AtomicEmperor

Recollections: Under The Sycamore Tree Part. 1

Mood Music

Leon

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Mentions: Linqian Han, Aryin/Aaron Thorne, The 317 | Direct Dialogue: Anya Baksh/@FernStone, Drake Blackmore/@Shin Ghost Note | Location: The Eleventh Path

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”And what would be the price of the Temple’s help, Leon? ”

Anya

Leon was quick to snap back at this kind of half-assed passive aggressiveness.
"Yeah, you would expect a price... Clearly you don't understand the kind of debt that some of our magical community owes to us. We're Goddamn Heroes, Anya. If we ask? We'll receive."
He huffed, listening in again as Drake expressed concerns over Scott Reese. Octavia's statement about him clearing through their "hulk" along with Aryin and Linqian only made him more interested at the prospect of a fight.

”I'm just worried because, unlike some of ya'll, I got other people on the line here. Other people that can't handle that monster.”[

Drake

Pushing air through his lips, Leon gave a chuckle.
"Hey now, no need to fret, Blackmore! C'mon... 317 ain't exactly the benchmark when it comes to combat Adepts: No offence to you guys, of course, you do what you can. But Linqian was never one of our best either, right? I can handle her and Aryin at the same time, confirmed by several recent tests too. So, I think it's in our best interests that if Scott Reese shows up to play, you leave him to me." he professed, confident in his declaration.
"Just give me whatever artifact you want applied to him that you think would weaken him, and boom: You lose one asshole for one asshole. Equal trade in terms of effort and power."

Recollections: Under The Sycamore Tree Part. 1

Mood Music

Leon

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Mentions: Layla Hyacinthus, Daisy Hunter, Britney Williams | Direct Dialogue: Amara King/@Blizz | Location: The Eleventh Path

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Having arrived late, Leon took a noteworthy position somewhat behind Layla. Listening to the group talk about the situation, he was more eager to prove to the group that he wasn't the same guy he used to be. Ten years prior, he'd have been in the foreground pushing for his plan: Full physical infiltration through magic means. Getting under the island with the use of magic, submarinal traversal followed by digging through one means or another up under the facility. Anything was possible with strong enough magic... But he wasn't here for that.
Sycamore's failure didn't mean the end. He wasn't so concerned with how others were going to deal with what was coming.

”Any way you could use your mob connections to get some ammo fast enough for this?”

Amara

Hearing this, Leon chuckled to himself. Having a good sniff of the room before he fully settled in gave him a clear picture of who was and wasn't present, and he figured he knew why Greyson wasn't there.
"Britney's here, Amara... We're trying to reduce the chaos of these meetings by having less people, remember? Besides, you should be asking me about ammo. He'd tell you himself that the Temple produces quality ammunition: We supply half the Western Seaboard's "religious" institutions with good shit. If it's for Sycamore, as much as you all may not want the help, the Temple of Charming and Graceful Individuals is willing and able to provide. Physical arms and armaments, Lux boosters, healing salves, the list goes on."
He would always do his best to be helpful, of course... Despite some recent tension and problems with certain individuals, Leon was certainly dedicated to the ideal of the Sycamore. It was an ideal that people had fought and died for, and he never wanted that to be wasted.

"Whatever you guys want from me personally, I'm happy to do it: But, I only ask that you keep in mind I may not fully be in control of myself by the end of this. If the worst happens, stay clear of the big, grey and gold wolf-thing... And call my folks, I guess. Worst comes to worst, it's an island I can stay isolated on until I'm dead, or I can be put out."
He was thinking about all the nasty, horrifying entities and concoctions that the Temple had pilfered from Sonnenrad corpses. If the group were willing to take more help, he imagined things would be far easier than what they had in mind currently; but was it worth it? Releasing all that evil? For what, one big push against a group of people who they weren't even sure of the capability of? No, it was his own special mental gymnastic routine. It was all about trying to get things under his own control.

Oh, my Sweet... You'll never be in control again! The vile collar is gone... Feed me, however, and I will let you pretend.
Daisy... The Bind of Mont Ferrad. Lelou's Adjoining was wholly against her will, thus the process of keeping her bound was based on the magic found at the temple on the peak of Mont Ferrad, where an ancient werewolf den was found to contain remnants of Lelou's first kingdom from thousands of years ago. He knew the story of Guillome Richoux, and the Hunts on behalf of the Sun King. Knew about how Lelou's descendents had been tracked and slaughtered in that mountaintop cave, and about the secrets of binding Man and Beast.

It's why they were together now. An enticing host, and the last Bind of Mont Ferrad... But nobody to hold the leash. Daisy was gone, the artifact was gone... It'd take time to attune it to someone else, and even then, he wasn't sure who it could be. Who he could trust to have the kind of steady mentality and collected thoughts of Daisy Hunter. He missed her.
Miss!? You miss prancing about like a dog with your fucking collar and a little bell? Tame fuck... I should rip you in half from the inside: If I see that collar ever again, I'll have your head Leon Richoux...
He sighed, trying his best to keep those around him tuned into his head so he wouldn't miss what they were saying.

Iron and Honey: A Love Story [FernStone & AtomicEmperor]

Home > The Dolly Apartments

Hours later and the sun was once more setting upon a St. Portwell evening. Fall was well on its way and trending toward a typical wet winter; the little beading droplets on the windows of the rooftop abode gently trailed downward with gravity’s pull. There were tiny gutters covered by a thin plastic mesh that allowed the water to travel away from the emerging foundation, though it wasn’t so heavy that they were necessary today.
Casey was standing in the middle of the main room stretching, his work suit unzipped with the top tied around his waist. As he bent himself backwards, the glove on his hand vibrated slightly with the influence of White Lux.

He could see the ice forming in the spots where the water was thinnest, frosting up and blowing away in the wind as a vague cloud of evaporated moisture…
Everything back to the Water Cycle.
There was a certain level of preparation that went into what Casey was best at. In days past, it wasn’t so deliberate. It was a survival instinct that led him to discover that past trauma made up for present discomfort. It was understanding that everything his Father had taught him about war and fighting had all been real, applicable, and stuck to him like hot tar.

Of course, the kind of disconnect he experienced now, getting back into that mindset in order to do things he otherwise didn’t want to… This wasn’t a natural way to live. He felt boiling energy screaming for an exit from his body. Today had been a tease; the Maiden of Murders’ visage stuck in his mind, the rifle in the line of sight. The feeling of the recoil against his shoulder, the adrenaline of the potential fight. The abject fear of death that he railed against every time he had to go back to that place…

There was a gentle chime: The new doorbell that let the two of them know someone was looking for rooftop access. It was particularly intelligent, one of those full-spectrum systems with a camera and a microphone. Knowing Trisha was still getting dressed, he put a stop to his routine and made way for the wall where the main panel was located.
In the image of the camera was Ed… He didn’t have the capacity to be too jovial in that moment, so without flair or humor, he simply buzzed the lock to let her in.

The click prompted Ed to push the door open to head up the stairs.
”Trisha? Ed’s here for you, Babe…”
As Ed approached the bright light of the glass house, she could see Casey in his jumpsuit, and turned her eyes slightly to see the hardware laid out across the kitchen island. She was aware of the situation vaguely, hearing about an internal dispute through the grapevine. One of their partners was delisted, and as far as she knew any product they were holding had been scrubbed from the inventory.

Chalked up to “loss”. Apparently they weren’t lost, or now they were at least found… She pulled open the front door for herself and spared Casey the details.
”Hey…” she said very simply, waving.
Casey did his absolute best to push out a smile in return.
”She’ll be right down, Cuzzo.”
Ed nodded in return. There was no drink offered, no courteous hospitality. Trisha probably would’ve noticed this as the hours had gone on and her usually jovial golden retriever man became less bubbly and more aggressively clingy.

Which only made it more weird when he got pissy that he had to walk away to get ready. Or maybe because he was making her go? His problem could never be transparent; it’d be too unthinkable to explain, and a burden he had to live with.

It was a few more minutes before Trisha appeared, coming down from their loft bedroom with a slight smile towards them both. Her delay had been twofold: fussing about whether she’d chosen the right outfit for an audience she mostly didn’t know, and worry about how Casey was going to act. As much as she’d liked the clinginess, she didn’t understand why he got annoyed in the end. It wasn’t like she even wanted to go in the first place.

It made it difficult to not assume she’d done something wrong. She hadn’t, but…
“Hey, Ed… Guess it’s time to go?” She asked, as if the answer wasn’t obvious. She went to grab her coat of choice tonight, pulling a white puffer jacket over the casual, black dress she’d ended up changing into. Even though she was feeling nervous over how Casey might be, she gravitated towards that spot right by his side.

“Good luck with work. I’ll miss you loads…” she took his hand in her own, gently squeezing it and looking up at him with a warm smile. Her posture was tenser than normal, showing the anxiety she tried to otherwise hide. Because she didn’t actually understand what the problem was, it was all too easy for her to start spiralling, thoughts getting worse and worse until she reached the same conclusion as always: abandonment. It was so silly… he didn’t want her to leave, right? Right.
“Oh I’ll text you when I get back too, just to let you know I’m home if you’re not yet… Well there’s probably some magical ways to figure that out so maybe that’s not necessary? Do you think you’ll be back much later than me?”

Casey’s hand in Trisha’s certainly didn’t feel like it wanted to leave her. He held onto the last finger as she drifted away closer to the door.
”I’ll take all the luck you can give me… Be good, don’t get into any fights, and try to learn something. I don’t know when I’ll be home, but I’ll try to clean up before I come up. And keep her safe, Ed.”

Ed nodded, slipping her arm into Trisha’s playfully. She needed to feel the tension ease slightly, especially knowing that Casey’s look was the same one she’d seen Leon get… Or Gravity… Before the fight.
”She’s the girl, Chief. Snug as a bug.”
Casey nodded to accept her word, and his back turned on them before they were gone. He’d made way for the kitchen island, fiddling with his rifle in a desperate attempt to not watch his beautiful evening saunter off into the darkness.

I refuse to do this forever.
”I love you, Trisha…” his words echoed as Ed had already shifted them both to leave.

“Missing you already.” Trisha’s words were muffled by the door closing behind her. It was cold outside, and she pulled her jacket tighter around her with a slight shiver. As they made their way across the roof, a soft buzzing announced the presence of about fifty bees making their way over from the Greenhouse, landing on various places on her. Most of them immediately crawled under her clothes for warmth… after all, bees weren’t made for the cold, even if hers were tougher than most.

“I don’t know why he thinks I’m going to go in and start stinging or something. I’m not that aggressive…” Trisha muttered light heartedly, trying to ease the grumpiness she could feel settling over her. That wasn’t fair on Ed. She could get through tonight and maybe even enjoy herself. At least she could just stick with Ed and Gin.
“Is Leon already downstairs, or will we have to wait in the cold for him? I’ll need more bees if I’m spending more time outside.”

”Uhhh… With the Layla stuff, Leon’s actually going to be separate from us. I’m pretty sure he’s already at the venue setting stuff up, so… Just us girls for now.”
Like a cartoon character, the Poppy Doll eerily made her way from behind one of the poles holding the walking path awnings.
”Hello, Miss Trisha.”
She was utterly pale, dressed in a Victorian style gown with sullen eyes and manic curls that threatened to cover her face. Her figure couldn’t have been more than fourteen; her expression was truly something to behold as a downturned frown looked eerily like all three of its constituent parents at once. Mia’s lanky features, Ed’s expressive eyes, Hari’s quiet grace, each little piece was like a patchwork of her Mothers, and in turn, she looked at the world with all the love she was given and sighed.

”I like your jacket.”

