Announcements: Cutting Costs (2024) » January 2024 Copyfraud Attack » Finding Universes to Join (and making yours more visible!) » Guide To Universes On RPG » Member Shoutout Thread » Starter Locations & Prompts for Newcomers » RPG Chat — the official app » Frequently Asked Questions » Suggestions & Requests: THE MASTER THREAD »

Latest Discussions: Adapa Adapa's for adapa » To the Rich Men North of Richmond » Shake Senora » Good Morning RPG! » Ramblings of a Madman: American History Unkempt » Site Revitalization » Map Making Resources » Lost Poetry » Wishes » Ring of Invisibility » Seeking Roleplayer for Rumple/Mr. Gold from Once Upon a Time » Some political parody for these trying times » What dinosaur are you? » So, I have an Etsy » Train Poetry I » Joker » D&D Alignment Chart: How To Get A Theorem Named After You » Dungeon23 : Creative Challenge » Returning User - Is it dead? » Twelve Days of Christmas »

Players Wanted: Serious Anime Crossover Roleplay (semi-literate) » Looking for a long term partner! » JoJo or Mha roleplay » Seeking long-term rp partners for MxM » [MxF] Ruining Beauty / Beauty x Bastard » Minecraft Rp Help Wanted » CALL FOR WITNESSES: The Public v Zosimos » Social Immortal: A Vampire Only Soiree [The Multiverse] » XENOMORPH EDM TOUR Feat. Synthe Gridd: Get Your Tickets! » Aishna: Tower of Desire » Looking for fellow RPGers/Characters » looking for a RP partner (ABO/BL) » Looking for a long term roleplay partner » Explore the World of Boruto with Our Roleplaying Group on FB » More Jedi, Sith, and Imperials needed! » Role-player's Wanted » OSR Armchair Warrior looking for Kin » Friday the 13th Fun, Anyone? » Writers Wanted! » Long term partner to play an older male wanted »

0
followers
follow

Jaiden Price

"A set of empty bones."

0 · 1,915 views · located in Greythorne

a character in “greythorne”, as played by Wolf's Bane109

Description



███████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████


Image
Image
"Wanna feel alive, outside I can fight my fear."
Scared To Be Lonely -Martin Garrix ft. Dua Lipa
What's Wrong -Pvris
Lovely -Billie Eilish ft Khalid



███████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████

Image Image
Image Image

F U L LXN A M E
Jaiden Asher Lily Price

N I C K N A M E (S)
Jai | Most commonly used by everyone
Ash/Asher | Used by those closest to her
Lily | Childhood nickname by her mother, in turn, she isn't a fan of that one

B I R T H D A Y
October 25th

A G E
Appears to be 21, but is somewhere her late twenties, early thirties

R O L E
Witch | Fire elemenalist

S E X U A L I T Y
Pansexual | Unknown preference

E T H N I C I T Y
Unknown | She's too much of a mix to know for sure

H O M E T O W N
Old Orchard Beach, Maine

H E X
#800000



███████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████

Image
S T Y L E
Her sense of style is something some would consider an oddity, especially for her age. Jaiden can usually be seen darker colors, anything from sweaters, jackets, hoodies, and t-shirts, to sun dresses and things on the formal end of fashion. She'll gladly wear jeans, boots, and a t shirt for the night on the town, or sweat pants and sweaters on a cold night in her house. Whatever the occasion, she will always be seen with her 8mm gages that she has in both ears. She'll also be seen with an old locket made of copper hung around her neck, no one knows what's inside of the locket and she prefers to keep it that way as she always keeps it on a tight chain around her neck.

H E I G H T & W E I G H T
5'0" | 108lbs

A P P E A R A N C E
Despite her age, Ash is one for style, commonly dressing in things that tend to either be form-fitting or free-flowing that help make her seem less small. Her skin is of a soft, light brown tone while in direct sunlight it is somewhat pale, with dark brown eyes and a set of equally dark and curly hair sits atop her head which is usually covered by a hat or hood. She has been described as childish and dainty when meeting her for the first time as she is always seen moving or doing something that requires her to move, so some say she is rather unpredictable as they never know what she is going to do next. She is also described as being energetic and can usually be seen with a smile on her face that seems to be contagious for those that manage to see her smile.

Aside from clothing, she is covered in art, not exactly covered from head to toe, but she does have her fair share of tattoos, and for those that are lucky enough to see them, as she almost always wears long sleeves or jackets, they'll have seen the plethora that covers her body. On her back from shoulder to shoulder and that reaches down to the small of her back, she has what seems to bemetalic wings that seem to be molting while the majority are completely intact. On the right side of her torso, she has ancientrunes alongside her abdomen and no one seems to be able to understand what the mean exactly aside from her. She has elemental runes outlined and tattooed on her left bicep, it is one of her most noticeable tattoos if she is not wearing a long sleeves shirt or jacket. One of her last tattoos is three phases of the moon on her right forearm, that is her most prominent and noticeable tattoos, one that she has slight regret about getting. And lastly, her final tattoo is of a single black feather that ends in a flock of birds, which is tattooed on her right collarbone and is personally one of her favorites. After the attack in Greythorne transpired, Jaiden had decided to get one last tattoo as a way of remembering those that had fallen in the ensuing battle. Along her left wrist is a small tattoo, is a heart that wraps around her wrist fully, which ties into what appears to be an A along the underside of her wrist that faces her palm. Beside it are two semitranslucent pink fairy wings pointed upwards into the air. She has never had to say aloud for why she got it, but those that had known her long enough know the meaning and have never asked her about it..



███████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████

Image Image
Image Image

L I K E S
Nature, first and foremost she loves and adores nature. From animals and sounds of nature itself, something about it brings a sense of peace and calmness to her | Coffee, Ash has a sweet tooth and something about the sweet and bitter mix of coffee is somewhat of a guilty pleasure as she knows it isn't exactly good for her | Horror and scary movies, she loves the feeling of the rush that horror films give her, but they have to be the classics, as the modern-day ones seem too predictable and not scary to her, if anything she finds them funny | Music, it doesn't matter what kind it is, except for country and rap, Ash will always have music playing wherever she goes as it helps her concentrate | Piano, guitar, and violin, something about those instruments to her are one of the few things she found herself spending the most time with from an early age | Art, Jaiden has a massive love for all art pieces, something about getting a peek into someone else's mind through art has always fascinated her | Photography, she can always be seen with a camera in her hand no matter where she is | Video games, she has a healthy love for video games and would gladly stay at home playing with friends if they weren't feeling well or just wanted to be lazy | Sweets, as mentioned before she has a love for anything that is sweet and contains sugar, especially cookies and cakes. If you offer her food you'll be more than likely on her good side until you manage to piss her off enough | Lumos, Nox, and Melvin, she would do anything for them and if it wasn't for her pets she doesn't know what she would do, seeing as they're the only family she's had for years by now | Plants, it was never a shock that she liked nature and plants as her home always had plenty throughout her house. But it was in recent years that her home was filled with more flowers, and in the months that followed after the attack she made sure to have a spot in her home infront of the window where the sun would always come in for her favorite flowers, Hellebore's, that in recent weeks have looked better and have seemingly begun to wilt and lose their...magic |

D I S L I K E S
Fire, contrary to popular belief she absolutely hates fire as even simply the smell or the heat it radiates causes panic and anxiety to find its way through her, therefore, she hates that is what she possesses as a witch. But after the attack on Greythorne, she learned to harness her power and has been shown to be a rather powerful Pyromancer, uncontrolled and easily angered, but incredibly powerful | Sour Foods, something about the taste and consistency they have always gave her a stomachache afterwards | Silence, as it causes massive waves of anxiety to rush through her | Loud or sudden noises, as they can be unpredictable anything that goes off without warning scares her more than they do to others | Cars and vehicles, she hates anything to do with cars ever since she was a child and would gladly walk through the coldest weather to get to where she needs to be than get into a car | Hurting anyone else, the last thing she wants to do is hurt anyone else ever again so as often as she can she prefers to be by herself | Herself, as mentioned prior, she doesn't like the idea of possibly hurting anyone else, which in turn has caused her to have some self hate for having hurt the people she loved in the past | Most religions, as her kind has been tortured and killed for false accusations in the past hundreds of years | Failure, partially the fear of failing to save someone else again. She's lost everyone she has ever truly loved and she doesn't think she could handle it happening one more time, or Greythorne may just burn to the ground ||


███████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████

Image
Image
P E R S O N A L I T Y
Jaiden is a bit of an oddity, to say the least. Normally she is a shy, quiet, socially awkward recluse that is constantly home as she is self-employed as a graphic designer and freelance artist that is either too busy to go outside and see her few friends that she has, or she's simply not feeling it and would rather stay in her room and work, play video games, or read some light novels in her room by herself with some soft music in the background while drinking tea or coffee. But at the same time, she can be a happy and bubbly outgoing person who wants to go out on the town and go to bars and clubs with her friends, that once she gets drunk enough she is easily a flirt with her friends when normally she is rather awkward and reserved.

Much like the element that she possesses control over she is one that is easy to piss off and be angered easily and as some of her friends have referred to her as "hot-headed", the pun intended or not is all the same to her. She can be happy and laughing with friends one second and something can be said and she can easily be upset and storms off until she calms down enough to come back and go back to having a good time with her friends. When left alone with certain people she is seen as kind and caring, as well as a good listener and shoulder to cry on from time to time, always happy to lend a listening ear from those she holds close. But even then for those, she holds close, she holds them at an arms reach and then some, never wanting to get too close to someone in case she hurts someone else again, and if she were to she could never forgive herself. Which is another reason why she feels like the odd one out in her friend group, a small voice at the back of her mind constantly telling her that they don't actually like her but find her more of a burden and sometimes even a freak, which causes her to stay at home and only really go out when her friends reach out to her first, otherwise she could have continued living in her home by herself and her pets for the rest of her life.

But everything changed after the attack, Jaiden was left rather....rattled. More so than the others. With the loss of the one she ever really had any feelings for since moving to Greythorne, it took a rather large toll on her in both mental and physical sense. After seeing the murder of someone she held so dear, she made it a promise to never let it happen again and not just standby and be passive. But to act out in the moment, and that sometimes words won't work and actions will. Since then she had been rather moody and tends to lean more towards being to herself compared to having been out of her shell for a while, until everything went south. Jaiden has made sure that no matter what, if an attack were to happen again, that she doesn't just freeze and go the peaceful route, as that only ended up having someone be murdered brutally. She is only prone to nightmares now as she suffers with major ptsd and trauma. She doesn't like going out at night by herself or having to go through those damn streets and alleyways.

Jaiden is trying her best to recover from the events that transpired. Finding reassurance in herself and her control over her powers due to Markus and the others she started to use her abilities more and has managed to become more controlled than she was prior. Her powers are still tied to her emotions, but she has a bit more control of them and embraces it more than she had in years due to never wanting to lose someone else like she had prior.


███████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████

Image Image
Image Image
F A M I L Y
| Juliet Price | Mother | 42 | Witch | Deceased |
Jaiden and her mother had been close at best and distant at worst of times, which happened to be more often than not as Jaiden was the "Black Sheep" in her family. As their relationship had been estranged and distant for years, while her passing was hard for Jaiden at first, she was able to move on from it rather easily as time had passed.

| Nathaniel Price | Father | 43 | Human | Deceased |
Jaiden and her father were much more close than her and her mother, which had caused even more of a distance in the family. Her father was the main reason why she had such a love for music growing up as he had been a well-known musician and photographer in the past in their small hometown and had made sure that both his daughters had played at least one instrument when they grew up, which caused their bond to be stronger than it otherwise would have. When he died she was broken and had taken months to almost a year to fully get over his passing, but even still then she still has hard times thinking about him and the fact that he is gone.

| Ellen "Ellie" Price | Sister | Last seen age: 25 | Human | Unknown |
Growing up the sisters had been close beside the sight age gap. They did everything together and were always with each other until they got older and grew up, but their love for video games and art and things like D&D and anything that was relatively nerdy had kept their bond close. But after the accident, their relationship was never the same after Ellen had been rushed to the hospital and refused to see her sister after that tragic event that left them parentless. All Jaiden wants is for her and her sister to reconnect and be back on good terms, but she doesn't know where her only remaining relative is and the thought of never seeing her again scares her more than anything.


███████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████

Image
Image
Image

H I S T O R Y
Jaiden grew up in a normal childhood, or as normal as one would be able to consider as she was raised by a mother who was a Witch, and a father who was a human. Life was good for her and her older sister, they lived as much of a privileged life as their parents could let them as they were both hard-working people and made a name for themselves as their mother was a Housing Agent and their father was a well-known photographer. They lived their lives day to day and as close as they could until Jaiden turned twelve, the day her powers were finally awakened would turn things on their head. Their mother never told Nathaniel that she wasn't human and when Jaiden started showing signs of taking after her mother, it only raised red flags. It started out small, her temperature started rising and she would constantly be warm even if she was outside when the weather was -10*. Things grew worse when things would randomly start to catch on fire or combust with no apparent reason at all, seemingly without a known cause.

It was only when it was made known that it was Jaiden causing things to catch fire or explode that things really started heading south. With her not understand what it meant and with her parents began to argue back and forth as he felt betrayed and lied to that their mother never told them the truth that Jaiden became a recluse. She turned to music and photography more than she ever did before, finding few comforts in the little things. Her relationship with her sister had actually grown with the awakening of her powers, as Ellen had found it amazing and interesting that she could create fire out of what seemed to be thin air. Things seemed to be getting better as her parents argued less, they didn't stress as much as Jaiden reassurance in her parents' acceptance of what she was as her mother helped teach her how to help control and put away her abilities and hide them as well as she could.

