; yan ] KJfhgaflgj;alkfh [ text; yan ] sorry i dropped my phone [ text; yan ] you look so fkn hot. do i tell u that enough?

#sorrowsick #x. answer | callisto | ☾ #x. r. | sleeve of tricks {callisto && yan} | ☾

[miidnighters]

@sorrowsick | Send 🍆  for my muse’s reaction to being sent a very intentional nude - from Rosie to Barty | accepting

[ text; zahrosa ] what a treat [ text; zahrosa ] you don't need me to tell you how good you look but I will anyway [ text; zahrosa ] is this a request to close the cafe early and come see you?

#sorrowsick #x. answer | barty | ☾ #x. r. | your anger in my bones {barty && rosie} | ☾ #working on the assumption she sent him a regular nude not just like. beamed it into his brain