Trisha was actually relieved that it was just them, as much as she was trying with Leon. There was still that discomfort there, whereas she found Ed easy enough to be with… At least until her Apparition appeared. Trisha stared at her for a moment, putting out soothing pheromones as her bees got nervous at the strange presence they couldn’t quite understand. It wasn’t that she was unused to Apparitions, exactly, but she wasn’t used to friendly ones. Everyone in her main group in Sycamore had been Adepts (aside from Jaska), and there were just more of them than Adjoined in the coven as a whole…

“Uh, thanks… Serenity, right? I got it in Chicago, it’s actually from a thrift store. Surprising, huh? It’s nicer and warmer than a lot of my expensive jackets.” The last bit was for Ed, of course, she didn’t expect Serenity to understand why it would be strange for her to wear thrifted clothes. It wasn’t like she’d gone in there herself, or with the intention to buy anything… she’d been physically dragged in by Cass.
“Does- does she come out often? By choice?” Trisha asked Ed, after a brief moment of wondering if it was appropriate with Serenity right there. But she hadn’t seen her own since the day they adjoined…

”Well, our relationship isn’t… I’d not call the setup conventional, right Ren?”
The Poppy Doll took Ed’s hand in a tender, unsure fashion.
”We like to Thrift. Right?” Serenity looked up, the question leaving her lips as light as the air around them. Entering the building to head down, Ed chuckled to herself.
”That’s right, Sweetpea. We love vintage.”
”We love Vintage.” she repeated, inflection placed in a strange manner as she spoke.

Ed cleared her throat, shrugging slightly.
”Maybe we mentioned it, maybe not… But the three of us willed her into existence. I didn’t have any Lux, so I took her as my responsibility. That being said, she’s our daughter. I can’t really look at her any other way besides my sweet little girl.”
Ed’s hand reached up, pinching the ghost’s cheek.
”So, she’s sort of free to do as she likes, so long as she follows the rules that we’ve established with her.”

”If nobody asks to feel good, I won’t make them feel good.”
Ed nervously nodded, clearing her throat again.
”Right… Like that.”

“Right. That is an unusual setup… I think. I wouldn’t really know.” Trisha decided not to dwell on whatever that meant, or question it. She could guess, from the phrasing and what she’d smelt the first night they met. The strange scent signals similar to her own but not… probably from Serenity. But it really wasn’t her business.

“So she’s only a few years old? Young in ghost terms, at least… I can see why you’d have a different relationship because of that. It’s just strange to me, most Apparitions seem to stay inside… At least the Adjoined I knew. The ones that did come out…” She shivered for a moment, thinking about Babylon and The Black Rose Killer. The latter had been especially uncomfortable to be around when he managed to get out of his host’s active suppression of him.
“I rarely talk to mine. I don’t think that’s normal, either… It seemed to be intrusive for most Sycamore Adjoined.”

”Well, when you don’t really have a basis to understand how you should act, everything becomes difficult. I feel bad for people in that situation; at least when Serenity was born, we could fall back on the Temple. If not the physical resources, certainly the lessons of patience and acceptance.”
The elevator came, opened and closed on them. Serenity eerily slipped through the floor of the elevator, sliding down the line to the bottom like a firefighter. It made Ed smile and giggle to herself.

”But, her circumstance is pretty special I’d say. Even if she was around in some other form before, the individual we got? She’s… She’s just a kid. Doesn’t know anything about anything, but she knows that she loves cuddling with her Moms, and their friends… And she likes helping. Making people feel good, right?”
At that, her expression became a little shameful.
”All the addiction counselling… The fuck is someone supposed to do when this is the situation? I ask myself constantly: What am I doing with her? What’s the plan here? So… So I go alone to this meeting once a month. And I talk with others about her, and about how proud I am of us. And I admit my flaws, my personal failures, and people accept us. The judgement of myself fades away for a little while.”

“That sounds… nice. That you can talk about it and accept yourself more for it.” Trisha offered, shoving her hands in her pockets to hide the way they were clenched into fists, nails painfully digging into her palms. Would she have to talk like that too? She expected to talk about the Queen, but about her flaws or any of that stuff…
“I don’t really understand the addiction stuff but… uh… It doesn’t make me feel any differently about you, I guess is what I want to say. Even with her… I’m sure she’ll grow with you.” Her words were pretty stilted, but genuine. It wasn’t a struggle she’d personally witnessed - which was probably part of why she wasn’t particularly judging about it. Not something that had affected her before…

”My apparition is closer to a mom, I think,” Trisha found herself saying. Once she’d said it, she realised it was a bit difficult to explain without… revealing more. What kind of mom spent 80% of the time ignoring their child? She knew her experience wasn’t the normal one. It was such a sore spot. But maybe if she talked a bit now, she wouldn’t have to at the meeting. She could still tell Casey that she tried.
“My mom’s smart, and could be pretty strict.” That was an understatement, of course, but it was better than the whole truth.
“The Queen feels a bit like that when she talks to me. I don’t even know where to start with changing things. Honestly, I didn’t even care to until I met Casey.”

”That sounds a lot more classic to me… The way we're taught, if the Apparition willingly Adjoins, there's a high chance they're malicious. Otherwise, what use would they have for you? So I'd say the Queen probably just isn't interested in what you do, right? Like, she's aloof, right? Probably wishes she was independent and in charge of the bees!”

The door to the elevator slid open, and waiting was something unexpected. Maybe laughable, as the transition clearly made Ed giggle. It was Serenity, or at least as close to Serenity as possible. The eyes were lost behind a set of prissy shades that covered half the Apparition's face. Curly hair was tied into tight braids down the back of her head, and she was wearing a puffy jacket just like Trisha's.

To the latter, this form may've seemed like she transformed into a miniature Tansy. Bitchy rich girl vibes radiated from Serenity as she blew a bubble with the gum in her mouth that didn't actually exist.
”She's probably bored out of her socks listening to you both yap. Come oooooon… I want to see Mr. Weatherman.”

”Go get into the friggin’ car then. I don't know why you bother waiting.”
As Ed's hands waved Serenity off, she tilted her glasses and stuck her tongue out.
”So true, so true… Going pla-a-aaaaces, doing thiiiiings, I love being out out oooout to see th-”

Ed laughed aloud, smile beaming at Trisha.
”It's stuff like that, like… She learns and observes like crazy. It's like having a baby that can backtalk you.”

Trisha found herself laughing too. It was… cute, if an Apparition could be called cute. She smiled, hands coming back out of her pockets and relaxing a bit. A bee crawled out from her hair, tied back at the base of her neck, and onto her cheek. It seemed to wiggle a bit at Ed too.
“Must be exhausting sometimes. Like a kid you can never be rid of.”

As they stepped out of the elevator, she thought about what Ed had said about the Queen. It wasn’t quite right. The Queen had willingly Adjoined with Trisha. But the use wasn’t for anything malevolent. Selfish, maybe, but not evil. A place to rest and regain power without risk of being sealed, and letting someone else raise the bees.

“I actually think I’m just a bed to the Queen. She’s not… trapped or anything. She could unadjoin anytime she wanted to. I don’t actually know why she doesn’t… maybe she hasn’t regained enough power. But you’d think after eleven years of mostly sleeping inside me she’d be strong enough?” Trisha shrugged.
“It was her choice to adjoin with me in the first place. I was only thirteen and I broke one of my dad’s Artifacts. I didn’t even know about magic then…” It was like she was trying to justify the current relationship they had. Or, feel like it wasn’t just a lack of interest. The Queen wasn’t forced to stay. She chose to. The bees chose to…

”Woah, woah… She can leave? I… We’ve always been taught that Adjoining is a life-long commitment! A responsibility, or, like, stewardship! That kind of shit, some noble and high-minded shit!” Ed replied, hands animated as they eventually came to rest curled under her arms. A little self-soothing posture, to prevent the discomforting idea of Serenity simply walking out of her life.

”Not sure what I’d do if she just… Up and left one day. Weird magical cult aside, I… Well, maybe you feel close about the bees? Like they’re yours, you’re constantly with them, they count on you for stimulation… If they all were just gone one day, would-”
As she frowned and looked at Trisha, she could feel a tension building quietly as she suggested the idea of ending up all alone in one’s body.

”Well… I mean… You said you feel like a bed? Like, she’s obscured, withdrawn into her psyche-hold. Not very reactive? I can imagine it’d be hard to know how to please her, or even roust her for that matter… Like, Serenity loves when people are calm; she’s a little somnophile; not in a creepy way, she’s not…-” Ed twisted a little bit as they walked through the lobby toward the side lot.
”-Sometimes, I wake up… And she’s just staring. When I asked why-”

”-The beauty of Humanity can be found in the small peace of sleep. It’s the only time you’re not actively wracked by anxiety.”
One couldn’t consider the ghost “tucked” behind the tiniest blindspot one could find, so much as she was folded into it. As Ed had pushed open the door to the outside, Serenity practically materialized from behind the post of the door to stand in between the two ladies.
”Well, most of you. You sleep with Uncle Casey, right? Sometimes I think he’s more anxious in his sleep.”

“They can leave. The apparition, and anything that comes with them." Trisha said very quietly, not quite looking at Ed.
The thought of the bees leaving her was one Trisha didn't even want to consider… but maybe she had to. Because would the Queen want to stay with her for the rest of her life? If she didn't, eventually she would leave, and the bees would go with her. Then it would just be Trisha. Without the one thing that had never left her. It made Trisha uncomfortable and tense, shoulders hunching up and hands shoving back into her coat pockets. Her bees sensed the agitation and started to move towards her neck, more appearing as they gathered there in what was perhaps a comforting bee scarf. It helped a little bit, but now the idea was in her head. It was difficult to shake. They'd been with her for almost half of her life. All those times completely alone before… there was a small amount of comfort with them there. Even if she still felt so, so alone. But if they left… what would she do?

“Huh? Oh, yeah…" Trisha responded to Serenity after a delay, barely reacting to her just materialising. She forced a smile, trying to appear relaxed. Not thinking about being abandoned…
“Casey has nightmares… but he doesn't have them as much with me. I think his sleep can be quite peaceful right now… definitely doesn't disturb mine. That's not an open invitation to come watch, though." She really hoped Serenity could stray that far from Ed. A Ghost in the room was a perfect way to ruin both her and Casey's sleep… which had really not been so bad so far. Aside from that one time the bell woke them up, and the time she'd gotten out of bed before he woke up. She wondered if she was less anxious in her sleep too. Maybe not right now…

“I know some things the Queen likes. She likes the bees being cared for, and…" Trisha trailed off. Was there anything beyond that?
“It’s just that really, but it's a big one. It's not as simple as just having them. I guess you understand it with Serenity? She's your baby, the bees are mine… I didn't have so many when I started. So I raised them as much as you can raise bees. She definitely appreciates that. As I got better at it she responds more. It's still not often, and it's definitely not like-" she gestured to Serenity, managing a laugh.
“Anything like her. I think I- we've held more of a conversation than I have for a long time with my Apparition. But maybe she likes sleeping so much because it's like Serenity says- peaceful. She doesn't have to worry about her- our- hive because I care for it."

”Sounds lazy to me.”
The transitions this Ghost managed to do were mind bending. Like some strange cartoon character, she would slip behind Trisha one instant and pop up from a different position in the very next. Actual horror movies could only hope to replicate the strangeness of a semi-formed phantom’s habits.
She was like ADHD in ethereal form, and sat cross-legged in the passenger seat as Trisha opened the door to Ed’s car. Her clothes were, once again, entirely different than they had been. This time, it was clear to see there was some kind of pattern going on with her styles.

Maybe she was imitating what she perceived? Some kind of strange desire to connect and disconnect, as she’d somewhat mimicked Trisha’s style only to switch into something more Eddish. Ripped jeans, a beanie hat sagging low at the back of her head, grey-scale flannel with that same slightly inked-in look that the phantom herself had.
Her hands were stuffed into the pockets of her jeans, and she snapped away at the non-existent gum still present in her mouth.
”D’you ever just, like, fuck with the bees?”

As she asked, Ed opened the door at the other side and tapped at Serenity’s arm.
”Back fuckin’ seat… And don’t ask questions like that.”
Poof- Serenity was sprawled across the back bench seat.
”I ain’t mean anything by it… You know, Trisha. You’re not tight about silly shit, right?”
”Shit, Bro, who are you right now?” Ed laughed, knowing full well what was going on. ”Don’t make it an excuse, ‘kay?”

Trisha got into the passenger seat of Ed's car silently. The question did bother her, but it was easier to handle if she thought about it coming from a child. A young child, really, even though Serenity looked like a teenager. She didn't know any better…
“It’s fine, though you should listen to what Ed says. Most people aren't as relaxed as I am." That was a lie, of course, Trisha was often 'tight' about silly shit. But she was trying to be a bit better. She liked Ed's company enough to clamp down her initial reaction anyway, along with the age justification… ignoring all the younger siblings she'd snapped at before no matter the age.
“I don't fuck with them. I talk to them with pheromones… like scent signals. They can sense mine, and I sense theirs. So if they're anxious I know, but it also affects me. So if I messed with them, then it'd be like messing with myself. We're too connected and affect each other too much." As she explained it as simply as she could, Trisha held out a hand, a couple of bees crawling into it. They let out agitated buzzes, but as Trisha seemed to relax, they did too.