It was when she turned seven-teen years old that things took a complete nosedive and would change her life forever. She came home from school to find her parents arguing again. They always argued, but this...this was different. Her father and mother were yelling and screaming at one another, her father yelling and screaming how he couldn't take having such a freak as a daughter, nevermind as a wife and that he wanted Jaiden and her out by that evening. Jaiden pleaded with him to listen to her and that she promised she'd never hurt anyone and that she'd never use her powers again to just make him happy. But he simply stated that he wished she wasn't his daughter and that he wanted them out. She was devastated and as she tried to hold her conflicting emotions together, a small spark caught on and spread through the house, faster and faster as her emotions slowly unraveled until the entire house had caught on. Nothing else but a blaze of fire and smoke overtook the house all too quickly as Jaiden had managed to leave the house as Ellen chased after her before the house exploded with their parents still inside the inferno. After the police and fire team made it to the scene it was entirely too late, there was no way inside and if they even did try it was useless, there was no way that not even someone as powerful as her mother would have been able to escape the blaze. It was ruled out as an accidental fire, which left the girls homeless, orphaned, and slightly injured from the explosion. Jaiden had received minor cuts and scrapes, and a fractured arm, and a lasting scar along her back. While her sister, Ellen, had received far more severe injuries which had her rushed to the hospital.

It was weeks after the accident that it was announced that Ellen was in a coma, with next to no expectations of coming out of it anytime soon. Jaiden spent weeks visiting the hospital in hopes of Ellen waking up, but with signs of no improvement, and after being told that she should just stop coming to visit as it would only make things worse. She ran. And hasn't looked back yet, but does have regrets.

It tore Jaiden to pieces to leave her sister and her hometown, but she knew it was for the best and with whispers of a town filled with people like her in British Columbia, Jaiden made her way to Graythorne where she currently resides today. When she initially arrived at the town, she didn't know what she was looking for exactly. But first it required her to change her name and identity, as well as lying about who she was and why she came there. She hasn't told anyone of what happened back in the states and doesn't plan to. Living in not only a new town, but also an entirely different country was scary and terrified her even more. She was already scared by what caused her to run, but after meeting some that were like her, two witches specifically, her life changed forever. At first, she had no idea what to think of those two losers. But as time went on, she came to love them and consider them her best friends, and they have done nothing but fuel their chaotic energy and mayhem in Greythorne since then. But years had passed by now, and things were good. She made a name for herself as a costume designer and freelance artist that lived by herself, but after the attack on Greythorne, that resulted in several deaths, including the murder of the one she ever truly loved, a female fae that had been one of her closest friends. Since then, she has done nothing but blame herself for being too weak and scared to have done anything. And as a result, she's been taken in by Markus and has been trying her best to keep herself together, but with the looming fear of the Hunters returning at any moment, Jaiden has put most of her time in perfecting her powers and control over them. Now she waits patiently for them to try and attack the town's people again now that she isn't as weak and foolish as she was before. As well as wanting revenge against the one that took away the one she cared for most.




███████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████


Image Image
Image Image
Image Image

T H E C U R S E
Much like the rest of the Witch race, Jaiden was born with supernatural gifts and abilities that one would usually love to have and use to its greatest potential. But unlike most Witches, Jaiden despises what she was born with and wishes nothing more than to get rid of what she was what she considered cursed with. As she was born with the ability to control, create, manipulate and bend fire to her every whim. But as everyone knows fire is an incredibly unpredictable and devastating element. And as such, it is highly intuned with her emotions, specifically anger and frustrations, making her the last person that one would want to piss off as it would usually end with something, or someone catching or combusting into flames. Ash was also born with the negative of being a Witch, she is incredibly weak if exposed to silver usually resulting in a burn or rash, and on extreme exposure large lesions and red patches forming on her skin which can usually cause infections if not treated which results in fevers and having to stay in bed which is usually why she is susceptible to being sick.

T A L E N T S
| Cooking, it shouldn't be much of a surprise that she is a rather skilled cook as she lived by herself for a while as well as being a natural in the kitchen | Costume making/cosplay creation, she was always big into making things and sewing. And as such she has been able to make some of the best costumes that Greythorne had ever seen and has been one of the go-to people for costume commissions | Since the attack and death of some of the others in the town, Jaiden took it upon herself to help with some of the stores and as such she had seemingly out of nowhere grown to have more of a love for plants and nature, particularly flowers | Pyromancy, in recent times she had garnered control over her abilities with somewhat of too much ease and has also been cause for alarm for how in tune she is with her magic. Especially when she is angry or in a fit of emotional stress. But for the most part she has garnered far more control than she had prior |

S T R E N G T H S
| Recently garnered control over her powers, with it has been trial and error which has resulted in her accidentally burning things and herself which has resulted in a few scars, but she is much more powerful than she was prior. She can summon pillars of fire with simple ease and a snap of her fingers, or form a wall of fire with more concentration. Over time she hopes to perfect her control and mastery over her abilities just incase she would ever have to fight again, which she has a feeling she may have to | Her determination to look after her friends and make sure that they are okay, especially after the attack on Greythorne | She picked up playing the acoustic guitar a few years ago and has managed to create some songs since then, and is often seen playing it more often now than she did before the attack | Cooking, seeing as how she had to rely on herself for food for a while, it isn't exactly surprising that she is a talented cook and since she moved in with Markus her skills have improved since then |

W E A K N E S S E S & F E A R S
| Chronic nightmares and night-terrors, after the attack her nightmares became more frequent and as such she started to stay at Markus' place until she was simply told to just live with him as he never really went anywhere and she'd always have someone there for her | Her trust in people has dipped even more and has a hard time going out in public and as such she stays in her and Markus' place more often now than before | She is even more easily angered if someone provokes her with simple things such as mentioning the attack in her presence or takes it not very seriously | She is terrified of not being able to save anyone and as such she practices her magic almost religiously and as such she barely sleeps anymore, when she isn't asleep she's most likely with friends due to Markus or the others, or she's burning something | Falling in love with someone again, to only have them brutally murdered infront of her again, and as such she is somewhat against forming a relationship with someone again. But at the same time she is a hopeless romantic and is often conflicted with how she feels, as well as feeling like she'd be betraying them if she felt something for someone else |


███████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████

So begins...

Jaiden Price's Story

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Phoenix Woods Character Portrait: Alex Garcia Character Portrait: Zada min Albahr Character Portrait: Jaiden Price Character Portrait: Rosie Thompson Character Portrait: Neden Isimir
Tag Characters » Add to Arc »

0.00 INK

Image
A L E X GARCIA
Image
Image
Image
outfitx|x#3a0a4d
xxxglass sky, killin' time
xxxyou leaned upon my shoulder
xxxand my thoughts dried
xxxdidn't mind

Image
Alex smiled as he watched Phoenix open the card, though he was also keeping an eye on Jaiden-he knew that he probably deserved whatever pain she would inflict on him, once she got her present all opened. Phoenix’s reaction brought the biggest, brightest smile to Alex’s face. “I told you it was a good present.” Alex happily returned the hug, chuckling slightly as Phoenix thanked him. “Of course. It’s for you.” As Phoenix started to let go, Alex heard Jaiden yell that she was going to kill him. “Okay, I gotta go.” He turned and ran from Jaiden, but there was only so far he could go without heading outside, and he really didn’t want to do that.

So, after a short time, Alex stopped and turned to Jaiden, arms outstretched as if to hug her, “Jaiden, just listen-” She didn’t listen, though. Before long, Alex and Jaiden were both tumbling to the ground. Alex was laughing, Jaiden was not. “Jai! Jai! Stop it!” He brought his arms up to cover his face, as if he thought she was going to start punching him, “I’m sorry! I’m sorry! It was a joke!”

It wasn’t long before someone had physically restrained Jaiden, and they were both back on their feet. “I guess the glitter was taking it too far.” He shrugged, “I thought it would be funny. Lesson learned.” He looked down at himself, and realized that now he was covered in glitter. “Oh, wow. I’m sorry, Jaiden, I-” He cut himself off as he started laughing again, bringing a fist to his mouth to try and hide the smile, “I didn’t really think it through.” After brushing himself off the best he could, and then just accepting that he was just going to look extra fabulous for a while, Alex decided to rejoin the party. First order of business was collecting his dead bird and putting it in the freezer until they left. He was going to thank Zada again but she looked happy for once, and not at all like she wanted to murder someone, so he decided not to be the one to ruin that.

Instead, he returned from the kitchen with a small paper bag, heading straight for Markus, practically purring out a, “Hey, Daddy.” As he approached, leaning up against a nearby wall in an effort to look cool and composed, “I have something for Coco.” He handed over the bag, filled with Christmas cookie shaped dog treats, “She’s a good girl and I love her.” He leaned in a little closer, “And, listen, I know we’ve been dancing around-” He gestured between the two of them, “You know, for years. I want you to know that it’s fine, I really and truly am over it.”





Image
Z A D A min ALBAHR
Image
Image
Image
outfitx|x#78b0ad
xxxi called it the moonsea
xxxit is a cruel dream
xxxfrom up so high, I can hardly decide
xxxif you're waving hello, or waving goodbye

Image
At first, Zada didn’t outwardly react when Neden said they had something else for her, and to find them later, but she did flash a small smile to them before moving on and looking around the room. A lot of chaos had erupted as soon as Neden finished handing out their gifts, and Zada had never experienced anything quite like it in her time on dry land. She had to admit, though, that she loved it. Something about it all really made her feel like she belonged and, for the first time since she'd left the sea, she really felt like she might have something resembling a family, again. She didn't know that she really liked them all, but she didn't need to.

When Rosie handed her a gift bag, Zada initially just raised an eyebrow but when she opened it up, a genuine and warm smile lit up her face. “Thank you!” She stood up, wrapping her arms around Rosie in a gentle hug, “It’s perfect,” She gushed, “Of course, you’ll have to come by soon so we can drink this, and I'll tell you what I think of the books.” Naturally, she would expect her closest friend to know what to get her for Christmas, but she was honestly thrilled. She pretty quickly sat down and started looking over the covers of the books, admittedly judging them a bit. She always said that she liked to get to know a book before and as she read them, and that was a part of it.

She heard some commotion, saw the glitter in the air, and then Jaiden went running. She was after Alex, though, and Zada just genuinely didn’t care. Jaiden could kill him, for all she cared. As that was going on, Zada saw, out of the corner of her eye, someone new walking in. He quickly turned to check it out, but it turned out to just be Markus. She flashed him a smile: a mixture of relief and, just maybe, a bit of happiness on her face. They weren’t close, but she was comfortable enough with Markus, almost enough to call him a friend.

After Kay had changed into her new dress, Zada walked over to where she sat. She smiled over at Kay, "You looked wonderful before, but that new dress is lovely on you."

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Phoenix Woods Character Portrait: Alex Garcia Character Portrait: Zada min Albahr Character Portrait: Jaiden Price Character Portrait: Rosie Thompson Character Portrait: Neden Isimir
Tag Characters » Add to Arc »

0.00 INK

PHOENIX WOODS
Image
Image
Image
outfit : herex|xhex: #c4a7be
xxxam i more than you bargained for yet?
xxxi'm just dying to tell you
xxxanything you want to hear
xxxbut that's just who i am this week
Phoenix laughed as Alex pulled away from the hug to run away from Jaiden, who had just been covered in glitter by Alex's present. A distraction, however, came in the form of Markus, who awkwardly handed him two boxes, explaining that he'd pulled his name. Alex opened the smaller box first and laughed with delight at the mug. The jacket, however, was a surprise. He recognised it right away, he was pretty sure he'd complimented Markus on it when he'd been wearing it. "Markus, this is... this is wonderful, thank you so much!" He said.

As he went back into the kitchen, he spotted Alex trying and failing to brush the glitter off of himself and laughed again, shaking his head. He'd tried to talk Alex out of the glitter bomb and had failed, but was glad to see that it had at least backfired somewhat. Everyone seemed so... happy, so relaxed. After the past few weeks they'd had, they all needed it, and it made him happy to see it. He was about to go into the kitchen when he saw Alex, still covered in glitter, heading for Markus. Just Alex's expression made Phoenix smirk and lean against the doorframe, watching what was going to happen. He managed to keep a relatively straight face even as he was just able to overhear the conversation. He sauntered over to Alex, leaning an arm on his shoulder. "Sorry, babe, but... he gave me his jacket. We both know what that means," he said, before kissing Alex on the cheek, winking at Markus, before heading back out to the kitchen, smirking to himself the whole time.

It didn't take dinner long to come together. Someone had started handing around drinks and had kept Phoenix's rum and coke sufficiently topped up as he cooked, calling everyone to the table as he dished up. As Alex had accurately predicted, they had way too many desserts with plenty of leftovers for people to bring home, but he didn't even mind. It felt nice to do something like this, something where everyone was relaxed and happy. Well, Phoenix wasn't convinced that Jaiden had completely given up on killing Alex, but he was pretty sure she wasn't going to do it immediately. As they moved into the sitting room to play some boardgames, he found himself leaning his head on Alex’s shoulder, feeling happy and safe as if he could fall asleep there and then.





ROSIE THOMPSON
Image
Image
Image
outfit : herex|xhex: #cc0460
xxxlittle things i should have said and done
xxxi never took the time
xxxbut you are always on my mind
xxxyou are always on my mind.
Zada’s reaction to her present made Rosie grin, returning the hug. Zada was honestly like a sister to her and she’d been so relieved when she’d pulled her name. She sat back down and laughed as Jaiden chased Alex out of the room, a glitter bomb having been unleashed upon her. She smiled at Travis handed her the wine and she leaned into him a little as he put her arm around her, sipping the wine. It had been so long since she’d been in a room where everyone was so relaxed, where nobody seemed worried. Phoenix was popping in and out as he cooked, laughing at whatever was going on at the time. Even Markus seemed relaxed.

The dinner was amazing, as expected, with plenty of food to go around and plenty of leftovers too. They were under strict orders from Phoenix to take something home with them, and to take as much as they wanted. They ended up draped across various couches and chairs, playing board games and laughing. Phoenix seemed to be nearly falling asleep on Alex’s shoulder, and Rosie took that as a sign for them to leave. She sat up, stretching a little. “Okay, I think we’re going to leave. Thank you so much for everything,” she said.

“No problem. Don’t forget your leftovers,” Phoenix mumbled with a sleepy grin, and Rosie grinned. She retrieved a box of leftovers from the kitchen, before calling goodbye to everyone again, and waiting for Trav to catch up with her outside. “So… do you want to come back to mine?”






HAYDEN BYRNE
Image
Image
Image
outfit : herex|xhex: #005555
xxxoh should my people fall
xxxthen surely i'd do the same
xxxconfined in mountain halls
xxxwe got too close to the flame
Hayden watched as Kay pointed out each of the people in the room. She pointed out the people he’d encountered already- the witch who had given Kay her secret santa gift, Jaiden, the androgynous person who had given Hayden his gifts, Neden- and then started onto the others. There was a “ghost” which wasn’t really a ghost, the human, a siren… He raised his eyebrows at the description of the mermaid. The woman who Kay had indicated was the vaguely terrifying woman who had given one of the others the dead bird. Even if Kay said that she was nice, Hayden made a mental note to avoid crossing her as much as possible.

Hearing Kay talk about Alex made him a little sad, seeing the expression on her face. But she quickly gathered herself, explaining that he was a necromancer and that Phoenix was an earth witch. And then, to round out the group, was a werewolf, who Kay ran up to to give his present.

Someone started asking about drinks, and Hayden was handed a Coke. He started chatting to the others. When Kay came back, he smiled at her. “You look nice. Your dress is pretty,” he said, with a grin, blushing a little as she took his hand. Then Zada came over to talk to Kay, and Hayden straightened up a little. “You must be Zada, right? I’m Hayden, it’s nice to meet you,” he said, holding out a hand.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Phoenix Woods Character Portrait: Alex Garcia Character Portrait: Zada min Albahr Character Portrait: Jaiden Price Character Portrait: Neden Isimir Character Portrait: Kaylessa Valven
Tag Characters » Add to Arc »

0.00 INK

Image
TRAVIS GRAVESON
Image
Image
Image
outfit xxxxxxx hex; #8B4513
Image
xxx Older than water, stubborn as stone
xxx There'll be no forgiveness for all that you've known
xxx Oh these days, oh these days get heavy
xxx Hotter than friction, subtle as sound
xxx There'll be no forgiveness for you to come around

Image

Travis sighed a little as he watched the glitter bomb happen in Jaiden’s hand and then again when she dropped it as she chased Alex yelling she was going to kill him. He thought about helping but quickly saw some of the others seperate them, and relaxed as Markus gave in and gave him a slight head nod as a greeting and turned back to talk and laugh with Rosie before food was finally done cooking and the group ate.

It wasn’t long until everyone was done, somehow Kaylessa was the one who ate the most, but sort of made sense as she probably had a high metabolism as well as her healing powers. Travis stopped for a second. Powers… Supernaturals… He zoned out, thinking back to why he was here. He originally came to this town to get rid of these people because he thought they were all monsters. But they weren’t. They were just like him, just like humans, and just normal people with normal lives who just happen to be a little different.

And now Travis felt like he actually belonged for once. Yeah he belonged to the group called the Branded, but it was more of work, and maybe some friends. But in Greythorne it was different, he felt comfortable, safe. The people around him weren’t looking to get ahead, but just get by. They were more than just monsters, or just people with powers, but like their own little dysfunctional family, and Travis didn’t want to ruin that. He already had the first two attacks on his conscience and he spelt many nights drinking himself to pass out after closing his shop, or just staying up all night so he wouldn’t have nightmares. But now...

Travis was taken out of his thoughts as Rosie moved a bit, and he helped her up. Not only did he feel comfortable, but he had someone amazing that cared for him, and helped drown out the demons in his head. Trav looked deep into Rosie’s eyes and saw the innocence in her and the happiness behind her smile. He couldn’t help the Branded anymore. These aren't monsters. They were his friends, his family.

Travis walked out of Alex’s place carrying some leftovers and his gifts, then hearing Rosie ask him if he wanted to come over. “God I don’t know, been with you all day, don’t know if I can handle anymore…” Trav said, laughing a little and smiling. “Of course.” He said, giving an actual answer as the two walked back to her place. Talking about the party, laughing at the events that happened. It wasn’t long before they were back at Rosie’s and quickly taking off their jackets and putting down all the things they had to carry.

“I really enjoyed myself tonight Rosie...” Trav said as he gently grabbed Rosie from behind and wrapped his arms around her. She quickly spun around and threw her arms around his neck. She replied with a smile and leaned up and the two kissed, he pulled her in more and held her tighter, before pulling back. But he just looked at her and smiled. Travis lowered his hands and lifted Rosie up and started kissing her again as he carried her through the hallway.






Image
KAYLESSA VALVEN
Image
Image
Image
outfit xxxxxxx hex; #FF4500
Image
xxx If I'm a bad person, you don't like me
xxx Well, I guess I'll make my own way
xxx It's a circle, a mean cycle
xxx Sometimes I wanna fuckin' scream or run away,
xxxI can't excite you anymore

Image


Kaylessa blushed a bit and smiled keeping her head low as Hayden complimented her and the dress. “Th-thanks.” People complimented her often, but hearing it from her new friend, made her feel warm inside, she wasn’t sure why exactly though. As she was about to say something to Hayden, Zada came over and also commented on her dress. “Thank you Zada! Neden just gave it to me!” She replied, then hearing Hayden introduce himself and hold out a hand to Zada.

“Oh sorry! This is Hayden! He’s an elf, like my mother. He just got here and I wanted to bring him here so he wouldn’t be alone.” Kaylessa said as her hand reactively rested on his leg. “Don’t worry Zada, he’s a really good guy. Not like the other elves that wouldn’t stay long here.” The three of them sat together and talked for a bit before food was finally done and brought out, Kay thanking everyone for cooking and bringing food.

Kaylessa laid down on her back on the floor as she finished eating, stuffing herself full. The food was some of the best food she has had in awhile, so she wanted to enjoy as much of it as possible. But now she was exhausted and feeling really sleepy from the food and barely kept herself awake during some of the games, having her head in Hayden’s lap as they finished the last game of cards and people started getting their things and saying goodbye. Kay stretched and made a small squeak noise as she stood up and said bye to everyone again before walking outside with Hayden.

As Hayden and Kay walked back to her place, she huddled close to him, not because she was cold, but because it just felt right. When they reached the door Kaylessa opened it and looked back at him. “Do, do you want to stay the night here? I wouldn’t mind.” The two walked in after Hayden said yes and Kay started getting ready to go to sleep. She stopped and stared for a second at Hayden. “Do you want to sleep with me?” She blurted out, but quickly gasped and covered her mouth, getting red. “I mean, uh, I have a bunch of blankets on my bed, we could share them…”

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Phoenix Woods Character Portrait: Alex Garcia Character Portrait: Zada min Albahr Character Portrait: Jaiden Price Character Portrait: Rosie Thompson Character Portrait: Neden Isimir
Tag Characters » Add to Arc »

0.00 INK

Image
Z A D A min ALBAHR
Image
Image
Image
outfitx|x#78b0ad
xxxi called it the moonsea
xxxit is a cruel dream
xxxfrom up so high, I can hardly decide
xxxif you're waving hello, or waving goodbye

Image
Zada glanced over Hayden for a short moment before taking his hand, giving it-perhaps-a firmer-than-necessary shake. She had really come to care for Kay, and wasn’t keen to see him around her so soon after her heart had been broken. She didn’t smile as Kay introduced him, instead she nodded in understanding, “Well, Greythorne is normally a wonderful place to live. With any luck, Hayden will be able to enjoy his time here.” Zada enjoyed the rest of her evening; the conversation ranged from irritating to excellent, but considering the guest list, she expected no less. The food was good, and overall, she had a great time. Zada had never been good at board games, or card games, and found them mostly frustrating, but everyone else seemed (mostly) happy, and she just couldn’t help but enjoy herself, in spite of her constant losses.

It wasn’t long before everyone seemed to be getting ready to leave, some looking more tired than others. She gathered up her leftovers, and as she said her goodbye, made sure to thank Phoenix for inviting her along. It was nice to not be alone on a holiday, for once. Being alone truly didn’t bother her anymore, but something about being included in the festivities just felt… Nice. When she’d first come to Greythorne, Zada had thought of it as a place that she could live in peace, and nothing more. Nowhere had ever felt like home, not since she’d come ashore. Greythorne came close, but she didn’t think she would ever fully feel at home on dry land.

The walk home was a quick one, and for the first time in a while, Zada felt a small pang of something in her chest. Loneliness, maybe. Or homesickness. She still longed for the sea, even if her life in town was wonderful, her friends amazing. She wondered, briefly, if her sisters would like Christmas, and came to the conclusion that it didn’t matter. Her friends in Greythorne did, and they were her family, now.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Phoenix Woods Character Portrait: Alex Garcia Character Portrait: Zada min Albahr Character Portrait: Jaiden Price Character Portrait: Rosie Thompson Character Portrait: Neden Isimir
Tag Characters » Add to Arc »

0.00 INK

Image
A L E X GARCIA
Image
Image
Image
outfitx|x#3a0a4d
xxxglass sky, killin' time
xxxyou leaned upon my shoulder
xxxand my thoughts dried
xxxdidn't mind

Image
When Markus planted a kiss on the top of his head, Alex couldn’t help but grin. In the back of his head he felt like he’d won some sort of a prize. It had only taken years of teasing Markus, and while they both knew that it was (mostly) not very serious, something in him was still very pleased by the gesture. When Phoenix commented that Markus had given him his jacket, Alex laughed. “Dammit, Phoenix. I thought I finally had a chance!” He was happy, though. He couldn’t think of a better gift from Markus. Well, he could, but there was no way Markus would entertain it.

It wasn’t too long before the food was done, and Alex tried to keep drinks full (but mostly focused on his own) in the time between. Mostly, Alex was just glad to have everyone together and happy. He saw smiles on faces that had been missing them for a while; even Zada seemed happy enough, and Alex wasn’t sure he’d seen her with anything but an angry or perfectly neutral expression before. It was nice to see everyone talking and laughing together, especially after all they’d been through recently. Sometimes all the different conversations and noise felt almost like it was too much, but Alex managed just fine.

After dinner, they broke out the board games, which was fun. Everyone was getting along well, and it was going great, until Violet accused Alex of cheating. This spiraled into a bit of an argument. It was, honestly, amusing, and probably inevitable. Alex never was able to convince Violet that he wasn’t cheating, but she did eventually drop it… After it was politely suggested that the group should just start a different game. Which was fine, but Alex still insisted that he hadn’t been cheating, and he was offended that Violet thought he was.

Eventually things started winding down. Phoenix had leaned up against Alex’s shoulder, and Alex couldn’t help but smile. He also didn’t dare move; if Phoenix was going to fall asleep using him as a pillow, then Alex accepted his fate and decided to enjoy his new life as a pillow. It was around then that people started packing up to go, saying their goodbyes, and eventually it was just the two of them left. Alex would’ve been lying if he said he wasn’t a little relieved. He was tired, and as much as he’d enjoyed everyone’s company, he was ready to wind down. He rested his head against Phoenix’s for a moment, savoring in the quiet. Which was, maybe, not the best idea at the moment. Because there, feeling safe and secure, heart full of love and happiness and no worries on his mind, he quickly drifted off to sleep.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Phoenix Woods Character Portrait: Alex Garcia Character Portrait: Zada min Albahr Character Portrait: Jaiden Price Character Portrait: Rosie Thompson Character Portrait: Neden Isimir
Tag Characters » Add to Arc »

0.00 INK

ImageImage
0R O S I E 0 T H O M P S O N 000000000000000000000000 T R A V I S 0 G R A V E S O N

ImageImage
ImageImage
ImageImage

hexcode
#cc0460 0 | 0 #8B4513

outfit
rosie 0 | 0 travis



Christmas had been a welcome break from the fear and the tension of the previous attacks. But the peace and quiet had to end at some point, and it ended two days after Christmas, when Neden called her to tell her that Markus had died. It didn’t take long for the anxiety to start seeping back in. Rosie knew it was time to do something. Something that could make people feel a part of something, let them know that they were doing something. So she called another town meeting. Neden was going to update them on the patrols, let them know if or how they could help. Rosie was going to see if there was any more interest in her self-defense class, and see if anyone else had anything to contribute. And more than anything, she was going to try and give everyone hope.

After the holidays things seemed to get back to normal, though unfortunately normal meant people being paranoid and scared of the Branded and the town being vulnerable. Travis had slowly been spreading rumors of another attack to keep people on alert and not to get comfortable, though he did feel bad making people freak out. He was thankful that another meeting awas coming together, would give the town a chance to come together, as well as get some more information for him to report back to his superiors.

Travis set up in the same spot as last time, towards the back of the room and keeping an eye on things, the only thing he had on him this time was the knife gifted to him by Alex. He took a deep breath as people sat down and the meeting was about to get underway. Though a running figure through the crowd caught his attention, Kaylessa. She handed something to Rosie, and glanced at Travis, but didn’t keep eye contact before backing out of the light and people turned their attention back to Rosie.