“They could hurt other people too." She then looked over at Ed.
“Can I let them spread out? They like being able to see all around a space if they can."

”Of course, Dude. As long as they’re cool, I’m cool.” Ed smiled as she started the car. It had quite the noise, and the strange seatbelts made it feel a bit less like a car and a bit more like a jet fighter.
”I wasn’t askin’ cuz I want you hurt… Just like, I thought if someone fucked with the bees, she’d come out, right? Maybe it wouldn’t be good, but while she’s awake, you could try to ask her some questions.” Serenity tried to explain as best she could in the face of her nerves spiking slightly.

”I-I… Really didn’t mean to make you mad, s-so,- Please, no stinging?” she pouted.
Ed could feel the spirit’s agitation, and she threw a hand back for Serenity to hold.
”Hey, hey… Nobody’s stinging, nobody is mad. It’s all cool, Susie-Q.”
She was a natural caretaker, comforter, lover of the innocent and meek… It was only natural that Ed bore this spirit as she grew. She could feel the anxiety fade away, and there was an instant where she almost let it all slip.

Too much comfort.

Ripping the hand away, she coughed for a moment. There was a slight scent of repugnant chemical waste in the air.
”Serenity!? No, no!”
Rather than simply retract, the phantom turned its head in a pout.
”It’s not that much…”
”Fir-first off… We’re going out! I’m driving… And SECOND-”

Coming to a stop at a red light, Ed’s brow furrowed tightly, and she turned her head slowly to Trisha.
”Fu-u-uck… G-god… Goddammit, Serenity… Trisha, you-you g-gotta… Drive… I’m s-so-”
Serenity slowly faded away into nothingness, leaving Trisha entirely alone in the car stopped at a red light…

While Ed slipped into a narcotic stupor.

“What the fuck?!" Trisha immediately panicked. The bees panicked, agitated buzzing filling the small space as they crawled out from her clothes and clung to her as if there was some active threat they could deal with. There wasn’t. They couldn’t help at all. It just made her panic more even as she tried to suppress the pheromones leaking out of her, at least curbing the ones that started mingling with the chemical smell in the air and make her panic worse.

What the fuck did she do? She could drive, that was fine, but she had no idea where she was going for this stupid fucking meeting. Did she just go back? Then what? Carry Ed inside herself? She couldn’t even get into their apartment, so it would have to be hers, and then what the fuck did she do? She didn’t want to deal with that. What the fuck.

“Oh fuck off!” Trisha yelled as someone honked behind them, raising a hand to flip them off. She reached over and awkwardly pulled Ed over, trying to get her more into the passenger seat than the driver's seat… At least enough that Trisha could take her place. As the light went red again, she got out, running round the front of the car to get in at the driver’s side.

“Spread out, I can’t have you on me like this,” Trisha whispered, directing the bees through her panic. They followed, flying off her onto the roof, the dashboard, the doors of the car. A few remained on her shoulders where they wouldn’t get in the way. Ready for more orders. Thankfully they were used to taking them under stress, and she was used to giving them…
“Fuck, fuck, okay…” Not wanting to stop at the traffic lights any longer, Trisha started the car again as they went green. She kept going in the direction they’d been heading, no idea if she’d have to turn at any point… the Temple was outside of the city, sure, but she didn’t remember where. It wasn’t even what she was aiming for right now. She kept going until she found a parking lot for some supermarket. She pulled in and parked. Fuck. Maybe she should’ve gone back…

“Ed? Ed? Where the fuck are we- you’re not going to know are you,” Trisha bit down on her lip, reaching out for Ed’s arm. Holding her wrist to make sure she was still alive… of course she was. It was a magically induced high. Fuck. What did she do? Call someone… But who? Her first reaction was Casey, but she couldn’t. He had work. Either he was out, or going to be. Would he even pick up? It would be worse if he didn’t.

And she didn’t want to worry him.

Leon. She’d call Leon first… hopefully he’d pick up. And if he didn’t… she’d deal with that when she got to it. Tense hands pulled her phone out of her pocket, fingers shaking as she went through her contacts. The bees started to fly around the car as she hit call, circling her head as she heard it ring, waiting, growing more agitated. Please pick up.

There weren’t too many rings before a familiar voice picked up the phone.
”Yoooo, what’s up, Trisha?”

“How do I get to the Temple?” Trisha asked immediately, swapping her phone to speaker so she could put it down. Her hands were shaking too much to keep it up to her ear comfortably, and bees kept crawling all over them… The buzzing would be more obvious as she did.
“Can I even get there? By myself? Well, not by myself, Ed’s-” Trisha looked over at Ed, gnawing on her lip more. Just deal with the situation, pretend to be perfectly calm, then she could… fuck, she wasn’t even going home, she’d have to suffer through the dinner before she could even curl up at home. It was fine, totally fine.

“She’s passed out. Serenity… it was an accident but…” Trisha grimaced. There was still that part of her that hated that she couldn’t just get on with it. That she had to ask for help in the first place. Like she wasn’t capable… but she wasn’t. Not here.
“What the fuck do I do?”

”Gods damn that little ghost… Are you in her car?” Leon asked, voice clearly frustrated by the situation.
”I ask her to do one thing for me, and- Sorry, I assume you are if she’s there… Go into the hatch in the back, and there’s like… A rug? Pull it up and there should be a few different boxes of shit. You’re gonna need to jab her with one of those purple epipen looking things, anywhere’s fine. It’ll shock her awake if you don’t think you can get here. But if you’re good to drive, I’ll text you the address; you can put it right into your GPS. We’re not hidden or anything out here.”

“Not sure I trust her to drive even if it’s some high curing magical injection,” Trisha muttered, shaking her head. She needed to not get too agitated. Not before going to a dinner she really didn’t want to where she had to try not to snap at everyone. But it was really, really hard. Fuck. The bees gathered on her again, and she didn’t bother telling them to go away. She wasn’t driving yet.
“Text me the address. I’ll- I’ll see if I can jab her, but I’ll still drive. See you there, I guess.”

Though she didn’t actually hang up immediately. The bombardment of bee pheromones as they got increasingly agitated made it barely a thought compared to calming down. She buried her face in her hands and took deep breaths, trying to even out the signals she was giving out. Fuck.

Without skipping a beat, Trisha’s phone vibrated in her hand, and an address link to press was in her inbox.
”Trisha, I can send someone over if that’ll be better for you: This sort of thing happens from time to time with Ed.- It’s a concession we make. I’m only sad that it was today of all days… But I really don’t want you to suffer for it. We’re happy that you’re coming at all, you know, we can at least try and reconcile the situation for you as a guest…” Leon’s deep and bass-filled voice echoed through the phone in a gentle offer.

“It’s fine, I've seen worse," Trisha said eventually, unfurling herself to check the address. She was talking about the Stygian Snake years of course, and the medical duty that they all had to participate in. There just weren't enough actual healers… Sure, most of the other rich kids skipped it, but Trisha never had - at first at least. When she was still desperately trying to be part of the coven as a whole.
She'd rather deal with it all herself than have some other Temple stranger turn up.
“I’ve got it. I'll get us to the meeting soon as… just make concessions there with how I won't be particularly chatty."

Then she hung up before Leon could actually respond to that. She shoved it back in her pocket, turning her head to look down at Ed. Now she wasn't so much panicking as she was pissed. She couldn't just fucking suppress it. She’d do what she had to to go to this stupid meeting, but she wasn't happy about it at all.
“Never going to this again," she muttered. What was it Leon had said? The hatch in the back… Trisha shoved open the car door and made her way round. Wasn't hard to locate it or the rug, which just as he said revealed a bunch of boxes filled with weird fucking magical shit. Trisha didn't even bother questioning it- Temple of course- as she located what she was looking for. Magical narcotic fixing epipen… she slammed everything shut and got back into the driver seat.

As much as she’d said she could do it, Trisha had never actually stabbed someone like this before. Badly wrapping wounds, shoving alcohol on shit, making sure people stayed awake sure… they didn't exactly have an abundance of magical needles in the coven. Any non magical medication they got was just the stuff they could steal from destroyed pharmacies.
“Alright, anywhere," Trisha whispered to herself, hands shaking as she uncapped it. She squatted in the seat so that she could lean over towards Ed more. Where was easiest? Neck? Shoulder, maybe… somewhere that wasn't too bony or too much effort to get to. Neck seemed too risky. Shoulder?

As Trisha thought about it, one of the bees flew away from her, hovering over Ed as if it was about to demonstrate by stinging her first….

”No, no please!”
Serenity’s hand reached out from nowhere behind the seat Ed was half-slumped into. Only, with Trisha holding the pen, it simply had no effect. This only drove her more wild with panic.
”Please, please Trisha no please don’t make me go away! Please!”

As the phantom sobbed, milky white tears streamed from her face and stunk up the cab of the vehicle with that disgusting chemical burning smell.
”I swear I didn’t mean it, and she’s just gonna nap Trisha please, she needs it! I need it, I need her to… To relax, you know? And you too, like let’s just relax and please don’t stab her and make me go away again… It hurts, Trisha, and they don’t listen to me! They don’t care… They call me bad! I didn’t…”

She reached out again, trying to take Trisha’s hand with no avail as she pleaded. But Trisha would be able to feel the subtle poking at her Emotional Field… Whether it was intentional or an emotional response, one couldn’t know… But Serenity was doing her best to block Ed with a body that simply didn’t exist. At least, not to Trisha…

“What do you mean no?! She's knocked out cold and that means I'm alone- do you even know what that means?! I could get murdered right here and then my blood would be on Ed's hands and it would be your fault! You don't count because you're a ghost!" From the moment Serenity appeared and tried to stop her, Trisha got more and more angry, a harsh banana scent clashing with the chemical burning in the car. In the tight space it bounced back and increased her agitation more. Coughing, Trisha's hand slammed out to hit the button to put down all the windows. The smell and pheromones leaked out… she was able to breathe better, and think better.

Anger lessened, and the heat was replaced by a chill. Please don't make me go away again.. What? Trisha looked down at the pen, then at Serenity. She flinched away even though the ghost couldn't touch her, bees automatically moving to coat her hands as if that would prevent the pokes to her emotional field too. Was it not just a magical narcotic curer…
“She didn't need to relax, she was fine. You- don't tell me to relax. I'm not going to. You're just trying to defend yourself." Trisha's voice was quiet, cold. Different from the heated anger from before - which had come from being pushed to her limits and hitting herself with aggression pheromones. This was normal what she was like. Cold, scathing… and a little bit scared underneath it all. Her hand shook slightly more, hidden by the bees all over it. It was clear from her tone that she wasn't in any way relaxing.

But she was uncertain. She hadn't moved any further forward - she'd flinched back, crouching in the driver's seat and watching Serenity coldly. Trying to suppress the panic that was coming back up again as her pheromones continued to flow out the car. It was just a Ghost trying to justify her actions, a scared child, right? But… Why would it hurt her?
“What do you mean ‘make me go away'?"

As Trisha spoke, Serenity was pathetic with tears and tiny repeated phrases. I’m sorries, pleading for understanding; she couldn’t help but stop herself from shaking and crying.
”You’re a human! You don’t get shoved into a box because you did what came natural… Sometimes I get scared and I can’t help it, so I try and make people relax and they call me a monster! They make Ma take that, and when she does I can’t see anymore, Trisha! I can’t see, I can’t breathe, it’s all dark, I can just… It’s all empty! It always feels like I could fade away, and like nobody would even care because I’m evil and bad!!! Why!? Why, why, why!?”

She was clinging to Ed, like a scared child would cling to its mother with half of herself obscured under the seat of the car.
”It stops everything I’ve done, and it sends me away… And it’s scary, Trisha… I don’t want to go away for an accident…”

“What?" Trisha intoned, voice scarily emotionless. Internally, she was slowly processing what Serenity was saying. It… temporarily sealed Serenity? Severed their bond? That… was possible?

Trisha stared down at the purple filled pen, watching the bees that were crowding to defend her from a threat that couldn't get to her. Her resentful anger still remained but now it was overpowered by panic, and a hint of sympathy. Being judged and punished for doing something that was only natural… forced to be alone in the dark. Scared that no one would care if you disappeared… it hit too close to home. Isolation. She'd been isolated so much, but-

Did that mean it could be used on her?

Trisha shut her eyes for a moment, trying to even out her breathing. If she was jabbed with this, would she be cut off from the Queen? Then she wouldn’t have her pheromones. Her bees. They wouldn’t recognise her anymore. No, they'd still recognise her, but they wouldn't listen to her. Not while she didn't have her magic. But that would never happen. Casey wouldn't let them… but what if Lynette told him to? Then what. Would he really choose Trisha? Then she'd be abandoned without any bees at all.

“If I don't use this, do you promise not to touch me?" Trisha asked, calm and cold. As if she didn't suddenly feel like she was also about to be trapped inside the dark, lonely box… her pheromones switching from aggression to panic, continuing to spill out the car windows.
“And- and you'll tell me more about what it does." Even though she really didn't want to know. She didn't want to believe it was a thing. There was that need to run again. From all of this… but she couldn't. Casey was too good to leave over something she may never have to fear…

”A-apparition Suppressant.” Serenity said with a fearful, almost reverent tone.
”P-please… Keep the bees away, s-so… So I can relax… N-no jab, no sting, no… No sharp pricking objects. Needles. No needles…” she was still very much curled up and visibly fearful.
”No take-backs…”

Trisha nodded.
“It’ll take a moment," she said quietly, about the bees. She put the cap back on the pen, still holding it as she concentrated on calming down enough to call off the bees. It was difficult… so difficult as she thought over and over again about how she could lose them to the thing in her hand. Eventually, that was what worked - the need for comfort had the bees crawling back into her jacket and huddling against her body. Completely hidden from Serenity.

What did she do with the pen? Just put it back… Hands trembling, Trisha stuck her head out the car window. The parking lot was empty. She shoved her arm out and threw the pen as hard as she could at the closest wall, watching it smack into it with some amount of satisfaction. Relief.
“There. You said… formula four. Are there more? Does it- does it work on everyone like Ed?" As Trisha asked, she turned the car back on, pulling up the GPS. If she didn't get going there was always the chance someone would try to find them…

And it was a bit easier to hide her barely reduced anxiety when her eyes were forced to stay on the road.

”Formula One doesn’t get used. It kills the host, so they won’t use it. Formula Two is the heavy shit…-”
Settling into Ed’s lap like a child would, Serenity began to speak in the same cold, absolutely emotionless voice that Trisha would be able to recognize in herself. Someone somewhere else, thinking about something they didn’t want to think of.
”Uncle Lee gets hit by Two, when Auntie Lou can’t control herself. ‘Cept his dosages come in bullets. Last time, he was asleep for a week. Auntie Lou says she likes the dark… Like it’s a vacation to her. B-but, it hurts Uncle Lee. His heart, his brain, he has to get put on oxygen or he can’t breathe.” she explained what sounded like a nightmare… Whatever this stuff was, it was nightmarish in its implicit usage.

”Three is… In between? I guess… I don’t hear much about it, so I don’t know who it gets used on. I’ve only heard that there’s a lot of it, and that it’s good at getting around in the air. Miss Gin says it’s like a virus. But, then… Four is like…-”
She stammered, trying to find the words to use to describe the sensation.
”-Ma has a memory? Where she got surgery? Or something? In her belly; the doctor put her to sleep so it wouldn’t hurt her. It’s like that, except We… I… I dream. I dream about sad things, like if Ma was dead, or if we never saw Mommy and Mimi again… It’s like a show, where it tries to show me what happens if I’m bad.” she explained.

”It’s awful… I can’t move, I can’t do anything. It makes me scared, and my chest gets really tight, and I try to scream and cry with Ma, but I can’t. I have to listen to her confess, and apologize for me. But when it’s all over, everyone treats me like it never happened… Like they didn’t put me away in the box to make me see…”

“What the fuck," Trisha whispered, feeling like she'd been submerged in icy water. Four different types of Apparition suppressants… one that even killed the host. The fourth one was the weakest, and it was enough to do that? It was chilling. The thought of Leon being knocked out for a week like that… she shuddered. They could take out Adjoined so easily.
“I’ll never use it." As if she'd be in a position like this again where she'd have that choice. She was painfully aware that she didn't have the power to stop something like this from being used on herself, nevermind on Ed…

But it was painful to listen to. Trapped in a nightmare. Trisha understood that - she had too many herself. Plenty like that where she was alone. Where she lost the few people she had, or watched the deaths of those she’d already lost over and over again. Even people she didn’t care about but had wanted to. Former covenmates, her dad… But being forced to see all the worst things… like the cats did. Like the Stygian Snake did too.

Then having to confess to and apologise for something that she hadn't even done. As Trisha stopped at a red light she looked over at Serenity, then Ed, frowning. Just like what happened over and over again as she grew up… here it was religious bullshit. What had Ed done to deserve that? Serenity, too. It was just in her nature. She was just scared. Fuck. Trisha was finding a ghost's words hitting far too close to home. It wasn't quite the same, of course, but the similarities… those fears. The helplessness about not being able to do anything about it but accept the blame… but resenting that. It wasn't her fault…

“It’s not your fault," Trisha found herself saying, a hint of emotion slipping through the cold wall she’d put up. They were the words she told herself constantly even though she never believed them, deep down. Used to blame others even though she really knew the problem was herself. She was saying what she'd always wanted to hear herself.
“Even if you make a mistake, you don't deserve that. You or Ed. It's not something she should have to confess to like she's sinned or some shit. Like you're something to be ashamed of. It's like if I had to beg for forgiveness every time a bee stung someone."

She bit her lip, forcing herself to try and remain detached. Otherwise she'd lose herself in the fear… if she lost control of the bees, would that be used on her? Would she be forced into some kind of horrible confessional? To apologise for natural instincts? Would Casey let them do it? Would she be able to forgive him if he did? All roads led to being alone again.
“Do they ever use Four on… non members? People around the Temple who aren't part of it?"

Serenity's face dipped slightly, brow contemplative with eyes looking for something. An answer, maybe.
”I don't know… Probably the first one on enemies: people who won't play nice…”
She sat there for a moment, a blank expression drawn tightly across her face. Every bit of her processing power was being used up as the young ghost tried to put two and two together.

”You… You think they'll hurt you? Then why stay?”
It was a question without weight to Serenity, rolling off her tongue as if she'd just had a silly thought… She simply couldn't comprehend having the option to leave and not.

“I don’t know if they’ll hurt me,” Trisha said quietly, biting her lip. She hoped that Casey wouldn’t let them. She believed he wouldn’t. But she just couldn’t trust that. She was always waiting for the other shoe to drop. That inevitable abandonment… and if it was at a moment she lost control of her magic? Yeah, he’d let them hurt her.

“But I stay because…” Trisha trailed off, seriously considering her answer. The question was insensitive, but Trisha was already so much in her own head it didn’t upset her anymore. She was already thinking about it all… and her anger had already switched off Serenity.
“You don’t like being put in that box because you’re alone and feel like you’ll disappear without anyone caring, right? If I leave Casey, that’s what I go back to. I’ll have no one. I would be completely alone, trapped in a narrow, shitty life. And if I died, I don’t think anyone would care. Not even the bees.” She continued to speak in that detached monotone, even as she told Serenity things she’d never voiced otherwise. Here she was telling a ghost things she hated saying… but maybe it was because it was a Ghost she was talking to.

“I really like Casey, and it’s worth risking getting hurt. He’s the first person to actually love me, I think.”
Not that Trisha could bring herself to entirely believe in that love…

Serenity tried to process the thought. She even tried to wake Ed up, so she could quietly ask questions that may give her clarification on some of the abstract concepts of love and affection… But she was simply incapable of recalling the effect on her own. It took Ed, her personal responsibility and influence, to draw any lasting effects away.

But she was the affected one, and only darkness remained in her unconscious mind. It left Serenity feeling particularly alone.
[Hr]

City driving turned a ten minute distance into a thirty-five minute excursion. Stop and go traffic, Ed's crazy manual transmission car stalling out at most stop lights… Trisha would find herself pulling into a place she'd maybe seen once or twice but never had a reason to enter. The building was nondescript for this part of St. Portwell, its only outstanding feature being the lack of street-side access. One alley and a gate between the buildings barred entry, magically swinging open as the registered vehicle approached closer.

Inside was a small, boxed in parking area that fit twenty or so cars. The main entrance into one of the buildings was wide open, and a few people who were waiting began to descend the stairs. Their approach was toward the car as Trisha parked it.
Looking out, Serenity seemed to get a bit more excited.

”I promise nobody will hurt you here, Trisha… Look! Mr. Weatherman and Miss Felicia!” she pointed out.
”I bet they're here to help Mama!”

Getting closer, the duo looked fairly standard for the Temple. The male had a style that could be described as “Gentle Goth”, not wearing anything overly risque or aggressive while somehow still making all the goth goals. The woman, by contrast, seemed to be going for a much more punk look with chains and patch-covered denim over a sweater and leggings.

“I’m not worried about being hurt," Trisha said, because she wasn't. Not right now at least, when she had complete control… she was pretty confident that Casey wouldn't hold back on anyone that hurt her, even Leon. But that wouldn't happen here. She didn't bother explaining to Serenity that her worries were for something much more distant, just turning off the car and getting out.

“Hey," Trisha raised a hand towards the two with a slight smile, pushing through her want to just not be there. She had to try to be nice… she was used to meeting new people. It just normally wasn't in this kind of situation. Clubs, bars, flirting… but it was fine. She had this.
“I’m Trisha- uh, I'm sure you already know that anyway. I guess you're here to help with Ed? Serenity certainly thinks so." As she spoke she moved around to the passenger side, opening that door too. She was calm and seemingly friendly, but there was a certain amount of detachment.

”Serenity thinks-”
The woman spoke in a clean and crispy voice, about to question what Trisha meant when Serenity made her way from the car alongside her.
”Miss Feliciaaaaaa!”
She ran across the parking lot, diving into the woman’s arms. A burst of static electricity began to create pale blue arcs around the two of them.
”Oh my God! Serenity, stop! Stop, stop, stop!”

The ghost was sobbing, absolutely weeping. Presumably, her powers were being released as the thick scent of melting plastic filling the air before being vaporized by the lightning. Felicia’s face twisted into a mixture of sadness and confusion as she looked between Serenity and Trisha.
The one she called “Mr. Weatherman” approached Trisha and the car slowly, his hands in his pockets. His head slowly cocked between the car with the sleeping Ed and Trisha.

”You… Huh…”
His head spun to look at Serenity, slowly calming now, then back at Trisha.
”Well, I guess it's good you’re not really into her. We’re lucky to have you, honestly.” he said, looking at Ed, one last time before holding out his hand.
”Waldermen. Call me Walt. The living Tesla Coil is Felicia… Uh… Serenity can’t effect you if you’ve never willingly accepted her hand. So, either she didn’t ask for a hug this time, or you’re not the type to comfort a little girl… Kind of funny, right?”

Felicia was hugging Serenity… Ed had held her closely… Yet she passed through walls? She couldn’t touch Trisha because she wasn’t-
”Either way, thanks. Better we wake her up than punish the poor thing… Since, I’m sure you know.”

“Trisha," Trisha said simply, reaching out to quickly shake his hand… though she'd already introduced herself, it was reflexive. Large parties attended where she had to introduce herself over and over again, or forcefully do so when she was introduced as Trisha or just called Miss Vanburen. As if there weren't loads of them.
“You get used to little kids crying when you're the middle child of at least twenty."

But it was good to know that she'd never be affected unless she willingly reached out… which she definitely wouldn't do now that she knew. A long, magically induced stupor wasn't something that appealed to her in the slightest. She didn't like having her body messed around with magically at all, even if this one was ‘relaxing’. She could sympathise with Serenity without ever wanting to be affected by her… it was a good thing hugs were never her first go to, unless it was a partner.
“I know. I'm not cruel enough to use something like that. Ever. You're all lucky I didn't take a detour to throw the rest in the sea." It had been a serious consideration, as the drive dragged on through the city. The only reason she hadn't seen it through was how it might affect Casey… she didn't want to cause unnecessary shit for him, even if she was pissed about the existence of something that could completely cut her off from her magic and bees.