Rosie didn’t quite know how to react when Kay ran up to her as she was about to start to speak and shoved a note into her hand, telling her she had to read it out to the crowd. Rosie didn’t have time to read it beforehand, and so opened it on stage, in front of the entire town. She didn’t know how she managed to keep herself composed, her stomach feeling as though it had plummeted through the floor. For just a moment, she was tempted to just read out the statement and let what happened happen. But she couldn’t bring herself to do it. She needed to get his side of the story first. And so she read out the statement, but instead changed the final line.


“Dear monsters of the so called town of Greythorne,

From our recent attack on your encampment and what we have observed, we have seen that you are somehow able to act somewhat like actual human citizens. So this is a letter from us to let you know we will be withdrawing our resources that were used to try to smother you from this world. We will be keeping an eye on all of you from a distance to monitor our new peace.

Also, to prove this to you here is some information. There is a spy amongst you, and has been for an extended amount of time. Providing us figures with your numbers, the details of the type monsters you are, points of interest, and other information so we could have the advantage.

We will reveal the spy in three days.

Sincerely,

-The Branded”


She shot a look at Kay. “Trust me, I’ll explain later,” the look said. She took a deep breath as panicked and angry discussion broke out. “Listen to me.” She said with enough power to make everyone listen. “We cannot let this divide us. For all we know, this could all be another ploy. We need to trust each other. We have to work together, no matter what. Neden will now discuss the patrols, as well as how this changes in light of what we’ve just discovered.”

She didn’t particularly listen for the rest of the meeting, instead staring at the floor and trying to keep herself calm. The minute things wrapped up, she got to her feet and walked up to Trav. “My place. Now,” she ordered, heading straight outside to avoid anyone talking to her.

The letter. Travis leaned off the wall as it was read. He knew nothing about it, where it came from, why it was sent. Especially with the part with them almost blowing his cover. What is their plan here, why would they act like they are giving up? Possibly to make them lower their guard. Trav thought to himself as he watched Rosie take control of the situation. He thought about sneaking out, but knew that would quickly put suspicion on him, more than there already was. People would panic and probably quickly pointing fingers.

As the meeting came to the end Rosie caught Travis’ attention as she approached him, just about demanding him to follow her. He took a look around and followed her out. The two didn’t talk during the walk, Rosie keeping a slightly faster pace than Travis towards her place. After the two arrived, she closed the door behind him, a look on her face he hadn’t seen before. Travis quickly spoke up to try to ease the tension. “I don’t believe this letter, it’s a fake out for us to lower our guards. But if this spy talk is real, we sho-” Travis was cut off when Rosie held out the letter to him.

Rosie could hardly even look at Travis as they walked back to hers, her heart in her mouth. She was furious- both at him and at herself. Because she had never even considered it, not really. She’d let herself be drawn in, just let herself believe he was different, after everything. She let them both in, slamming the door behind them. She was almost hurt when Travis began trying to cover it. She couldn’t even say anything, just shoved the letter into his hands.

“Don’t you dare try and bullshit me, Travis,” she said quietly. “I could have turned the town on you, so the least you owe me is the goddamn truth. Is this for real?” She asked, her voice low and even and too calm.

Travis was surprised how Rosie spoke to him, asking for the truth and if it was real. He opened the letter and saw it was exactly what Rosie had said during the meeting, except for one thing, something that Rosie hadn’t said, but changed.

The spy, Travis Richard Graveson.

He was petrified. They had ratted him out. Just about threw him to the wolves, and it was only Rosie that had prevented it. Trav stuttered for a second before letting the letter fall to the ground as he looked up at Rosie with soft eyes. “Rosie… I…” Travis took a deep breath. “Yes…” He sighed as he confessed the letter spoke truth about him being a spy and working for the Branded. “But Rosie, you have to listen to me. I didn’t mean for any of our friends to get hurt. I didn’t know how amazing any of you were, are.”

Rosie knew it long before he said yes, but that didn’t stop that one word from feeling like a punch to the chest. She raised an eyebrow as he said he’d never meant for any of their friends to be hurt. Our friends, Travis? Are you actually being serious right now? Is that the only part of it you regret? Every single person that died in those attacks was somebody’s friend. They were all people, and you had a part in their death. Don’t you dare say you regret our friends being hurt.” She shook her head, turning away slightly. “So… what was this? Just… a way of working your way even deeper into the town? They don’t trust you, but they trust me, so if they know I trust you, maybe they’ll trust you too?” She asked.

Travis just listened to the retort coming from her, everything she was saying was true. He was responsible for the death of many people in Greythorne. He regretted all of it. The morning after the attacks, seeing not just the bloodshed, but the internal pain and mourning that people wore. Trav barely kept himself together after seeing the misery he had caused. “Rosie, listen. You’re right, I am responsible for all that, and it’s eaten away at me. I regret all of it, I wish I could take it all back, never come to Greythorne and not bring the death that had followed me here…” He trailed off as Rosie turned away from him.

Hearing her question what they were hurt more than anything, after everything that had happened, being with her actually brought joy to Trav’s life, bringing light to the darkness that had been clouding him. “What? No, this. Us. It’s real. I promise. Just listen to me.” Travis said as she reached and gently grabbed onto Rosie’s shoulder.

Rosie felt his hand on her shoulder and for the first time, she snapped. She slapped his hand away and whirled around to face him. “No, Travis. Nothing you can say is going to change my mind. You came here with the sole purpose of hurting people, and you succeeded. Markus is dead because of you!” She yelled, her voice cracking. She took a step back and reached up, undoing her necklace and pressing it into his hand. “Get out of here. You have two days before I tell everyone what you did,” she said. “And if you’re still here then… it’s your own problem.”


Travis took a step back as his hand was slapped away and was quickly met with Rosie yelling at him, he had never seen her like this before. He barely had time to respond to what she had yelled about, bringing up Markus, saying he was dead because of him. Rosie had come to Trav when she found out, and telling him. He was speechless and his heart sank along with a pain in his chest. He wasn’t exactly close to Markus, but they got along well enough, and he was dead because of him. The next thing that came out of her mouth was telling him to leave, that he had two days before she would tell everyone. Travis wanted to stay, say whatever he needed to convince Rosie, but he knew by the tone of her voice that there was no way. He closed his hand around the necklace forced into his hand. “If this is truly what you want…” He said in a low voice, pain building up in his chest.

After stuffing the necklace into his internal jacket pocket, Trav turned around and went to leave Rosie’s place, but stopped and turned back as he opened the door. “Rosie, I lo-” He paused, realizing there was no point in saying the next two words. “Thank you…” Travis said as he walked out and closed the door behind him, keeping his head low as he went back to his place. He had two days to leave, he didn’t want to, but he knew he had no other choice. Travis had realized he had lost the greatest thing that had been gifted to him, not just friends, not just someone that cared for him, but just happiness in general. I’m sorry for everything Rosie, but I’m not sorry for loving you…

Rosie couldn’t even look at him right then. She only stayed in the hall to make sure he actually left. Then when he left, she just sank down against the wall, the tears starting to stream down her face. After everything, she’d really let herself think there would be one good thing in it all. She’d been wrong. She gave herself a few seconds before standing up, brushing herself down. She went to the bathroom to fix her makeup, before taking a deep breath and heading back into town. She had to keep it together. She had to lead by example, and that meant going back out to see if anyone needed her help.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Phoenix Woods Character Portrait: Alex Garcia Character Portrait: Jaiden Price Character Portrait: Neden Isimir Character Portrait: Kaylessa Valven Character Portrait: Zoe Peña
Tag Characters » Add to Arc »

0.00 INK

Image
A L E X GARCIA
Image
Image
Image
outfitx|x#3a0a4d
xxxi ain't happy, i'm feeling glad
xxxi got sunshine in a bag
xxxi'm useless but not for long
xxxthe future is coming on

Image
xxx
Alex let Zoe and Phoenix do most of the talking as they walked through town. He was tired. The nightmares and visions had started again the night Markus died. If he’d been less upset about them, he might have found some poetic beauty in it. Instead, he was just annoyed. He heard someone shouting, felt Phoenix’s grip on his hand tighten, and shot his head to the source of the yelling. It was just Kay. He was halfway through the process of relief when he realized that something was wrong. “Hi, Kay,” There was clearly more he wanted to say, but between Kay ignoring him, and Phoenix handing Coco off to him, the words never left his tongue.

As Kay and Phoenix began to argue, Alex looked over to Zoe. This probably wasn’t the welcome into town that she’d envisioned. When she quietly asked what was going on, all Alex could do was shrug, “I honestly have no idea.” A part of Alex wanted to take Zoe and pull her away from it; this wasn’t any of her business, and it honestly felt like it wasn’t any of his, but something about what he was hearing was connecting dots in his mind Honestly, Neden just about running him over was a welcome distraction.

Neden rambled on for a short while, only really stopping long enough to get Zoe’s name. Alex smiled when they picked Coco up, some familiarity would do the little dog good. She’d been, understandably, upset since Markus died (well, since he left her with Alex and Phoenix, to be exact). She was adjusting, but Alex knew that her whole world had been turned upside down. She missed Markus, and there wasn’t anything Alex could do about that. “We were just showing Zoe around town when we… Ran into Kay.”

Normally he would’ve said more, but Phoenix and Kay were getting pretty intense, and Alex desperately wanted to say something, to try to break it up, but he didn’t even know what was going on. He would probably make things worse, and he didn’t want to leave Zoe there with Neden to watch everything go down. He wasn’t the fondest of her, but she honestly looked like she was witnessing something traumatic. Maybe she was. Thankfully, the argument seemed to end shortly after Hayden stepped in, but then Phoenix just turned and left. Shit. Alex looked to Neden, then Zoe, “Phoenix!” He called out, to no avail.

It became pretty apparent that Neden was going to go after Phoenix, so Alex took Coco back and looked at Zoe, “So, I know we asked you to join us for dinner, but that isn’t happening.” The thought that Alex owed her nothing, and didn’t have to do anything to help her crossed his mind, but that would only serve to upset Phoenix, and Phoenix didn’t need any more reasons to be upset. As badly as he wanted to go after Phoenix and try to make everything better, Alex knew he had some other business to attend to. “Here,” He handed Coco off to Zoe, who was still standing there like she had no idea what was going on. He sent a quick text to Jaiden, explaining that they needed to take a rain check on dinner, if she was still planning on coming, and he started once again down the sidewalk, not bothering to check if Zoe was following behind.

They didn’t talk as they walked, they didn’t talk when Alex bought Zoe something to eat, and they didn’t talk when Alex found her a room to get checked into. Alex almost left for home without saying a word, but he finally spoke up just before he left, “I don’t know how the next few days are going to go. Phoenix is… Upset. Obviously.” Alex paused, trying to decide how much information to share, “He’s not really used to people sticking around when things get rough, and even I don’t have the best track record of being there for him. So,” He sighed, “I’m trying to do better. I definitely don’t deserve him, but I’m trying to.” He shrugged, “I guess… Listen, I’ll talk to you, I guess you deserve that much after the shit show you went through today. But I have to put Phoenix first. I don't know how much he's going to need-or want-me around, but...” He shook his head. He had some thoughts to add, but Zoe didn't need to know, "Anyway, I'll come to you." With that, he left Zoe for the night, and went to carry Coco home.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Jaiden Price Character Portrait: Rosie Thompson Character Portrait: Kaylessa Valven Character Portrait: Hayden Byrne
Tag Characters » Add to Arc »

0.00 INK

ROSIE THOMPSON
Image
Image
Image
outfit : herex|xhex: #cc0460
xxxdon't make me laugh, i'll choke
xxxjust let me cry a little bit longer
xxxi ain't gonna smile if i don't want to
xxxhey man we all can't be like you
Rosie had fully intended on heading in to town to see what was needed, to see if she was needed there, but instead, she thought of someone who she was pretty sure would be needing someone about then. Jaiden and Markus had been close, especially over the last few months, and Rosie knew that Jaiden had to be taking it hard. They all were. Markus had been a stable part of the town, someone that you could always rely on, that was always just there. And now he wasn't. Things were changing too quickly, and it was a painful reminder that they might never be safe again.

It had been a while since Rosie had been down to Jaiden's house. She’d only been there a handful of times, and it was when Jaiden was in high school or shortly after she’d graduated. Rosie hadn’t really needed to go since then. The house was deep in the woods, deeper than most people went unless they had a reason to. But it was peaceful, and Rosie knew they weren't likely to be interrupted. Even though she'd initially intended on going into the town, she'd realised that she didn't particularly want to face the crowds, didn't want people expecting her to be a leader right now. She needed to be doing something, but she also didn't want or need to be pretending that everything was fine. Because it wasn't.

She knocked on the door, before realising it was open and stepping inside. "Jaiden, it's Rosie," she called gently, shutting the door behind her.






HAYDEN BYRNE
Image
Image
Image
outfit : herex|xhex: #005555
xxxfly like a cannonball
xxxstraight to my soul
xxxtear me to pieces
xxxand make me feel whole
He'd really enjoyed spending time with Kay and her friends. But the following day, news came that one of the guys that had been there had died after apparently hiding an injury ever since the last attack. And things changed then. Most of the time was spent just trying to keep Kay company and trying to distract her. He got the impression that it wasn't really working, but at least he was trying, and that was something. It was a start.