“Can you wake her up, then?" Trisha asked, stepping away from the car and folding her arms. Her tone was still fairly monotonous, keeping herself from falling into a grumpier state that would have her snapping at people she'd just met over literally nothing. A bee crawled out from under her jacket into her neck, forcing her to raise a hand to cover it… just in case Serenity freaked out again.
“Without the apparition boxing and following archaic confessions and begging for forgiveness."

Walt’s face frowned.
”I’m sorry you had to go through this… But it’d be nice if we could do this without the whole… Y’know… It’s not us, y’know? Nobody in this place wants that for her anymore than you do. But we do what we do, and if you can’t at least withhold a little bit of judgement, then you’re just gonna have a worse night…”

As he spoke, he was opening the car door. The jacket he was wearing practically writhed atop his skin as he moved. Serpents, not like snakes, but feathered and winged serpents, slithered from his collar at multiple points. They helped him carry Ed out, holding her against the car.
His hands slowly held her face, and a gentle green haze slowly drew away from her skin. After a few moments, Ed’s eyes snapped open and she stared directly at Walt.

”B-bro?”
Her gaze passed onto Trisha, and the lightning storm behind her.
”Oh, oh fuck! Serenity! Serenity!?”
For an instant, Ed’s entire body pulsed with white… Her face, her exposed arms, looked like the same kind of porcelain doll that Serenity ultimately was. And as quickly as it happened, Serenity was clinging to Ed’s side.

The latter was still trying to figure out the events that passed from then until now through Serenity’s own memories. The two held one another for a long moment; long enough that Felicia was able to make her way closer. A group had formed at the door of the establishment, but seeing the moment’s danger pass, they’d dispersed just as quickly.
”What’s she-”
”The process. Confession. I assume whatever she knew about the serum.”

Looking at Trisha, Felicia frowned and bowed her head.
”Please forgive us, Miss Trisha… Understand, it’s not fair for us to meet you like this either; we really were hoping that you’d be able to just enjoy tonight with us.” she spoke extremely respectfully, despite the punk persona she seemed to display.

“It’s just Trisha." It wasn't that she had a major issue with it, compared to the use of her full name or last name, but… she just didn't like the formality. Ever. As with everything, it reminded her too much of an isolated childhood.

And she was having a really hard time suppressing her agitation. It didn't help that Walt was coming out implying that she was judgemental. Everything from there, no matter how nicely it was said, felt like more along those lines. It wasn't fair for them to meet her like this either… they thought she was being unreasonable. She couldn't stop herself from fixating on it. Once it was in her mind they were viewing her that way she just couldn't get it out.

“It’s fine- and I know it's not all of you. The fact I didn't go home is me withholding judgement." As Trisha spoke tersely, her eyes moved from Felicia to Walt. Her eyes narrowed.
“If you take it as judgement of you, that's not my problem. It's not fair, right, you were all expecting someone who could just integrate and accept all the cultish background- sorry. That's not me- Fuck."
The bees started to buzz again and she took a step back, pinching the bridge of her nose and taking a deep breath. It wasn't them she was mad at. Who was it? Leon for suggesting she used that? Casey for not telling her about it in the first place? For forcing her to come? The Temple's fucked up leadership for making this whole situation a thing?

Or herself, for being so easily shaken?
“Don’t judge me and I won't judge you," she said, voice quieter, soft floral scent entering the air as she forcefully calmed down the bees to stop them from swarming out of her jacket. Because that was how she irrationally felt. Judged for her reaction and questions.

”If it matters to you: We don’t do a confession when we’re among our own. There’s no guilt in being who we are among one another. This i-”
Felicia stuffed her hand out, slapping Walt’s chest.
”We’re sorry. That’s all.”
Ed was next to Trisha without a word. Her face was cold, sad, stonelike. As they spoke, she turned her head to meet Trisha’s.

”No luck around here… Try and do right? You get your judgement questioned. Do wrong? Get your head lopped off. The life of the Adjoined Aberration in the Temple. Come on, Trisha… Let’s get you angry at someone who deserves it.”
She started to walk forward toward the golden, glowing light of the open door ahead.

“My anger is at people who deserve it-" Trisha, obviously, didn't mean the group here, as much as they'd taken the initial snap. Leon, Casey, Lynette… all of them were people she was pissed at in this moment.
More so with what Ed had just said.

“But I'll direct it at whoever you think is best to start with," she snorted, following Ed to the door. She looked at Ed, then the open door. The bees were still agitated underneath her coat even as she continually calmed her, and she was incredibly pissed… but Ed was right that nobody here deserved that. But Leon was in there - and in her mind, he sure as hell did. So she didn't even pause before walking right inside, head immediately snapping around to find him.

Leon didn’t give her very long to wait. He was dressed, as she’d seen him now so often, very casually compared to his public image of flashy gothic suits and skin; a t-shirt, a pair of jeans, boots… Like anyone else except nearly seven feet tall.
”Etienne!? Jesus, a-”
Ed instantly threw a finger up. Trisha would never have seen her this mad, but her face looked like pure rage. Evil almost.
”Leon Richoux… Private place. NOW.”

He threw his hands up, instantly turning and making way for a door nearby. It looked like some sort of common area or function hall for… Maybe a restaurant? Or it was some assigned event space, but it was full of tables with people casually talking, drinking food and eating, otherwise with books and games covering the tables.
People seemed to be having a nice time…

They entered behind him, and the door closed. There was enough of a gap for Trisha to start in before Ed could.

“You piece of shit,” Trisha immediately laid into him, tilting her head back to glare up at Leon. While her face contorted into ugly anger, her voice was cold and quiet. No shouting, but that wasn’t needed to know that she was incredibly pissed off. The bees filled the room with a buzzing that she tried to suppress, if only for Serenity’s sake - but it was difficult as anger radiated off her.
“‘Use the purple epipen, it’ll shock her’ - are you fucking kidding me? You seriously told me to use an apparition suppressant on her. What, so you could feel all high and mighty, enforcing twisted justice just like you used to in the coven?”

She was trembling slightly, facing up to a man over a foot taller than her like she was ready to get physical at any moment. The bees were, of course - but she didn’t actually plan to go that far. Rarely did.
“I’m not helping with your fucking religious punishments.”

”This is too much coming from you, Trisha, do-”
Ed stepped up close to him, pointing her finger in his face.
”Leon, you fucking told me you would never do it again… You said anything but that! Didn’t you? You fucking TOLD ME YOU HAD MY BACK!”

”Oh, God fuckin’ dammit! Go ahead, fucking yell. Scream. Get it all out so I can explain it to you both. It’s fine; I’ll wait! I’ve got nothing but time, you know not like this isn’t the place for talking about this kind of stuff, right!? Go ahead, my dearest Adjoined Sisters! Keep up the insults, all that anger on m-”

”Self righteous cunt! Leon!? Are you going to fucking sit here and blame us!?”

Trisha didn’t bother getting as close as Ed did, but her arms folded over her chest as her whole body tensed up. Bees crawled out from underneath her jacket, onto her hands and neck.
“You think I’m yelling? You would not like it if I was yelling- it sounds an awful lot like thousands of bees,” Trisha hissed, volume still barely rising, even as her tone got harsher and even colder.
“You haven’t fucking changed. You tell someone to do something, you expect them to jump, then when they don’t fall in line you get pissy about it. Fuck off. This is on you. You knew there was someone here that could wake Ed up but you still suggested I use that. You said ‘you’re gonna need to jab her’ like it was the only option. Self righteous cunt is right- you think you can just take it all, ignore us like we’re hysterical, then we’ll nod when you fucking explain?”

”Oh, I’ve got this one Trisha… Hang on, let me-”
Ed cleared her throat, puffing out her chest and flexing her arms downward with her fists at her sides.
”-’Nooooooo, but I expect to be listened to!’ That’s it, right? The dog-trained expression that comes out of your mouth every time you think you can just talk away your fucking problems?”

”Am I not listening to you!?” Leon growled out, finger coming up before balling back into its frustrated fist.
”No! You’re absolutely not, Leon, you’re bristiling to get your fucking point across! That doesn’t count as listening, that counts as waiting!”

Leon’s big hands gripped at his hair before sliding into his pockets. He just looked down, apparently breathing deeply.

“Exactly- you think you’re perfectly justified, and won’t let us leave until we agree with you!” Trisha scowled at him, words almost drowned out by the cacophony of buzzing. She quieted them slightly.
“You’re not.”

Leon had a sour look on his face, throwing his hands up again and waving them both off.
”Nahhh, you fuckin’ go ahead then. Leave, I don’t care. Fuckin’ leave the room and try to go have fun with the others, go the fuck back to your home, I don’t give a fuck. I was wrong, I was going to say that, but everyone thinks they’ve got me figured out. That’s totally fine… It’s great, even. I love it.”

He moved back toward the door, body steeping slightly to open it for them.

“Are you fucking with me, Leon? Really? You were really going to say you were wrong, that was your ‘explanation’? Save your self pitying shit.” Trisha didn’t budge, arms still folded and still glaring at him. Sure, she really fucking wanted to go home… but she wasn’t going to. She was far too angry to just leave it, and unnerved by the whole fucking thing. And if she went home… all of her anger would be redirected to Casey when he got back.
“Do you have any idea why I would be so fucking upset about almost using something like that?”

Maybe it was unfair, hypocritical, but she quite frankly didn’t give a fuck. He could be sad they were making assumptions - it all came from how he’d been acting right up until that point.
“We’re not done. If you were really going to say you were wrong, start by apologising to Ed.”

”FUCK an apology. Every single time Cairo or Andy come into the fucking office, I risk getting dosed by Serenity because she’s terrified of them! She knows Leon! She fucking knows that they make the shit, and she’s smart enough to know that they would be happy to use it on her! On all of us! I should fucking go out there and make a big deal of this! Do you want Tamara to hear? What about Mr. Cabrera? Your favorite old man? You think he’d want to hear about this!?”

It was subtle, but the force of Leon crushing the doorknob with his bare hand made the door rattle. So subtle, in fact, that it was difficult to tell what kind of a mood Leon was in purely based on that. Mad? It had to be some kind of upset: One didn’t just crush a doorknob for no reason. And certainly not for a happy reason.
He took a deep breath through his nose, and his voice was clear and steady when he spoke.

”You can… You can be sure that I’m deeply sorry. Sorry for breaking a promise, and sorry for making the wrong judgement call here. You are absolutely right Ed: That I have abused your Apparition Companion and neglected your care.”
”You’ve traumatized the only daughter that I will ever give birth to naturally. She is not an Apparition Companion, Leon, she’s my fucking soul!”

He had feelings about this. Opinions. Things he knew he would be less for expressing to anyone. Only a few knew, and he couldn’t help but feel the shame the two of them were trying to push.
”Unlike most of you, she comes from me! Is it wrong, is it fucking sick that our parents let me become a fucking heroin addict without a care for my supervision and then tried to excommunicate me because I wasn’t a fucking spell-flicker? Absolutely! Is it sicker that she’s everything I thought I hated about myself, and I spent the first few years of her life abusing her myself!? Yes! But now that I’m trying to be good for her and for our family, and you want to start jabbing me now!? Six months ago, you said never again! And I haven’t hit anyone on accident. She’s been incredible! Then she stumbles once and now this!?”

“She was scared of the bees,” Trisha said, almost hollowly. It wasn’t that she wasn’t angry anymore- she was- but what Ed had said was so heavy. She felt like she shouldn’t be there… but she also found herself sympathising. A lot.
“Because of the needles. She thought they were going to sting her- when she hadn’t even done anything. That’s why it happened.”

Ed’s finger pointed at Trisha without her head turning. She was still looking dead at Leon.
”I hope you heard what she just fucking said. I hope you heard her loud and clear, and that you understand what the fuck that means from now on. More therapy. More behavioral work. She is a child Leon! A fucking CHILD! The same scared little girl that I was… That same person your little Brother was! But you have no fucking sympathy, Mister Perfect Magic Man… Mister Give-it-up! Big fucking sacrifices for the good of our people, right? Save St. Portwell alllll by yourself right? The Adept who gave it all up for his people!”

Ed’s hands slipped upward, gripping into her hair before she turned to face Trisha.
”I’m so fucking sorry to you, Trisha. I’m sorry that you have to put up with this, and that you were asked to deal with us… I’m so fucking embarassed that I’m sick to my stomach, and I don’t know how I’m supposed to make this up to you… Especially not after all the other shit that’s happened…”

Leon cleared his throat. Her head didn’t turn.
”Nobody was fucking talking to you Dog.” the phrase left her mouth with such deep and hateful venom that even he knew this had gone beyond what he thought it would. Leon simply kept quiet.

“It’s not your place to apologise.” Trisha looked back at Ed, lips moving from a harsh scowl to a lighter frown. Her eyes were still dark with anger, but it wasn’t towards Ed. It hadn’t been since she found out what that thing did, and how scared Serenity had been. She got it. As much as she hated that she did… because that required admitting that she was just a little bit broken herself.
“You can ‘make it up to me’ by still spending time with me after this. Don’t leave because of it- because unlike him, I sympathise. I understand. I’m not upset at you or Serenity.”

Her arms tightened around herself, going from being folded to closer to a self hug. As she did, the bees withdrew back into her jacket. She hated the anxiety it brought out in her… because her bees were her soul just like Serenity was Ed’s. She hadn’t grown up around magic, but she’d grown up practically alone, then abandoned by the only person who gave her even a little bit of attention over something she couldn’t control. She was never good enough. She’d been the scared and abandoned child… just like Ed, just like Casey, just like Serenity. Unlike Leon.

“But I’m here by choice. Here at this meeting, because I told Casey I wanted to learn more from other Adjoined. And here dealing with the Temple at all by my own choice. But-” she spun around towards Leon, eyes narrowing back into a glare.
“I’m not part of it. I’m going to get fucking angry over every shitty thing done. You, or any others, I don’t care. I’m not just going to fucking roll over and accept it. Don’t think you’re special and the only person I’m pissed off at right now.”

For a second, Leon’s eyes narrowed.
”There’s nobody else to be mad at, Trisha… The buck stops here.”

”Leon, don’t fucking cover for them. Your fucking Adept friends. The people who wouldn’t piss on you if you were on fire except to laugh at it? Why won’t you… Fucking actually treat yourself like you’re one of us?”
He didn’t look so good after that. Just frowned, shook his head… Didn’t speak for a few moments despite both ladies still staring at him.

”I’m sorry… I panicked. I wanted a better impression of this for Trisha, and my judgement completely lapsed. It’s not an excuse, and it’s not a redirection; just me trying to explain my mindset. I thought there’d be no way you’d come if one of ours didn’t get you here, and Casey has been hounding me about how important it is that this went well… And it’s nine thousand things piled up on top of one another, and I wouldn’t ever think of bringing a Confessor into this space. I was just going to mark it up as me having a flareup and strike the log for the syringe… I don’t know what else to say. I really don’t…”
As he released the doorknob, it sagged and unhooked from the door, falling onto the floor with a gentle clanging noise.

“Of course he did,” Trisha practically whispered, nails digging into her arms.
“I called you asking how to get here. I wouldn’t have called at all if I was going to go back- but that doesn’t matter. Remember this. Remember how fucked up it is to do this whole apparition suppression and confessional thing. You even have Confessors, or whatever? What the fuck- but both parts are fucked up. Ed’s right. You’re adjoined like us, so put yourself in our fucking shoes for once. Think about how fucking terrifying it is to find out the thing you’re holding could completely cut you off from your magic. Think about that.”

She took a deep breath, head tilting back.
“And don’t tell me who to be mad at. Maybe if you try to understand, you’ll see why I’m not just going to calm down about it.”

How could he protest? How could he even think the thought that crawled through his head? The creeping, gnawing feeling…
Oh, Baby… You’ll never be rid of me.
His hand wriggled slightly. A nervous tick.

”I w-was… Cut off from my magic, Trisha. I had to Sever before I could accept Lelou. I know the feeling of the void it leaves: That decision wasn’t made with a light heart. I empathize with the fear, and… And I’m extremely sorry.” he hung his head, bowing in front of them as much as a giant could bow to normal sized people.

Trisha was shocked enough by Leon bowing to them that she didn’t say anything for a while. Just stared, and thought. She was still upset by the whole thing, but she couldn’t keep going round and round when he was apologising. She wasn’t used to the apologies. Up until this point almost everyone just saw her as unreasonable.
“Then you understand… and remember that for us-” she gestured to herself and Ed.
“- we lose company too. Serenity, the bees… but I accept your apology for the shit that affected me. Up to Ed whether she does too.”

Her arms finally unwrapped from around herself, only to pull forward her ponytail and start fiddling with the thick waves.
“And I guess I take back a bit of what I said. You have changed. You wouldn’t have apologised before.”

”I can only do what I can, Trisha… I spent a lot of time-”
”Yeah yeah, your fucking virtues. Can you go? I’m still utterly fucking furious with you, and if it weren’t for the sanctity of this group and this space, I’d go out there still looking like it. But for my daughter and for my people, I’ll stand the fuck up and be a Woman. How about you be a man in return.”
She was prepping to spit at his feet, throat rolling to catch phlegm before she stopped herself and spun her entire body around. Having to swallow it back up just pissed her off more.

”Ooooh, Leon, you’re so fucking lucky dude… So fucking lucky that I still have some sort of familial love toward you or I’d so- So… Fuck! Fucking, fuck! Just, just go! Get out, give me fucking ten minutes to not see your stupid fucking face!” she growled, her hands gripping in and out in front of her, pointed toward him.

He cleared his throat.
”Sure, fine.”
With that, he spun, hooking his finger into the half-destroyed door knob and pulling it open. The door closed behind him with an equally frustrated snap.

For a moment the two women were alone in the dark, the quiet. It was only broken by the gentle whimpering of a child.
”Y-you… Both are… S-so a-aw-esome…”
Serenity was there again, clinging to Ed and holding her tightly. Milky tears still filled her eyes, and they turned to look at Trisha.
”T-thank y-yo-u… For l-i-ste-ning…” she expressed between sobs.

As Serenity reappeared, Trisha made sure that all of her bees were once again hidden in her coat. Her hand enclosed into a fist around one that refused to leave her fingers.
“It’s… no problem. Of course I listened. I-” Trisha bit her lip, carefully depositing the stubborn bee into her coat so she could clasp her hands together.
“I listened like I always wanted to be listened to when I was a kid. Nobody ever listened to me either.”

It wasn’t something she’d really expressed before, but in that moment she felt comfortable enough to. Maybe it was because Ed had bared so much of herself - or maybe because she hadn’t forgiven Leon. She was holding onto it in a way Trisha often did, and got so much shit for. Enough similarities for her to feel like she wouldn’t immediately be judged for it…
“Hopefully one day you’ll be able to be around the bees. I think you’d get along with them.” She spoke softly, before moving her gaze to Ed.

“Oh, uh, Ed? I don’t know much you got of what me and Serenity talked about, but please don’t tell anyone about the… last bits…” She was talking, of course, about admitting to never having felt loved before Casey.

Ed’s stony face turned warm like an ice cube melting on a hot surface. Her hand slipped upward, stroking Serenity’s head and hair.
”My girl keeps her secrets. I’ve got no clue what you’re talking about.” she said, winking slyly.
”Thank you for listening to her like nobody in the Temple does. Even around here, sometimes there’s a little judgement given her birth. The circumstance doesn’t sit well with some of the older folk. They don’t understand, and I don’t really expect them to; so, maybe if they say something to you, cut them a little slack? For us. They… They’re no better than little kids sometimes…” she giggled.

”If not, I understand… But at that point, I mean… I guess I’d be in your corner for arguing with Casey to let you stay home. Only if it gets that bad. There’s probably still good you can get here. Like, I guarantee Gin’s outside that door waiting for you.” she implied.

Trisha had to laugh at that. She was sure Ed was right and Gin was right outside ready to ambush her. The thought… filled her with a bubbly warm feeling that let her push down the still simmering resentment. Hidden away, for now. It would come back out later, she was sure.
“She’s probably waiting to bombard me with a million questions about the bees…" she smiled, hands unclasping. One still crept up to tangle in the bottom of her hair, playing with the strands. Just a slight anxious tic.

“I’ll try, for you… much as I'd like an excuse to go back to my warm bed," Trisha openly admitted, hand tugging her hair slightly.
“No promises, but I'll try. I do want to talk to other Adjoined… learn how to control my magic more, yknow. There were plenty of us in the coven, but most of them… had just adjoined. I was one of the most experienced. There's some things I just won't be able to tolerate but… I'll look past certain comments for that, and you, Serenity and Gin." She really would try. Really, she already had been - there'd been so many opportunities to run and she'd resisted them. So she could cut people slack if they said stuff about Ed and Serenity… so long as none of it hit a nerve.

“And I'm pretty sure if I get into a fight Casey will be the one keeping me at home, no arguments needed," Trisha joked, as she tried to fully relax to face a whole room of mostly strangers.

---

Tarantula Hawk: Casey Interlude One | Home > Worthurs Labs

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She took the sun with her, down those stairs and out into the parking lot. Into the car that he watched from above as the turbo-charged engine spooled up on their way out. The sun was setting over St. Portwell, and with it, all good things left the eyes of Casey Richoux. Only the last moments of preparation were left between him and work.

Courage and Nostalgia were both easy to dredge up… A small shrine was all he needed to commit to ceremonies which he’d not participated in for the years since the final battles outside of Berlin. There were no singing men, no clergy, no preacher upon the pulpit to channel their fervorous rage into boldness in the face of horror. Only his voice, which did not waver as he prayed.
Before him, candles. Ten. And the picture which Trisha had taken such interest in beforehand. That place, that moment, was his magical forge. The intricate weaving of Orange Lux across each piece of equipment he touched: pads, vest, the plate within, the jumpsuit around him…

And the gun… And the rounds. Twelve gauge in all sorts of funny colors, each he’d made for himself for a different purpose. Where he was headed, any kind of resistance was possible. Casey knew the Worthurs Group as a Coven: A small one, with some very smart and talented Adepts who knew their way around some pretty complex formulae. Their main point of contact with the Temple was Clarissa Natale, who would be accompanying him; recently she’d been tasked with integrating their work into Project Eden in a more direct way.
It wasn’t going well. Blame was cast on both sides…

But Mary Worthurs went to Lynette over it… Suggested someone else should run the project.

Lynette intended to oblige, but not in the way Mary imagined. New management, new staff. How were they expected to handle it? Like a sick animal. You kill it for its own sake. All this preparation was in the event that something went wrong. The intent on the other hand, was far more sinister.
He begged her to warn them. Part of the prayer meant he had to be brave, and ready to take on any threat. He wanted them to be a threat. To have a fighting chance.

But they were technomancers. Machine-oriented Adepts who rarely, if ever, spent their time on developing and using magic to defend themselves. He almost wished that the security team assigned to the property was still going to be there, just so there’d be someone there to really put up a fight.

But life didn’t always work that way. He’d learned well enough in Italy that people crave their doom. Inexorably, one will march ever on toward their demise, and only the guiding hands of Fate herself would mark the path. Everything else was just the illusion of chance and choice.

They fucking earned it. They fucking earned it. They fucking earned it.

So he prepared like he hoped there was war. The plate’s protective properties were applied across the rest of the clothes, making him highly resistant to bullet penetration across his body. Impacts, obviously against the softer surfaces, would still do a tremendous amount of damage internally… But broken bones and internal bleeding actually healed faster than flesh wounds under the influence of the Key Lime.
A small camel-bag system held three different Temple-made cocktails meant to assist in Anti-Magical operations: the eponymous, sweet green treat that heals wounds, a fruity, peppery jam to boost Lux capacity, and an Emotional Field-bolstering banana custard. Flicking the nozzle at the base of the bag swapped which the straw pulled from, with an option to open up all three at once.

He didn’t want to drink any of them, knowing what they were doing to him slowly… He’d already started getting cravings for it, which only made it harder to keep from opening it up to have a pre-mission parfait from a plastic tube. It was a truly sick organization, who made such dangerous magical substances taste dangerously good at the same time.