He'd heard something about a meeting or something, and thought that maybe it would have been good for Kay to go to it. Get out, meet some of her friends, get some fresh air. But instead she said she wanted to go for a walk by herself. Hayden let her, and decided to cook them both dinner while she was gone. But when he started looking for ingredients to make something, he realised that her cupboards and fridge were pretty empty. So he went out to get some groceries and picked up some take out while he was out instead of cooking.

But while he was out, he spotted Kay talking to some of the others. And even from a distance, he could tell it wasn't a happy conversation. He hadn't seen Kay angry before, but he knew that was exactly what was happening. He went and grabbed Kay's arm, trying to pull her away and calm her down. But she stayed talking, stayed practically yelling at Phoenix, bringing up things that had happened for them in the past. And then, eventually, she calmed down, going and letting him pull her into a hug.

He took her hand and pulled her away, shooting the others an apologetic look. Kay had been so upset over the past few days, he knew that she probably hadn't meant any of it, but that didn't mean they weren't going to be hurt. But they'd deal with that later. He walked her home, holding her hand tightly. He didn't say anything until he got her in, sitting on the couch with the takeout in front of them, and a blanket around her shoulders. "Do you want to talk about what happened?" He asked softly, sitting cross-legged beside her.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Jaiden Price Character Portrait: Rosie Thompson Character Portrait: Kaylessa Valven Character Portrait: Hayden Byrne
Tag Characters » Add to Arc »

0.00 INK

ROSIE THOMPSON
Image
Image
Image
outfit : herex|xhex: #cc0460
xxxdon't make me laugh, i'll choke
xxxjust let me cry a little bit longer
xxxi ain't gonna smile if i don't want to
xxxhey man we all can't be like you
Rosie forced a smile as Jaiden said she wasn’t expecting anyone. “Sorry, just said I’d drop in and see how you were doing. I just swung by here on a whim,” she explained. In all honesty, she’d hardly noticed the mess, but she just shrugged. “Don’t worry about it, my house isn’t much better,” she said. She knew that Jaiden had to be struggling just as much as she was, and she knew their smiles were both fake, but neither of them wanted to acknowledge it. Rosie sat down on the couch and nodded as Jaiden asked if she wanted tea. She just smiled sadly as Jaiden asked how she was.In that moment, she decided she wasn’t going to mention Travis. She trusted Jaiden, she was pretty sure that she wouldn’t say anything. But Jaiden didn’t need to hear that someone they’d let in, that they’d trusted, that they’d called a friend, had been a mole. Had been part of the reason that they’d lost people. That they’d lost Markus.

“It’s been… well, it hasn’t been easy. It’s… it’s strange more than anything. Sometimes you… you almost forget, you know? And then you remember and…” She trailed off. “You know it as well as I do, though. How have you been doing? And don’t tell me you’re fine. I don’t think either of us are exactly ‘fine,’” Rosie warned. “You’ve been through a lot over the past few weeks, hell, the last few months. You don’t have to talk about it with me but… talk about it with somebody.” She caught herself and smirked a little. “Can’t quite switch off teacher mode. But it’ll help, trust me on that much.”

She knew it was ironic that she was shifting the conversation away from herself because she also didn't want to talk about any of it. But she could see it in Jaiden's actions that Jaiden needed someone to listen to, or at least, someone who she knew would listen if she needed it. Rosie would make it through. No matter what.






HAYDEN BYRNE
Image
Image
Image
outfit : herex|xhex: #005555
xxxfly like a cannonball
xxxstraight to my soul
xxxtear me to pieces
xxxand make me feel whole
Hayden was glad at least when Kay decided to talk about it. He was starting to realise that this truly was no ordinary town, if only for the people that lived in it. Maybe his life had just been extraordinarily easy before, but things were different here.

So he just let her talk, wiping away some of the tears when she started to cry again. He wanted to tell her that it wasn't her fault. It wasn't anyone's fault. Even if his life had been straightforward, he knew that feelings weren't. Nobody could help how they felt or who they fell for.

The hug was a surprise, but he hugged her back, holding her tight. He didn't really know what to say to make her feel better, but he knew that the hug would help. He rubbed her back a little as she clung on to him.

"It's not your fault, Kay. People are confusing. But I'm willing to bet most people are nice to you because they want to be nice to you, because they're nice to everyone. And it's much better to be someone that believes too much in the good than someone who only sees the bad. Innocence is valuable because you will always try to help. There's nothing wrong with being innocent... but there's nothing wrong with wanting to be more than that. So what do you want to be? Who do you want to be? Once you figure that out... you can start working from there. And while we figure that out," he said with a smile. "We better eat this food before it goes cold, right?"

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Jaiden Price Character Portrait: Rosie Thompson
Tag Characters » Add to Arc »

0.00 INK

ROSIE THOMPSON
Image
Image
Image
outfit : herex|xhex: #cc0460
xxxdon't make me laugh, i'll choke
xxxjust let me cry a little bit longer
xxxi ain't gonna smile if i don't want to
xxxhey man we all can't be like you
Rosie just sat and let Jaiden talk for a long as she needed. It felt like she was looking at the girl who had walked into her English class all those years ago, a shadow of herself, scared and uncertain. And Jaiden confirmed that was how she was feeling. Empty, unsure, afraid. She'd lost so much in such a short period of time, and Rosie had no idea how she was feeling. Rosie had never lost anyone, not in the same way Jaiden had. It broke her heart to hear that Jaiden blamed herself for it all.

"Jaiden... none of this is your fault, you hear me? You were trying to help, and that's what matters. And you did help, you saved lives. And that's what mattered. You tried, and you made a difference."Rosie said, reaching out to grasp Jaiden's hand. "It's not your fault that nobody ever taught you how to control it, that nobody ever helped. But Jaiden, it's not too late. We can't..." She took a deep breath. "We can't bring any of them back. As much as we want to. But you know what Markus would want? He'd want us to keep fighting. He'd want us to keep going, no matter what. And we don't have much of a choice. The world's going to move on, no matter what. And we're going to be there to greet it and kick it's ass if necessary. I... I can try and help you. I don't have a whole lot of experience with elemental magic but... I can try, or I can show you how to use a weapon. Or your fists. Whatever works, I'll work something out," she said with a grin, squeezing Jaiden's hand.

"You don't have to do anything you don't want to. But I saw a scared, shy girl come into my English class, and a few months later, I saw a young woman graduating with good grades and even better friends. You've been through hell before, and I think you'll get through it again. Just trust in your friends... and your English teacher," she said with a small shrug and a laugh. "And my place is always open. For tea, or to borrow some books or... well, anything. I'm only an okay cook so you probably could do better by yourself, but if you want dinner, you're welcome. Just... hiding isn't going to make anything go away. It's only going to make things worse. In return, you'll have to deal with me complaining about my freshmen or whatever papers I'm grading or my thesis supervisor or... whatever." In all honesty, Rosie needed this as much as Jaiden. Now that Trav was gone, she knew her house was going to be feeling empty, and she'd need a distraction. But she also needed to help. For Markus' sake, for everyone that had died in the attack. They had to do something.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Phoenix Woods Character Portrait: Alex Garcia Character Portrait: Zada min Albahr Character Portrait: Jaiden Price Character Portrait: Rosie Thompson Character Portrait: Neden Isimir
Tag Characters » Add to Arc »

0.00 INK

ROSIE THOMPSON
Image
Image
Image
outfit : herex|xhex: #cc0460
xxxwhen you act like this
xxxwhen you get so into yourself
xxxi lose track of common goals
xxxand letting go so i can be all alone
Rosie was been relieved and delighted when Jaiden had taken her up on her offer. Jaiden was spending much more time around Rosie’s, which was making Travis’ absence a little less difficult. The town knew by now, and people had started regarding her with a degree of suspicion. But it had only lasted a day or two until they’d realised she was deathly serious in her warning that if he was found within town limits, he was to be captured and taken to whoever was leading the patrols at the time. A vampire by the name of Evelyn had stepped up to help with the patrols following Markus’ death. A young vampire by all standards, even younger than Rosie herself, but she’d quickly proved herself. And she’d promised Rosie she would only kill him if really necessary. He’d left town after three days. She’d been reassured of that by the spriggans, who seemed to be of the opinion they were much better off without them and that she could do better anyway. Rosie had thanked them for their information and had left it at that.

Training Jaiden had been a welcome distraction. She was trying to keep it as broad as she can, teaching self defense as well as offensive techniques. She’d been taking it slow with the magic, partially because Jaiden was still unsure, and partially because Rosie herself was unsure of how to best train and advise on it. But she was seeing progress. It was small, but it was there, and that was something.

She’d all but stopped giving her classes assignments and tests. Partially so she’d have less to do herself, but also because she could tell they were scared and stressed enough without her piling work on top of it. More than once, her class had gotten derailed as they talked about what was happening. She let it happen, knowing that talking about what was happening was important.

Seeing how scared her students were had prompted Rosie to do some thinking. People were feeling scared all over town, holding their breaths, waiting for something to happen. People needed hope, needed a sign, needed support. There were families who had lost a loved one or who were trying to help a loved one heal. So Rosie had approached Phoenix with an idea, and he’d organized the whole thing in a week. A brunch in his cafe, donation only. All of the money raised would be going to the families that needed it. She had no idea if they’d even make that much, but it was also something to get people out, to get people interacting again.

She woke up a little earlier than usual, showered and got ready. She’d volunteered her services to Phoenix to help keep things running smoothly for the morning, but she’d also accepted the leadership role she seemed to have been handed, and she knew it was important for people to see her there. She found herself ready a little earlier than needed, and decided to make herself some breakfast, figuring that she was going to the cafe to help, not get brunch herself.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Phoenix Woods Character Portrait: Alex Garcia Character Portrait: Jaiden Price
Tag Characters » Add to Arc »

0.00 INK

Image
A L E X GARCIA
Image
Image
Image
outfitx|x#3a0a4d
xxxi hear the voices from the closet
xxxasking me haunting questions
xxxare you happy?
xxxdo you want it that bad?

Image
xxx
The moment Alex noticed that Phoenix wasn’t meeting his gaze, he knew something was wrong. Even while Phoenix spoke, Alex was racking his brain, trying to figure out exactly where he’d gone wrong. He could swear he heard his Abuela’s voice in his head, You lied to him. No, that wasn’t the problem. Was it? Besides, it wasn’t a lie, he just let out a few details so Phoenix wouldn’t worry. That’s called lying. He pushed the thought of his head as he spoke, “I’m sure it’ll be great, just like everything you do.” He was trying to be encouraging, but he wasn’t sure his words meant much. It wasn’t long before Phoenix announced that he needed to go, and Alex nodded. He understood. He smiled when Phoenix kissed his cheek. Phoenix was just tired and nervous, probably. Alex felt bad for worrying him, he’d have to make it up to Phoenix later. “Yeah. I,” Alex hesitated for a moment, brief, hopefully not noticeable, but it was there. He wanted to ask Phoenix if he was going to be okay, tell him he liked his shirt, that he looked great, that he would miss him. But he was still so used to not saying those things, saying them sometimes felt like fighting some sort of instinct he’d carved into the very fiber of himself, so instead he just said, “I’ll see you down there.”

Alex sighed as soon as Phoenix had shut the door behind them. That had been incredibly awkward. It reminded Alex of high school; maybe Katie Chandler was right, maybe Alex wasn’t boyfriend material after all. No, they were just still getting used to living together, they had their different habits and routines, and no matter how long they’d been friends, this was completely uncharted territory for Alex.

Without the distraction of talking to Phoenix, Alex couldn’t ignore the pain in his arm anymore. He wasn’t sure what good it would do, but he still decided to take something for the pain. He knew he wasn’t going to be able to keep all of his secrets forever: his bandages would need changing, the wound would turn into a scar he would have to explain. It was amazing how quickly Alex had gone from “I’ll tell him later,” to keeping it secret. It was probably easier that way; Phoenix worried so much about everything, Alex didn’t need to give him more reasons to worry.

Alex decided to turn his attention to brunch, or rather, who would be there. He hadn’t had a real conversation with Jaiden in… A while, and it seemed like a good opportunity to try to catch up. Alex knew that Jaiden had a tendency to isolate when she was upset. He remembered when she’d first moved to town, how she’d been back then. He hated to think that she might end up like that again, and though they were never as close Jaiden was to Phoenix, Alex wanted to remind her that he was still always there for her. Alex hadn’t been a very good friend in the past few months, though he didn’t know what to do to fix it. He figured actually talking could be a good place to start. So he sent out a quick series of texts.

To: Jai
come 2 brunch.
I want 2 talk 2 u
pls find me b4 u leave or i will face time you w/o warning


Feeling satisfied with his threat, Alex decided to get ready to head down to the cafe. He finished up his coffee, cleaned up a little, washed the mugs, sat around for a bit. He realized then how tired he was, and halfway considered not going at all. But he’d already texted Jaiden, so he had to get up and go.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Alex Garcia Character Portrait: Zada min Albahr Character Portrait: Jaiden Price Character Portrait: Trisstana Glasser
Tag Characters » Add to Arc »

0.00 INK

Image
TRISSTANA GLASSER
Image
Image
Image
outfit xxxxxxx hex; #D4AF37
Image
xxx The price of your greed
xxx Is your son and your daughter
xxx What you gon' do
xxx When there's blood in the water?

Image

Trisstana walked with her hands in her pants’ pockets, most of it a quiet walk, which she enjoyed. She appreciated Zada wasn’t one to try to fill gaps of silence with some sort of small talk, most people always had something to say, usually something stupid or unneeded. But the time the two was something she actually liked.

Zada did ask one question about Triss and her time in Greythorne. “It’s… an interesting place. Gotta remember the beings here aren’t just humans, other species are interesting to interact with.” She said as she continued walking, still facing forward. She stopped for a second and looked at her companion. “I think… it might be nice to stay here awhile?” She said with a quizzical look on her face, then changing to a smile as the two walked before arriving at the cafe.