He tucked the setup beneath the back plate of his carrier as it came down over his chest and gut. The weight was crucial… To make him feel that he was doing something. One more mental checkmark toward murder…

Wretched twisting and snapping metal noises ripped through his sanctity, the home he had only recently come to call his own. Familiar noises that brought a new wave of nostalgia, causing his potent White Lux to ripple across the air.
Casey hadn’t ever seen what Clarissa’s work outfit looked like… Everyone had one; some kind of persona, almost. It was fitting that the Crone of Violence would be this… She stepped from the portal she’d ripped open with the thumping of tall boots, and he quickly realized that he could've guessed…

Like a nun, she was garbed in a full Habit; a square-shaped veil over a bandeau and coif, covered like a crown in different fineries. It was all wine-red, and he could feel the long-lasting enchantments of his Father radiating from each piece. It was a fully functional battle garb, even bolstering her Emotional Field through particularly interesting hexagrammic placement of certain jewels and metals across the headpiece.
Though, he could tell that the habit itself was mostly for modesty… The vague stretching and tugging noises gave up the presence of the skin tight leather bodysuit beneath.

She was carrying her channeler; the .38 snub-nosed revolver she'd always called “Sadie”. For a long moment, she simply stood staring at him. Sizing him up as he shuffled around with his equipment. For Clarissa, anticipation was the only sensation required to push her forward. Casey knew, and he knew that just like Furio, she reveled in the act. The taking of life was something to look forward to… She thrived happily during the war against Sonnenrad, taking life and giving birth to grudges that would be settled time and time again with the blood of “lesser” folk.
He noticed she hadn’t said anything like that since he’d come home… Assuming Leon was the reason, he’d not asked. He didn’t want to know where her prejudices went, frankly.

Donning a ski mask, then a ballistic mask over it, Clarissa could only see her sweet Nephew’s eyes. In her own mind, he was still that little boy; the timid and shy one, the one who needed the extra help that never came… And she could tell that he wasn’t that. He wasn’t even the man who lived in her old home now.

There wouldn’t be words tonight. Only blood between them. This situation between herself and the Worthurs Lab wasn’t conducive to business… She needed full control. Needed something new to do. The portal-based manufacturing methods they employed in their productions had been Mary’s idea, sure, but Clarissa did it better. And the only reason things weren’t going well? Mary. At least, in Clarissa’s mind… So, with Lynette’s express permission, she was going to handle it.

And Casey was going to handle it. Whether he wanted to or not, this was partly his jurisdiction: The summary execution of Temple members. Wordlessly, Clarissa opened the portal again as Casey stepped forward with his weapon. Letting him step forward, she followed behind without hesitation, and the portal closed behind them. Only the dark, empty apartment remained.

RPer Appreciation Thread

Shouts out to the Collective:
@Shin Ghost Note, @FernStone, @NoriWasHere, @Estylwen, @Blizz, @Zombiedude101, @Atrophy and everyone who didn't make it to this point.

As of right now, the IC for Under the Sycamore Tree has almost 33 pages worth of content that's made me pee my pants laughing, dehydrate myself crying and ruin my throat from cheering and booing. As far as I'm aware, three separate side stories are being written as simultaneous literature relevant to the main plotline.

This has been a life raft in a sea of endless apathy for me, and in the year I've been a part of the Guild, you've given me a home and a group of people I am happy and proud to call my friends: No matter how goofy y'all are.

Thank you Ghost, for constantly working harder than I've ever seen someone work to keep adding new content to this world we're living in. You're a pro, and an inspiration for me, and I'm more than excited to see where things go with this glorious mess.

Thank you Ferny, for being my closest collaborator. You motivate me just about every day to get something done, no matter what it is. I'll always be grateful to you, your kindness, and your Iron & Honey hyperfixation.

Thank you Nori, the Magenta of our Printer Ink Gang. Your enthusiasm and strength as a person leaks from you in everything you write. I can't wait to write more of Lila dealing with the Temple and her new stalker!

Thank you Esty, as you manage to avoid our Discord entirely but still seem to weave your characters into every little crack they can get in. I love working with you, and I'm so grateful you're willing to deal with my occasional lapse in motivation.

Thank you Blizz, goofy ahh... You're funny as shit and your enthusiasm is literally endless. You've always got an idea brewing, and you're so excited to talk about it that I can't not find it endearing. Nomad's Guild for LIFE.

Thank you Zombie, you hard working fucker. You're so fucking smart it's actually kind of intimidating, and your prose is absolutely legendary. There hasn't been a single Clancy post that I wasn't massively impressed by.

Thank you Atrophy, as in spite of your schedule, you always find time to write grade S posts no matter what character is being focused on. I can't wait read the coming Ezra portion of I&H, and I hope we can find a reason to work together privately soon!

I could say a lot more, but I'll save it for later. Thank you again, each of you, for being my real introduction to the Guild, and I'm thankful some random person from Reddit was stalking Ghost's posts. They told me to come here and to hit him up to join his Mech roleplay, but I was too scared at first to message him out of the blue.

So, really, thank God for The Answer of Rain. I will always answer.

Recollections: Under The Sycamore Tree Part. 1

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The Last Moon of Luna Inoue

^{A Collective Collaboration ft: @Estylwen,@Shin Ghost Note, @FernStone and @NoriWasHere}

Thursday, 02:00

Arcade Blues > Undisclosed Location > Han Household > Williams Household

---

---

Arcade Blues closed around nine at night, so when Greyson arrived closer to eleven, he wasn't expecting anyone to be there. Just an empty building full of arcade machines and petty cash. It was the kind of place where a young criminal could get an easy start; the soft takeoff of brains trained to hunt human prey to strip their wealth. What today may've been illicit substances and racketeering started here - Stealing boxes of prizes to resell to other kids for their hard-earned quarters.

Greyson still remembered the day they changed policy. How the bank people came to take the boxes of quarters away, and how the owners changed their shop to a fully token-based economy. They had to change the way they were playing the game then, and it was Luna's score which settled them up. A ticket cash-out scam, thanks to the theft of a dozen ticket rolls of various colors, meant they had plenty of tickets to cash out each day.
Rather than selling tickets directly to other kids, they decided to take things slowly. Spending a bit of money and hanging around the place for a while threw off the suspicion when one of them or another came to the counter with a fat wad of tickets.

Radios, RC Cars, the occasional grand prize, all able to be resold to the kids who craved them but could never spend enough to get the tickets. The mindset turned into snack resale at the middle school cafeteria, to downright extortion and number running, quarter and dollar games where they could exist…

She had been there all the way. Desperately, Greyson and Luna wanted to impress a world which they felt heir to. As adults, both found themselves still in that world, and successful in their own right.
But it was in this dark arcade, whose rear door and its easily jimmiable lock had provided clandestine entry for so many years, that two criminals first truly caught the bug. And it was here, now, where Greyson decided he wanted to meet Luna.

If House of Cards was reaching its last rope, He wasn't about to let anyone take care of his Sister but him. His arm squeezed his shoulder holster tighter, feeling the shape of the gun. Thinking about using it. About what the White Suit could do to save her.
It's partially why he didn't plan on killing her. He had deals and pleas, plans for the future if she would just step back and let what was going to happen happen…

But he couldn't let her go without a guarantee… And for that, he was prepared as well, certain that if it came to that, he couldn't trust her Apparition. He could hear the Temple contact's voice in his head.
”This shit isn't for playtime, Edict. It's serious shit, and if you use it you'll pay for it. I can spare one shot.”

One shot. One single .45 caliber bullet with a gel-tip full of one of the nastiest Lux Suppressant drugs he'd ever seen tests for. Straight from the minds of Project Eden, the Temple's crackpot team of technomancers, he'd seen videos of Leon allowing himself to be tested upon.

It wasn't pretty for Adjoined… While not meant for Adepts, the drug worked best on Aberrations whose connection to their powers wasn't a direct part of them. It was supposed to get “in the cracks” between an Apparition and their host, isolating the former and completely cutting off the connection to the latter for a short period of time. Effectively, a temporary Severing as the apparition dealt with the overload offered by the drug.

One bullet he absolutely didn't want to waste… And it'd be better if it wasn't Luna… But that bullet was chambered in his pistol. And as he waited, he prayed. Prayed for a sensible Luna. For an easy time helping her understand. For her soul should things end here.
He was standing at the main prize counter, realizing now that they'd swapped over to digital credits.
Geeze… Not even tickets to steal…

---

An Hour Earlier…

“You're not going.”

Valencia flicked her cigarette with impassive eyes as she stared across the booth's table at Luna. She was dressed in a fur scarf over her suit, and was not about to budge despite the pleading fury in Luna's eyes.

“We've known each other forever. There's no risk in it.” Luna said, pressing her hand on the table.

“There's all the risk in it. We've got an in with the Elite. We've got an in on those notes. If word got out, if you became compromised…”

Valencia shook her head, her eyes cold. “I don't care what you think about Edict and the Devola Family. They'll do nothing but interfere and jeopardize what I've been striving for for our family.”

“You saw them at the funeral. They want nothing more than to work with us.”

Valencia shook her head again. “You don't get it. You weren't there. Your friend is the reason why Mother is dead, God rest her soul.”

Layla was silent, chewing over her words, before she responded. “We've been friends since we were kids. He wouldn't betray me. He knows nothing. This is probably something about Father Wolf.”

Valencia took another drag of her cigarette, before leaning forward, resting her smoking hand's fingertips on her forehead. A slow exhale of smoke curled around her as she thought. Before she shrugged, and half-waved her fingers dismissively.

“Fine. Do what you want. But you're not going in there without backup.”

Luna shook her head. “No backup. I'll carry my pistol, and I have the White Suit.”

Valencia narrowed her eyes. “If this goes south, you know I'll never forgive you.”

Luna was silent for a moment, finding herself unwilling to meet Valencia's steel gaze. The seconds ticked by, until Valencia sighed.

“Fine. No backup, but you're taking this with you.”

Valencia waved over one of the bodyguards stationed in the room, and he walked over with a suitcase. Once the suitcase was popped open, Valencia fished out one of the devices from its foam encasing, and held it up for Luna.

“You'll go in with one of these. A molar casing filled with a paralyzing toxin. You only have to bite down and breathe out, and anyone “troubling” you will inhale it and collapse.

“Though, inhaling it yourself, and you'll be stuck like a fish out of water.” Valencia explained, the disinterest very clear on her face.

Luna made a face, but nodded. “Fine. Then I can go?”

“Yes, see what he wants. More importantly, what he thinks he knows. If he's caught wind of our little operation, I want you to bring him in.”

Luna openly grimaced at that, but slowly nodded. “Got it, Mother.”

“Then off with you. Get that installed by the doc before leaving.” Valencia said, placing the molar casing in Luna's hand.

---

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Godfather Theme

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---

Unbeknownst to Luna, as she slipped through the back of the Arcade Blues, a car idled across the street at the front of the building. Watching, waiting, hoping Luna wouldn't need an extraction, but were willing to storm the old building guns blazing if it came down to it.

There was a tap-tap of heels as Luna approached the prize counter, dressed elegantly in a short, black silk dress, silken shawl wrapped loosely over her arms and an encrusted clutch held in her hand.

She traced a finger over the glass of the counter, safeguarding little prizes that she had once been so fond over, before looking over to Greyson.

“My, my, this brings back some memories, doesn't it? …Why are you standing there so stiffly? Loosen up, Greyson.” Luna said with an easy smile, holding her arms out for a hug.

“Last I remember, we were taking shots of sake at the Elder Lamb. I don't know what you did, Greyson, but they didn't chase me out at the meeting. So I got something going for me, at least.” She said, that rare smile still on her face.

He was stiff. And he had his glasses on his head… It may not have been immediately obvious, but it was so he could snap them into position as quickly as possible without actually wearing them. Without obscuring his eyes to his true friend. He cleared his throat, but couldn’t bring himself to speak the necessary truth. So, he reached into his pocket and pulled the cigarette pack from his breast pocket.

Maybe it was a little quick… Maybe too fast to be comfortable.

But in the blink of an eye, he was huffing on his own cigarette, the icy taste of menthol chilling his throat and lungs.

”Yeah… Yeah, you really must, Luna. Something big. I’m happy for you.” he said sheepishly, subtly lowering his tone into conspiracy mode. Colombo had nothing on Greyson in detective mode. A long diatribe usually caught the subject off guard.