Trisstana and Zada walked to the cafe, Triss caught off guard a bit as someone called out to Zada. It was a male looking sort of being and introduced himself and holding his hand out. Triss didn't force a smile on her face as she shook his hand, having a stiff grip as she wasn’t use to shaking hands. "Your name is Alex?" Triss looked over to Zada with an eyebrow raised. "Is this the human you were talking about you hated?" She responded with a smile and assured her it was.

Alex then asked what Triss was, and she was a little skeptical to reveal what she was at first but Zada quickly answered the question. But then he asked if it was a sort of Pixie or something, Trisstana assumed it was a bad joke or something and just gave a side glance to Zada. Triss smirked as Zada commented on this was why, and she assumed there were a few others. She looked over Alex, thinking back to what Zada told her about him. She was brought back down to reality another voice introduced herself, Jaiden, saying she was sad to be friends with Alex. “It’s fine. Had to deal with others like this before.” She said as she smirked.

The two new people said some things to each other, one telling the other to get a table because he had to check on someone. “Maybe we should get a table too little seafish?” Trisstana asked as she held the door from closing and the two headed inside. She kept her eyes on Alex as they entered and interacted with others.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Phoenix Woods Character Portrait: Alex Garcia Character Portrait: Zada min Albahr Character Portrait: Jaiden Price Character Portrait: Rosie Thompson Character Portrait: Neden Isimir
Tag Characters » Add to Arc »

0.00 INK





0000Neden0Isimir 00000000000000000|000000000000000000000| Violet0 Marsden

Fallen Angel | Outfit x|xhex: #a39d9d 0000000000000000000000000000000Revenant | Outfit | xxhex:#2b2a2a

Image000000000000000000000000000 Image






The following days had been a blur for both of them, as well as everyone else. Things had been leading up to the brunch and fundraiser at the cafe, and everyone had been looking forward to it. Well, mostly everyone. Neden would have passed on it, if it hadn’t been for Phoenix and being at his own cafe, Neden knew they couldn’t say no. But it was Phoenix, and after they had been through, they knew they had to. The morning had been a slow one. An almost painfully slow morning. Neden rolled out of bed, and haphazardly dressed thselves in an outfit of clothing they just threw together, not caring if things entirely matched or not. Tying their hair up in a pony-tail and put a black beanie on, Neden glanced in the broken reflection of the mirror once more and sighed. Maybe all of this was a big mistake coming here, to Greythorn in the first place. They were shaken out of their thoughts when their phone buzzed in their pants’ pocket, bringing them back to earth. It was a short message from Violet.

Meet me at the cafe, it’s important. Come early, we need to talk.

Was all that the message read. Neden quirked an eyebrow in response. They didn’t know what or why Violet needed to talk to them about, they hadn’t really talked to anyone in the past few days. Deciding to be a hermit and just give themselves time, to just...Think. Think of everything that lead up to this, and it was something they hadn’t wanted to think about, yet here they were. Greythorn had become their home in the short amount of time that they had first arrived, and nothing was going to change that. At least that’s what they wanted to think. Neden sent a quick text back to Violet in response as they shoved a few things into their pockets, and quickly left for the cafe with an ever growing pit in their stomach.

Alright, will be there soon. Just leaving now. Cya in a bit.

---

The walk to the cafe had been a long one. It wasn’t that they lived far away from the town, it just seemed to go on for miles. Being in their head tended to do that. Neden didn’t know what Violet wanted to talk about, or if it was even really important, or if Violet was just trying to throw them off track. Seeing the small cafe in the distance, Neden tried to cheer up. They didn’t want anyone to see them so distressed, even if their overall appearance may have portrayed otherwise. Neden watched as a few familiar and unfamiliar faces walked in through the main door of the caffe as they grew closer to the building, but stopped as they were a few yards away from the entrance. Maybe they should just turn back and leave now, go back home and just not go. Act like something important came up, but something in the back of their head told them they had to, and that they really didn’t have much of a choice in this. Stepping into the cafe, and seeing familiar faces, who seemed to be in a better mood caused a small smile to crease their lips, but only for a moment. Neden gave Phoenix a small smile and nod of their head as they passed by him and Zoe who were in a small conversation by the front end of the building, not wanting to disturb them now.

Looking around for anyone else they may have recognized, they saw Rosie who was talking to a few different people, giving her a small nod and smile before passing on to the back part of the cafe. Looking around silently, Neden spotted a familiar figure off in the back corner, in a small booth by herself. Taking a deep breath they slowly strolled over and weaved through the dozens of people that flocked to the event. Neden gave a small smile as they neared the table, “This seat taken?” they said with a small, but obviously fake chuckle. Violet simply looked up at them with what seemed to be like dead eyes. “Sit.” she said simply to the Angel. Neden nodded and slipped into the booth, looking across at Violet with a quizzical look. “Everything okay? You haven’t really texted me in a while, nevermind not much before so...I started to worry-” Neden started, but was cut off as Violet shot them a look, one Neden had never seen from her before. It wasn’t one of anger or anything like that. It seemed like one of sadness. As if she had been crying prior to coming here. “Vio...I mean it. If something happened, you can tell me.” Neden said softly, giving her a small and genuine smile. Violet simply shook her head for a moment as she looked down. The two sat in silence for a moment before Violet looked back up at Neden, breaking the silence after what seemed like an eternity. “While I was away, again...I talked with someone. Someone that knows...Things and...Neden...I know. About...Everything.” she said softly, making sure that they kept their conversation low and between the two of them. Thankfully the music playing was helping to drown out most of what they were saying.

Neden was taken a back by the sudden exclamation by Violet. They weren’t expecting this, whatever it was. A genuine look of confusion overcame them as their brows furrowed. Leaning forward to be closer to Violet as they sat across the table from one another, “Sorry, but what? What are you talking about, Vio? You know what? And who did you talk to, nevermind where you went.” Neden said softly. Genuine concern and worry was now forming in their stomach, the more Violet spoke. “I know, Neden...About everything. Maybe not everything, but I know more about you than I did before. I know what you are, and what you’ve done.” Violet said, as her face began to slowly turn redder as tears began to slowly fall from her eyes. Wiping her tears away, she began to talk again before Neden could speak. “And don’t try bullshitting me, alright? I’ve seen the things that you’ve done...I just want to know why. How long did you think you could keep this charade up, Neden? Which, I know isn’t even your actual name.” tears burned behind her eyes as she looked at Neden, which only caused a small pit to form in her stomach. Having to look away from Neden, as even looking at them now became too much. Neden listened silently as Violet spoke, the words hit them like a brick wall to the chest. Neden felt like they couldn’t breathe, like all the oxygen in their lungs had been ripped out violently. Left gasping for air, as they just sat there motionless. Neden tried to think of what to say, anything. Anything at all, but their mind just went blank. For the first time in years, everything was just blank. Neden had no words to say, nothing to even try to say to her. Everything came out left field, leaving them in so much confusion. But worry soon overcame like waves in the ocean.

Neden struggled for a moment to regain the ability to speak as they felt their heart stop for a moment. Shaking their head for a moment as they looked back up at the girl that sat across from them. Neden wanted to just get up and give Violet a hug, apologize for everything. Explain that it wasn’t true, that it was all a lie. But feeling the emotions radiate off of her was so palpable, and real. Violet wasn’t lying, she was telling the truth. She knew, somehow she knew. She knew it all, and Neden didn’t know what to do. Biting their lip for a moment, Neden finally gathered the words to say as they could feel their own eyes beginning to burn, “Violet, I swear...Whoever told you those things...I’m sorry. I want to say that those were lies but...I can’t. I just don’t know what to say to you, I can’t say it’s all a lie and didn’t happen...Even though I wish it was, and never did happen. But I’m not that person anymore. I’m not.” Neden said with a look of sadness that overcame their entire face, leading up to their eyes as they looked around. “It’s all just really, really fucking complicated and a long story it’s just...I don’t know what to tell you or do...I’m sorry, Vio…” they said as they finally made eye contact with Violet, who simply looked up at them in return.

What came next, Neden wasn’t expecting and their heart sank at the words that came next from Violet. “I don’t want to hear that you’re sorry. I just want to know why. Why you lied for so long...You have to tell them. Everyone, Neden. Not just me. They all deserve to know.” Neden felt their heart skip more than just one beat. “Wh...What? Violet, I can’t. I can’t tell them. You’ll know what they’ll do. No one will-” “You tell them, or I will, Neden. That’s your choice. They know and find out by you, where you can explain everything. Or I’ll tell them. What one would you prefer?” Violet asked as she crossed her arms over her chest as she looked at the angel that sat across from her. Neden swallowed hard for a moment, looking down and away as thoughts rushed through their mind. Coming here was a mistake, and they knew it. They should have left, but Violet would have told them all anyway. And no one would have been able to trust Neden again. They would have been viewed and seen as a traitor, that simply left before they could have been caught.

Neden exhaled sharply, looking up at Violet as they gave her a small glance, “Fine...I’ll tell them.” Neden slowly removed themselves from the booth. Looking about, they saw that everyone was still scattered across the building, and there was no way that they were going to make it a public display. Neden took out their phone, and after a few moments, multiple texts had been sent to those that needed to know, telling them they needed to talk in the backroom and that it couldn’t wait. Neden simply gave Violet one more look, one of sorrow and regret, before they turned and excused themselves to one of the backrooms, where they would await the others to arrive. A massive pit formed in Neden’s stomach as they stepped into the extra room in the back. It was small, but big enough for more than a dozen or so people to stand in. Neden felt a sudden urge and ran into the bathroom, and emptied whatever the contents in their stomach was. Everything felt like such a nightmare, that everything was out of touch and reality. Like this was some sort of dream or nightmare that had come to life. None of this was supposed to happen, and now they were forced to face one of their fears. Looking in the small mirror for a moment, Neden simply shook their head and exited the bathroom and returning to the backroom once more.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Phoenix Woods Character Portrait: Alex Garcia Character Portrait: Zada min Albahr Character Portrait: Jaiden Price Character Portrait: Trisstana Glasser Character Portrait: Kaylessa Valven
Tag Characters » Add to Arc »

0.00 INK

T R I S S GLASSER
Image
Image
A L E X GARCIA
Image
Image
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
xxxx
outfit | outfit
#d4af37 | #3a0a4d

x
x
x
x
x
x

Alex had never considered himself to be a particularly annoying person, but plenty of people seemed to think he was. Zada’s companion was… Interesting. Yeah, that was one way to put it. Alex didn’t know her, but if she was anything like Zada- personality wise- he wasn’t sure Greythorne could handle that.

He was almost visibly relieved when Jaiden arrived, as if she’d saved him from the conversation he’d initiated. He shrugged, “I’m not gonna stand outside and talk to you like I’m your secret boyfriend you’re ashamed to be seen with.” He rolled his eyes when she called him a buffoon, letting out an over-exaggerated fake laugh. Time to officially remove himself from this conversation. Apparently every woman in town thought he was an annoying idiot. Upon opening the door, he saw a few things. For starters, it was really busy. That was good. Zoe was already there, which he didn’t really care about, and the last thing he noticed was that Kay was starting to walk in Phoenix’s direction.

He didn’t know for sure what the outcome of that would be, but the last time Kay and Phoenix had talked, it didn’t end well. He turned to Jaiden, “Think you can find us a place to sit? I want to check up on Phoenix real quick. He’s been acting weird this morning. Probably just nerves, but… You know. I’ll just be a minute, I promise.” He ignored Zoe when she tried to wave at him, and started heading for the counter, but the situation seemed to resolve itself quickly enough, with Kay giving Phoenix a hug, so he decided to go find Jaiden, instead.

Triss quickly found a table and was about to slide in after setting her coat down, when she saw spotted Alex walking off, and deciding she would act now. “Hey, I’ll be back. But don’t wait for me if stuff, or whatever is supposed to happen here or whatever gets started.” She said grabbedas she walked away and weaved through the crowd, bumping into a few people who gave her a confused stare from not recognizing her, grabbing a quick drink as she walked.

It didn't take Trisstana long to get to Alex, stopping infront of him, causing the two to bump into each other and the drink she was carrying to spill on her. Alex quickly started to apologize to her before she could say anything. “Oh! It’s fine, my fault it happened. Oh, its you. Alex right?” She questioned as she set down her cup. “Well since we both caused this, mind helping me clean up?” Triss asked, grabbing Alex’s hand and giving him a light smile.

Alex must not have been paying attention to where he was going, because he ran right into someone. “Shit, I am so sorry,” He spoke up quickly, but she was brushing the whole thing off before he could really say anything else. It clicked, then, that this was Zada’s friend. A little bit of fear churned in his stomach at that thought. He was dead.

Then she grabbed his hand, and a small smile spread across his lips, “Oh.” He wasn’t quite sure if what he was feeling was relief or… Something else. He found his eyes looking over her, just to assess the situation. When he realized he was staring, he forced himself to bring his gaze back to her face. “Yeah, you’re… Wet.” Shit, no, that was stupid. “I mean, yeah.” He paused and licked his lips, “I would love to help you.”

Trisstana let out a small giggle and had to keep herself from smirking when he made the comment about her being wet, and smiled when he offered to help her. It had been awhile since she dragged another mythical person, so wasn’t exactly sure what type of effect she would have, but was glad it looked like it was working. “Really? Thank you, should probably get away from the others, don’t want to be in their way right?” She asked, seeing him nod. Triss held onto his hand as she led him away.

Zada talked about how annoying he was, and from Triss’ first interaction with him, she could see why and wouldn’t feel bad about this. Though, he was a moderately handsome young man. As they left the main room and ended up down a hallway she started to get a little excited and antsy, it’s been awhile since she lured a prey away from it’s pack, but she still flourished in the rush it would give her. Trisstana had to concentrate on her claws not protruding out as she got more excited, not wanting to scare him off just yet.

It made sense to go get out of the way, find somewhere else to go. Alex wasn’t sure where they were heading, but in that moment he would have followed her just about anywhere. It wasn’t the first time he’d felt that way about a woman, though a more rational thought may have reminded him of a few reasons he absolutely should change his mind. That rationality never came. All he could think about was the woman leading him, how her hands were soft, and she smelled like lavender and the coffee on her shirt, and how nicely she filled out said shirt.

A thought struck him, then, and it seemed like something he should follow up on. “Hey, uh…” His voice trailed off as he stared blankly in front of him. As she pulled her shirt over her head, that suddenly became the only thing his brain could process. Alex couldn’t seem to decide where to look, but his didn’t seem to want to settle on her’s, or even in the perimeter of her face.

As the two of them got outside, Triss leaked around that no one was really around and turned down the alleyway, going around some boxes stacked that would block the view. When she stopped and looked back at Alex, he started to say something and she could feel him starting to break focus. “I need you to hold this if we’re gonna clean it handsome.” She said quickly as she pulled her shirt over her head and flipped her hair out of her face. Left just wearing her simple lacey black bra.

Triss smiled as she saw his eyes looking over her body, handing over the stained shirt. The cold weather didn’t bother her as the rush from the hunt and her own pheromones were keeping her warm. When Alex looked down at the shirt she smirked and licked her lips as her claws started to extend out and fangs revealed themselves around her smirk. It has been awhile since she did this on land and usually acting out in the waters, but it wouldn’t be too difficult.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Phoenix Woods Character Portrait: Alex Garcia Character Portrait: Jaiden Price Character Portrait: Rosie Thompson Character Portrait: Trisstana Glasser Character Portrait: Zoe Peña
Tag Characters » Add to Arc »

0.00 INK

Image
Z O E PEÑA
Image
Image
Image
outfitx|x#6E9ECF
xxxsomething is familiar
xxxlike a dream I can reach but not quite hold
xxxi can sense you there
xxxlike a friend I've always known

Image
xx
Zoe had enjoyed a quick walk through Greythorne, but was standing in front of Phoenix’s cafe before she knew it. She was kind of excited to see Phoenix at work, and hopefully catch Alex in a better mood. She wondered, briefly, what she would do if he didn’t come, but quickly told herself that even if she didn’t talk to him, it would be fine. She did want to get a chance to talk to Alex, though. Greythorne was a nice town, but it was freezing, and she didn’t want to stay forever.

The sight of people happily chatting and enjoying food was a welcome sight to Zoe; the town had seemed to be overwhelmed and dejected since she’d arrived, and now she was feeling like she was getting a glimpse into what the people were really like, what the town was really like. She thought that if the town was always like this, it would be just about the most wonderful place to live. Almost as if on cue, a pretty woman came to ask Zoe if she needed any help. Zoe wasn’t sure what to say, did she need help?

“Thank you, I uh,” She looked around, trying to see if she could spot out Phoenix. He looked busy, so she turned back to the woman with a smile, “How does this work, I-” Then Alex was walking through the doors. She knew he saw her, there was no way he didn’t, but when she waved at him, he completely ignored her. Zoe frowned, “You know Alex Garcia, right? Is he always such a jerk?”

It wasn’t much longer, though, before Phoenix walked over. Zoe grinned, Phoenix had been nothing but kind to her from the moment she stood crying on his doorstep. “Thank you. This is amazing!” She caught a glimpse of Alex as they headed to the counter, and something about it seemed weird, but she told herself it wasn’t really any of her business. Besides, she was probably just overthinking it. It wasn’t long before someone came to talk to Phoenix. Zoe didn’t know her, but she was asking about Alex. When it became apparent that no one knew where he was Zoe sighed, “Well,” She paused, suddenly realizing that she was- once again- about to be a bystander to some sort of drama.

“I’m pretty sure I just saw him heading out the back, I think, with a woman with yellow hair,” The look on Phoenix’s face told Zoe that she probably should have spoken up a minute ago, “I am so sorry, I guess I thought you knew, or…” She didn’t finish the thought, panic was setting in on her face, tears welling up in her eyes. This was too much for her.

Maybe she should forget about getting to know Alex and just go home. He really wasn't turning out to be the kind of person she thought he might be.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Phoenix Woods Character Portrait: Alex Garcia Character Portrait: Zada min Albahr Character Portrait: Jaiden Price Character Portrait: Trisstana Glasser Character Portrait: Zoe Peña
Tag Characters » Add to Arc »

0.00 INK





Jaiden Price
Image
Image
Image
Witch | outfit : herex|xhex: #800000
xxxYou move, and I don't really know what to say
xxxToo soon, am I supposed to feel this way?
xxxReach out but I don't wanna get in your way
xxxToo little, too late, I know that's what you're gonna say
Jaiden simply stood there, awkwardly as the three of the others exchanged words back and worth, mainly all pointed at Alex. She rolled her eyes at his comment of him being her boyfriend that she's ashamed to be seen with. "In your dreams, Alex." she rattled off quickly, before catching up to him as he started to make his way to the cafe. Jaiden shot both Zada and the other woman a small look, mainly one of saying sorry as the two of them stepped into the establishment. Looking up at Alex when he asked if she could find them a place to sit, "Okay, sure. But only if you tell me why you wanted to talk to me, Alex?" she questioned, but she could tell he wasn't paying any attention to her as he seemingly wandered off after ignoring another girl that waved at him from across the room as she stood next to Pheonix. Thinking nothing of it, she simply shook her head and went to go find a spot to sit as she waited for Alex.

Finally finding a spot that was off and to the side, she sat down at the small table and waited, taking out her phone in the meantime. Occasionally looking up and around at others as the place seemed to buzz to life. It had been months since she was last year, the grand opening of this place was...Something she preferred to not think about. In fact, she almost didn't consider even coming here as even thinking of it had hurt a bit. But she was here for Phoenix, as well as not wanting to be bothered by Alex and his threats. Jaiden peered over to the back part of the place, and saw Violet and Neden talking. She couldn't tell what they were saying due to the music and how far they were, but it seemed to be something she shouldn't get involved with, and chose to stay where she was.

Jaiden waited for a few for minutes for Alex to come back, but after what seemed like too much, she slowly got to her feet and looked around. Hoping to find him herself, but she couldn't see him in the crowd at all. Turning to the entrance, she still saw Phoenix talking to the girl from before. Sighing, she slowly weaved her way through the crowd and over to Phoenix. "Hey, Nix. Do you have any idea where Alex went? I got him and me a seat, since he wanted to talk to me about something, but he never came back. I haven't seen him, and I didn't know if you saw him or anything." she asked, giving the girl that stood next to him a small smile. Jaiden hadn't seen this woman around town before, and unlike the usual unease she got around strangers, she didn't feel anything negative coming from her, easing up a little. She was taken off guard when the girl said she had seen him going outside the back door with some other female with yellow hair. A pit formed in her stomach as she could tell that even Phoenix didn't know what was going on, watching as he apologized and quickly left. Leaving Jaiden with the unknown woman, who after Jaiden turned to apologize, she noticed the girl started to tear up. Giving a small sigh, Jaiden didn't know what to do. She was going to track down Alex herself, but now being left with someone who looked like she was going to cry any moment didn't sit well with her.

Sure, Jaiden had no prior engagement to this woman, nor did she have any reason to stay around and comfort her. But something in her told Jaiden to stay, she clearly needed someone to talk to and possibly distract her from fully breaking down into tears. A feeling Jaiden knew all too well. She was a lot like this unknown female, scared, uncertain and was most likely in a town that she didn't exactly know anyone. Nevermind getting wrapped up in some drama she had no right to be forced into. Finally giving the girl once more a proper look over, Jaiden extended one of her hands as she introduced herself, "Hey uh, I don't think I introduced myself properly yet. My name's Jaiden, I'm good friends with Phoenix and I guess you could say Alex. Who is currently the one missing. He tends to do this bullshit from time to time, disappearing for no reason, I'm sure he'll be fine." she said with a soft chuckle. Looking back up, she gave a small smile as she spoke up again, "Anyway, you look like you could use someone to talk to, as well as a drink. I'm not exactly the best company but, if you want someone to just sit down with and just, I dunno. Talk, I don't have any prior engagements right now anyway, so I'm all ears is what I'm trying to say, I guess." she said with a smile.






Violet Marsden
Image
Image
Image
Revenant | outfit : herex|xhex: #2b2a2a
xxxI'm so fuckin' sorry, I'm so fuckin' sorry
xxxI've been playing somebody and it's helping nobody
xxxAnd her lipstick arithmetic didn't stick
xxxAnd now I'm sick, throwing fits
Violet gave Neden one more look as the Angel stood up and excused themselves, leaving for one of the backrooms. She sighed softly, rubbing her face with her hands as she felt everything finally hit her at once. It was so much all at once, her brain slowly processing everything. Silently, she laid her head back on the backpart of the booth as she tried to recompose herself after the whole conversation with Neden had taken a rather large toll on her. Something had caught her attention while she had been talking to Neden a few minutes earlier, it looked like Alex and some unknown woman slowly made their way to the back exit and left. Normally, she would have left it alone and wouldn't give it a second thought. But something just didn't sit right with her about the whole thing.

Ever since coming back from, whatever that place was, things seemed off to her. Yes, certain things were all too obvious and stood out easier than others, but then there were certain things that just didn't add up. Mainly pertaining to Alex, she tried not to notice, but over time it became too evident that something wasn't right. The first time things seemed off, were the night at the first meeting after the first attack. Where she chased after Alex. Something in the back of her head was telling her to go check up on him, make sure that he was okay. She didn't know what it was, or why, but it only popped up more after that. During the second attack, the night when he was in the graveyard, something didn't sit right with her at all. She wanted to go and see what was going on, it was like something from some unseen force always gave her a sense like something was wrong with Alex. Something she hadn't thought back on about until now.

With a small sigh, Violet slowly got to her feet, and as she did so she saw Phoenix and Zada quickly rush past and out the same way she saw Alex and that woman leave earlier. That was all she needed, and she was quickly out the door behind them herself. Violet didn't know what to expect, but the scene that was before her caught her off guard to say the least. All she saw was the same woman that she saw before, half-dressed, with Alex holding her shirt. It wasn't a good look, not at all. Especially for Alex. All she knew was that she heard a loud slap and then Phoenix was cussing out Alex as tears began to stream down his face. Violet had to bite her tongue to stop herself from laughing, but the more she looked on. The more she knew something wasn't right. The energy she was getting off of Alex wasn't right. None of this was. Alex wasn't this typed of person. Sure, he was a massive pervert, anyone knew that. But this wasn't the normal Alex.

Violet passed by Phoenix and Zada, making her way towards Alex. Without a word, another loud slap was heard as Violet slapped him hard across the face with the back of her hand as she looked up at him. "Snap the fuck out of it, you dumbass!" she exclaimed. Looking at the expression on Alex's face, she could tell that something still wasn't adding up, it was like he was under some trance. Looking back at Phoenix she gave him a small shake of her head, "I can't believe I'm saying this but...I don't think he did this willingly. I mean, just look at him! The dumbass doesn't even look like himself." Violet turned and looked at the other two, giving Zada a small shake of her head, telling her to not do anything, same thing for Phoenix. "I can't explain it but, Alex didn't do anything, even if it looks like he did. Alex may be an absolute piece of shit, but he wouldn't do anything like this to anyone, nevermind he wouldn't hurt you like this, Phoenix." Violet said softly as she gave him a sad look. Finally turning to the woman with the yellow hair, "You, the one with the freaking claws...Or whatever the hell those are-" Violet started, as she pointed at Triss, taking in note of the protrusions from the woman's finger tips that were visible. "I get it, no one likes Alex. He is an immense piece of shit, but really? That's a bit low...And that's coming from me." Violet said with a small huff, slowly standing in front of Alex as she pushed him back towards the building, "Anything to say for yourself, Goldie Locks?"





Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Phoenix Woods Character Portrait: Alex Garcia Character Portrait: Zada min Albahr Character Portrait: Jaiden Price Character Portrait: Trisstana Glasser Character Portrait: Violet Marsden
Tag Characters » Add to Arc »

0.00 INK

Image
Z O E PEÑA
Image
Image
Image
outfitx|x#6E9ECF
xxxsomething is familiar
xxxlike a dream I can reach but not quite hold
xxxi can sense you there
xxxlike a friend I've always known

Image
xx
Two things quickly happened: Phoenix rushed away, which Zoe completely understood, and the woman who had asked about Alex in the first place was introducing herself. Zoe shook her hand and returned Jaiden’s smile with one of her own. Soft, and maybe a little forced, but it was there. “I’m Zoe,” She sighed, “I’m actually in town visiting,” She paused, not currently sure she wanted to be associated with Alex at the moment, “Family.” She felt a little guilty about the omission, but told herself that it really wasn’t that big of a deal. Alex didn’t seem to give a shit about her, anyway. Something inside told her that he didn’t have a reason to care, and something else argued that she shouldn’t care about him either, then. She decided to change the subject quickly, maybe say something nice about Jaiden. “I, uh, I really like your jacket. It’s nice.” It very clearly wasn’t really Zoe’s style, and she was mostly just saying it to be nice, but she did think it looked good on Jaiden.

As they sat down, Zoe gave Jaiden an awkward smile, “Thank you, I’ve been alone a lot since I got to town.” She paused as she realized how pathetic that sounded, and quickly moved on, “Is it always so exciting here?” By exciting, she did mean filled with drama. She knew small communities came with their drama (she lived in one, herself), but it seemed that things got weird when you got assorted magical beings together. Maybe living with nothing but other witches wasn’t such a bad thing. “I’m from a coven in Arizona, and this is… Very different than what I’m used to.”

Zoe did feel a little better, having something to distract her from the stupid drama her half-brother seemed to be proficient in causing, but she still felt almost on the verge of tears. Somehow, though she knew it didn’t make sense, she felt almost responsible. Alex and Phoenix had seemed so happy and comfortable with one another when she’d arrived, but ever since then fights and drama and weirdness erupted every time she saw them. Logically, she knew that these things would almost certainly happen with or without her presence, but that didn’t stop her from feeling like a bad omen.

As they talked, Zoe kind of studied Jaiden. She didn’t want to be weird, and she tried to be subtle, but Zoe liked to watch people’s faces while they talked. She felt like it helped her get to know them, and sometimes she felt like it gave her some insight into what kind of a person they were. Zoe thought Jaiden was incredibly kind, or else she wouldn’t have offered to sit and talk to someone she didn’t know. If Zoe stayed in town very long, maybe they could be friends.

Sipping the tea Phoenix made helped to calm Zoe’s mind a little. This was still a stressful situation, but not being right in the middle of it was nice.





Image
A L E X GARCIA
Image
Image
Image
outfitx|x#3a0a4d
xxxi'm guessing that i've grown horns
xxxi guess i'm human no more
xxxi can tell i've rotted in your brain

Image
xxx
Zada’s voice distracted Alex a little. He hadn’t expected her, and for a moment he almost realized that something was wrong, and then Phoenix slapped him. For a moment, he didn’t quite realize what had happened; he brought a hand up to his face, a mixture of pain and confusion on his face. He figured it out pretty quickly, though, when he heard Phoenix’s words. It was hard to piece together what was happening, though. He felt half asleep, like this was just some bizzare dream he hadn’t quite woken up from. He was piecing it all together, though, head clearing as people were yelling. It was about when he realized that the woman standing in front of him was shirtless and that the memories he had in his head hadn’t been some sort of middle school fever dream when Violet found it necessary to hit him, too.

At first, he wanted to be annoyed, but then he realized that she was defending him. Wait, Phoenix was crying. He realized what this must look like, how incriminating it seemed to be, but that didn’t stop him from being upset about it. Besides, what was he supposed to say, ‘this isn’t what it looks like, Phoenix! She grabbed my hand and suddenly the fact that she had boobs and was paying attention to me overrode all my common sense’? Yeah, that was a great defense. Might have worked in middle school. He realized he was still holding her shirt, but between not wanting to make things worse with Phoenix, and the strange sense of fear he was beginning to feel, he didn’t want to try to give it back. In fact, he didn’t even want to look in her direction.

In truth, Alex wasn’t sure what had happened. Well, he knew what had happened- he remembered it- he wasn’t sure why it happened. Normally, he wouldn’t even think of doing something like this. Not now, when he had Phoenix. A few months ago, maybe, but even then probably not out in the open. “Phoenix,” He wanted to talk to Phoenix, try to make it better somehow, “please, I would never, I-” He stopped himself there, realizing that anything he could say would probably just come off as empty words.

He’d been so distressed about Phoenix, that Alex hadn’t even really noticed the claws. Suddenly, a sort of fear started to gnaw at his stomach. He thought he understood what was happening, then, and he felt like he was going to be sick. Violet’s words really didn’t make him feel better, either. He knew he hadn’t been the nicest to her in the past, and that she didn’t like him much, but he really didn’t feel like calling him a piece of shit was necessary. He found himself almost wringing the shirt in his hands, as if that would help. It wasn’t comforting, in fact he wanted to be rid of it, but aside from Violet beginning pushing him back inside he almost felt glued in place. No wonder people kept trying to kill him, he was an easy target.

He heard Zada say everything was just a misunderstanding, with that came an unspoken promise that nothing like this would happen again. If that would make all of this end, at this point, Alex was willing to accept it.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Phoenix Woods Character Portrait: Alex Garcia Character Portrait: Jaiden Price Character Portrait: Trisstana Glasser Character Portrait: Violet Marsden Character Portrait: Zoe Peña
Tag Characters » Add to Arc »

0.00 INK

Image
A L E X GARCIA
Image
Image
Image
outfitx|x#3a0a4d
xxxi hear the voices from the closet
xxxasking me haunting questions
xxxare you happy?
xxxdo you want it that bad?

Image
xxx
The apology was weak, but Alex accepted it with a slight nod. He didn’t need genuine remorse, he just needed her not to do it again. Just wanted to be safe. As she walked past, he held her shirt out to her, “Here,” But she just waved it off and went inside. What the hell was he going to do with this shirt? He didn’t want it.

Then Phoenix started to apologize. Everything in Alex wanted to tell him that he should be sorry. That there were plenty of things he should have done before assuming the worst. That he was upset and hurt by this lack of trust. That he could have died, and that he felt betrayed, violated, and scared. Instead, he smiled at Phoenix. “It’s fine, I understand. You had no way of knowing what was happening.” Alex hadn’t been able to lie to Phoenix since they were kids; they knew each other too well, Phoenix saw right through him most of the time. But they didn’t have time to really talk about that, Phoenix needed to get inside, and Alex just wanted to get out of the alley. It was starting to feel like a death sentence. He turned to Violet. She’d defended him, and called him an asshole. He didn’t say anything, but maybe he didn’t have to. He was thankful enough, even though he didn’t appreciate her hitting him.

There was a text from Neden, and Alex just didn’t feel like dealing with it. “Fill me in later?” He called after Phoenix. He knew he would. Knew Phoenix would understand that Alex didn’t want to be there. He still needed to talk to Jaiden. Still wanted to talk to her. It would be something else to think about.

He threw the shirt away on his way to find her.

He spotted Jaiden sitting with Zoe, of all people. Interesting. He walked over to the table and smiled, “Hey, Zoe. Thanks for keeping Jai company for me.”

Zoe looked stunned, “Oh, um,” Alex saw the look on her face when she looked at him. She didn’t have to say it, he understood what she was thinking. What did you do?

He turned to Jaiden, “Mind if we talk outside? I could use a smoke.” He looked back at Zoe, “Later.” He waited a moment to make sure Jaiden was coming, and then started walking to the door, pulling out his pack of cigarettes before he even reached the door, “What do you think of Zoe? I find her a little annoying, personally, but maybe that just comes with the territory.”

Once they were out the door, Alex walked a little ways away. “Thanks for coming to talk to me, Jaiden.” He held a cigarette up to her, “Can I get a light?” He laughed a little at Jaiden’s snark, but she did it. He figured he needed to actually talk to her before she decided to pummel him. “I wanted to say sorry.”

He sighed, “After, you know, I was so focused on myself that I didn’t even think about anyone else.” He shrugged, “I don’t even think I ever thanked you for saving my life. And don’t act like you didn’t, because you did.” He looked down at the ground, kicked a pebble to the street, and added, “I didn’t wanna face you, I guess.” He looked at Jaiden and shook his head, “I didn’t realize how much… I felt so guilty, about everything, I was so sure you would hate me.”

Alex looked up at the sky, blinked several times, his voice was faltering a little. It was still so fresh, it hadn’t been that long. He still had nightmares about it, “You know, when Phoenix,” He stopped to swallow the lump forming in his throat, “If things went differently, I don’t know what I would’ve done. So, I’m sorry, Jaiden.”

He paused, but only for a moment, before he moved on to asking about Jaiden. “How are you holding up after Markus? I know that, you know, after the first attack I felt like it wasn’t fair. There were plenty of people that deserved to live on more than me. So, if you ever feel like you need to talk about that sort of thing, I get it.”

He didn’t really expect Jaiden to want to talk to him, not at that moment. After a moment where neither of them said anything, Alex cleared his throat, “Hey, Jai? You think I can crash at your place tonight? I can sleep on the couch, it’s no big deal.” He shrugged, “Just, you know, think it might be nice.” It wasn’t so much that he didn’t want to be around Phoenix, he just felt like he needed some space to air out the pain he was feeling. He didn’t want it to turn to anger, he didn’t want to lash out again. Everything would be fine, he just needed to think.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Phoenix Woods Character Portrait: Alex Garcia Character Portrait: Zada min Albahr Character Portrait: Jaiden Price Character Portrait: Rosie Thompson Character Portrait: Neden Isimir
Tag Characters » Add to Arc »

0.00 INK

ImageImage
phoenix woods
Image
i know the world's a broken bonexxx outfit | #c4a7be xxx but melt your headaches, call it home


Phoenix hadn’t known what to expect from this. The way his day was going, he hadn’t been expecting anything all that good. It took a few minutes to try and process what Neden was actually saying. It was only when they rolled up their sleeve to show the tattoo that everything fell into place, and it felt like the floor was about to go from under Phoenix. He’d seen that tattoo once before. The night in the graveyard, on the neck of the hunter that had attacked him. The memory made him feel sick, and he was shocked when he stood up and discovered his legs could still hold him. He didn’t say anything. He couldn’t say anything. He managed to make it to the kitchen, where his legs finally crumpled and he almost fell onto one of the stools he had by the counter.

This couldn’t be happening. This had to be some horrific dream, a nightmare that he could wake up from, no matter how vivid it felt now. But he could feel the sting of nails embedded in his palm as he clenched his hands into fists. The scar on his side, on his shoulder, they seemed to be burning with the memory. He knew that Neden had said it had been years ago, knew how sorry they had seemed, but he couldn’t shake the fact that they had been one of them, that at some point they had hated people like them enough to kill them. It was starting to feel like everything he had, every good relationship was falling apart, and it was all so far beyond his control and he couldn’t change a goddamn thing. He wanted to cry, wanted to scream, wanted to yell, but his body wouldn’t move, wouldn’t react. He was frozen in his hunched position, just wanting to try and shield himself from anything else that could happen, anything else that could go wrong.

He didn’t know how long he’d been there before he heard a soft, familiar voice. It wasn’t the one he wanted to hear, though. “Phoenix, you need to go home. I can handle things here for you if you want,” Rosie said. “But you can’t work like this.”
“No, I can… I’ll be fine, just give me a few minutes.”
“Phoenix, you’ve been here for half an hour already. Go home. I’ll look after things here. You okay going home by yourself?”
“I- yeah. Call me if anything goes wrong or if- if you need to check anything or-”
“I will, alright? Just go home, if I see Alex, I’ll tell him you’ve gone home, you weren’t feeling well.”

The mention of Alex made Phoenix’s stomach tighten. But he shakily got to his feet, feeling the tension in his muscles from sitting in one position for so long. He left out the back door and made his way back to the apartment. He just kicked off his shoes and lay on the bed, staring into space. He had no idea how he was supposed to process any of this, how he was supposed to deal with it. His phone buzzed and it felt like it took all of his energy just to roll over and look at his phone. His stomach twisted again as he saw Alex’s name pop up on the phone. He was staying with Jaiden for the night.

Phoenix had ruined everything again.

At some point, he managed to drag himself up and get something to eat. It tasted like nothing, felt like it was just a routine, just something his body demanded he do even if he didn’t want to. He fell asleep shortly after going back to bed, still in his clothes, just wrapped in a blanket. It wasn’t a restful sleep. It was nightmare after nightmare after nightmare. He was in another attack, running to try and get to Rosie, to Zoe, to Jaiden, to Alex, and every time, he was too late. Alex turning into a demon. Everything, everyone Phoenix touched turning to sand. He kept waking up and kept falling asleep, could never stay awake no matter how bad the nightmare was.

He only woke up properly when he heard the door to the apartment shut. He went to check the time on his phone, but realised he’d forgotten to plug it in the night before and it had died.

The silence at first was heavy. Phoenix had no idea where to start. I’m sorry. I missed you even though it was only for a night. I’m so scared and I don’t know what to do. I should have trusted you. I didn’t sleep as well without you, He started with telling him about Neden.

Over the next few weeks, things started to get back to normal. They talked about it after Alex had forced Phoenix to shower, change his clothes and have coffee, and Phoenix had made breakfast for them both. But Phoenix wasn’t able to let it go. He still found himself getting stuck on how easy it had been for him to give into believing Alex was cheating on him, how easy he’d given in to his own insecurity. Even that morning, when Alex had disappeared for a few hours, the possibility had crossed his mind, if only for a second before he’d denied it. They hadn’t talked about that morning, but it still weighed on Phoenix’s mind. There was something… different now, something unspoken, and Phoenix didn’t want to ask. Because now it was Phoenix who kept waking up in the middle of the night, haunted by nightmares. They’d been there before, they’d been there since the first attack, worse since the second. But now it seemed like Alex slept the whole night unless Phoenix’s nightmares were bad enough to wake Alex up too. And Phoenix had no idea what that meant.

A day or two after everything, Rosie had swung by with letters from them both from Neden. Phoenix had opened his. It was a mess of scrawling writing, of sentences written and scribbled out until they were illegible. But the main message was there. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you. He hadn't thrown away the letter, had kept it wedged between two books on his bookshelf. Somewhere safe, where he could find it if he wanted, but also where he wouldn't have to stare at it every single day.

The morning was the first warm day in weeks. It was the first day things felt like spring again. The sunny weather made Phoenix stupidly happy. He hated winter anyway, and now he associated too many bad things with snow on the ground. The market was open for the first time in the season. The familiar sights and smells made Phoenix feel at peace, even just briefly.