”Whennnnnn we were young… I remember Billy Touse. Bully kid. Knew not to mess with us. That was always a benefit in those days, huh? Being ostracized, isolated from our peers, locked out of normal social interactions? ‘Cuz kids knew who our parents were. They knew we were Connected, their parents made sure to tell them that they couldn’t be around us. Shouldn’t be. Wound up being something like a self-perpetuating cycle, didn’t it? They didn’t respect us: They feared us. And sometimes we tried to make friends and found them to be oh so cold. Unloving. So we hated them, didn’t we?”

Pausing, he drew his cigarette in and let a cloud out into the dark, inactive arcade.

”We made a promise to one another. I remember it. We’d take everything they didn’t nail down. ‘Their money is our money.’, I think you said. And then, when we were… Oh, maybe twelve? I’d Kindled by then… And all those kids who didn’t want to be our friends were suddenly our friends. Do you remember what I said when you confronted me? About how I’d taken control of them? How they weren’t really our friends?”

He paused again, expecting their lips to move at the same time.

”Cake or Pie. You can’t have both on the plate. It just isn’t done.”
Greyson let the comment linger in the air. He’d heard his Uncle say it a million times, even at that age. He knew what it meant: No double dipping. You get what you like best, and you stick with it. There was honor in that. Truth and love in that ideal.

”You want people to love you. But you expect them to do so knowing who you are. We can’t have both, Luna.” he lingered again, eyes looking at her clearly through the dim moonlight shining through the glass skylights.

Luna gazed back, before she grew a bit wistful, and turned, hands clasped with the clutch behind her back, staring at the dark arcade machines surrounding them.

“I remember that day. I was furious. ‘Konoyaro! You think you can just win all your battles by enslaving them? They have a right to feel, to think, even if they hate us!’” Luna recounted, causing her voice to enunciate the words dramatically, gesturing out the scene to her captive arcade machines.

She sighed, turning back to Greyson. “In the end, I had to agree with you. It was better to be loved than feared, and you accomplished something that would have taken me decades to force or coerce. I could inspire fear, but true loyalty was always in love, wasn't it?”

She took a step back to the counter, eyes carefully watching how Greyson was inhaling that cigarette. Something was… off.

“If the Coven thinks I'm a sweet little thing, then perhaps we're all better off for it. But…”

Her voice dropped a note.

“Dredging up memories of childhood. You trying to relive the glory days, or are you gonna tell me why you really asked me here?”

Greyson's voice wavered slightly.
”I'm desperate for your honesty, Luna. Frothing insane, praying to all manner of monsters and creatures that when you look at me, you see a friend. A fucking Brother. You understand that that's how I feel for you, right? You're my sister. And I left St. Portwell, and I left you here with your own Family, because I was too much of a piece of shit to think that you'd leave with me. That you would leave them.”

He did his best to hammer their connection home, trying to live in that mindset he'd thrived so easily in when they were younger. The emotional plea.

”Are you… Is it punishment? Is that why you're doing what you're doing? You're trying to hurt me, right? Because you're mad and upset, you think you can split your just deserts on my watch and I won't find out?”
His tone was slowly climbing, highlighting his frustration in sweeping tones as he tried to explain what was eating at him.

Luna could feel herself internally recoiling, but held firm, refusing to let it show on her face as it fell into cool neutrality.

“The fuck. Are you talking about.”

”The. Fucking. Notes. Go ahead, open a little path into that brain for me, I'll show you exactly what I know… How you've withheld their location, how the HoC is working to translate them under the Coven's nose… Luna…”
Greyson spoke her name through closed, gritted teeth.
”And don't you dare get fucking cagey with me: If I wanted you dead, you'd be dead. My stupid fucking problem is that I don't.”

A million thoughts flooded through Luna's mind. Greyson could practically see them through her widened eyes. He knew. And the fact that he knew, meant the House of Cards had an information leak. Who was the mole, though?

Valencia's cold eyes flashed in Luna's mind, and her gut twisted. Her next course of action was obvious, but she found herself reluctant. Greyson didn't deserve it. They were friends. Old friends. Practically family.

When she was a kid, she would have whined and moaned about Greyson finding out about her schemes, or being upset that he had brainwashed their friends. But now? She had a mantle of authority to wear, one that didn't allow her the luxury of complaining and then moving on with life. Indeed, Valencia had made her the Underboss. And with that title, her heart was forced to be cold.

The rage that simmered in Luna's face slowly dulled, and her entire demeanor changed. Her weight shifted, widening her stance a little.

“If you know about all that, Greyson... then it only means one thing…”

Immediately, her wings unfurled, beating once as she stepped back, gaining a bit of distance. In the same instance, she popped her clutch open, revealing a snub nose revolver pointed directly at Greyson. Three shots fired off in rapid succession, two aimed for his right and left shoulders, one aimed at his left thigh.

“Don't put up a fight, Greyson!” She growled, the revolver still pointed at him. “You're coming with me!”

Her eyes were wide, watching his movements. Out of the two of them, he was the sneakier one.

Except he hadn’t expected her to come out shooting… Sure, maybe she was nervous. Maybe she wasn’t prepared to have him spring that on her. But the pain of the bullet that clipped his thigh was enough to bring him down, leaving his right shoulder grazed and his left shoulder untouched, save a small nick that cut through the coat and shirt to draw a notch across the flesh.

Bone broken? No, a meat shot… Pushing against it, he screamed just about as loud as the moment she actually hit him, but he could feel his knee moving like normal and there wasn’t any recognizable lack of motion. Just a flashing pain, and the searing behind it. Wriggling around on the floor in agony did have the slightest perk; with his face pressed against the ground, he managed to wriggle it far enough onto his face that he could feel his Pink Lux start to funnel through it.

”You… You shoot me?! Use your fucking words, Luna Inoue, what the fuck is wrong with you!?”
While Power Word: Numb may have already started to kill the pain, it wasn’t going to do him much in this state. Things were going to get way too centralized where the wounds were, which left him down an arm and a leg completely… If he wanted his gun, he was going to have to wait for the perfect chance. He had to hope she wasn’t going to try and pat him down, or that he could at least distract her in some other way.

As his tendrils quietly probed her emotional field for an entrance, he wasn’t confident there was going to be one… Alas, there wasn't. Not at the moment.
He managed at least to push himself up to his knees. His hip felt like a cloud of glass scraping against itself.
”A-are you fucking crazy!? What happened to the fucking Coven, Luna!? What happened to being a part of them!? It’s like you didn’t even give it a fucking chance! Were you ever in it!? Do I mean nothing to you!?”
This was the Dead Gangster’s Pose. No spell was going to stop the next one from scooping the brain out of his head. He could only hope that she meant it when she said she was going to bring him somewhere…

But not with the fucking gun. He couldn’t give them the bullet… Even if he had to waste it…

Luna gritted her teeth, Greyson's words impacting her like slaps across the face. Rage bit around every word she uttered as she stared him down with her gun.

You think I enjoy this? You think I want to hurt you!?”

A painful swallow. “You have no idea what's waiting for me if I disobey my orders. What the House does to those who disobey, especially now with Valencia in charge…

“First, you get the pleasure of being hunted down by the House Fox, and turned into a puppet. Then, your ass is hauled to an unknown destination, where the Black Death is performed. Valencia's specialty.

“And no, it's not something you survive. It's… something you beg to end your life.”

There was a slight tremble to the gun as Luna's hands clenched it. “And you know what my orders were? Take you in if you knew anything. I really hoped you didn't. Hoped you'd at least lie. Make my life a lot easier…”

Just then, the back door smashed open as three suited men stormed the building. Luna whirled to snap her gun at them, but when she realized they were House men, she cursed under her breath and brought her gun back to point at Greyson’s chest.

”Of course…”

The men surrounded Greyson in a semi-circle, each with their own gun pointed at him, mirroring Luna.

Luna stared with a somber look, before she said in a stern tone. “Slowly remove your glasses, put them on the floor, Greyson. I don't want to hurt you.”

Greyson was filled with pain. Not physical, though that would come later: The mental anguish of looking up at her face and seeing the same little Luna he'd always seen… And now she wanted him dead. To protect what other people told her to.

”Why are you gonna make me do this…” he groaned, his safe arm slipping up and pulling the glasses away. Curls of pink smoke followed it, Greyson's pupils returning to their normal hazel from the magenta they tended to take when he channeled.

He dropped them on the floor. Not necessarily out of arm's reach, but far enough he hoped Luna wouldn't at least have her men smash them.
”You really think… You really think that after this, I won't do worse things to you than Valencia? That sheltered fuck… The both of you…” he grunted and winced as he tried to stand back up on the power of one leg. The other one was, unfortunately, barely good to stand on.

He could feel it a bit better now, and knew that there was a chip in the thigh bone, and a few fractured pieces of shrapnel still embedded in the leg. It was bleeding pretty badly…

”I fucking love you, Luna… You're like a fucking sister to me. So you tell me right now-” he shuffled forward slightly. Menacingly, despite the slow stiffness.
Luna would be able to see the veins in Greyson's neck turning bright pink, slightly luminescent in the darkness of the mostly empty arcade.

”-why do you think I came here? Huh? To hurt you? I wanted to give you the fucking chance… To come clean to me, and avoid what's coming! Dollhouse!? The end of us!? Our world!? You shortsighted fucks!”
As he spoke, he was channeling raw and wild. A pulse of Pink Lux shot over Luna's head, slipping into the minds of her guards. She, of course, wasn't subject to it. Neither was the White Suit.

From behind her, Luna may've been able to hear their grunts of pain and confusion as their brains nearly rattled from their heads.
“N-gh… Nu-u-oh! Ggg-”
There was a struggle. A gun went off, and a stifled plea. Then the gun kept firing and firing, as one of Luna's guards began to empty the magazine into another.

The third lurched forward, both hands grabbing around Luna to try and wrestle the gun from her grasp. Greyson's left hand awkwardly slipped into his coat, unbuttoning the holster and very openly sliding the pistol out into the open. Flipping it in his still good hand, it was now pointed at Luna as she struggled with her men.

The one that had been firing saved the final round on Greyson's dictation, and flipped the barrel into his mouth before ending it all with that last round.
”Blinds!? You stupid fuck!? Blinds!?”

He hoped that the last guard would be able to subdue her. He wouldn't… The White Suit was too much. So there were no more options.
He aimed downrange.

The impact of the round was just like any other hollowpoint. Burying itself in her gut, the bullet's tip ripped itself apart into a dozen petals of hot, searing metal. Enough to put a normal person down, but the resilience of an Adjoined was not to be underestimated.
But it being a normal bullet wasn't the dangerous part for Luna or the White Suit. For a moment, the metal trapped inside her body had the chance to react with the metal shreds, causing them to begin bubbling and hissing.

Little pale bubbles began to leak from the wound. Now, after a great deal of time only experiencing things through Luna's senses, the White Suit would have a chance to scream and writhe in pain. The metal's incredible properties included a special magical addition that even Greyson was foggy on the origins of. But he knew, as the Temple had told him, that it was a surefire way to incapacitate an Adjoined Apparition.

So now Luna was subject to her own new pain, and the pain of her Apparition Partner as its Lux was slowly but surely infected by this cursed foreign pathogen.
The second shot, he aimed at her hand with the gun in it and pulled the trigger again. This was a normal bullet, at least, but that didn't save her hand. Fingers evacuated their sockets, and the mangled snub fell to the floor with a thick metal clunk.

The third killed the last guard, severing his and Greyson's connection.
They were alone again. He stood there, menacing her.

”Feel stupid yet?” he asked her weakly.

She froze there for a moment, lips parted, trying to speak. Before she stumbled back, and collapsed to her knees. Her mangled hand reached up to touch her gut, and her gaze dropped as her hand lifted, revealing missing fingers and slicked with crimson blood. Warm, sticky. And flowing at an alarming rate.

She wouldn't make it.

In her head, she could feel the White Suit screaming incoherently, providing catharsis for her own pain. It helped her think, helped her realize what Greyson had just did. What she had forced him to do.

Already, her vision was blackening around the edges. She could only look up at those pink eyes. Those cold, pink eyes.

The drip of tears fell, curling down her cheeks and meeting the floor. Her voice was a rasp, speaking through the pain, feeling the numbness softly encroach.

“...I'm… I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Grey…son…”

The back door opened one last time as Luna gave her final plea for forgiveness. Demos and Fox ran into the room, guns at the ready, just in time to see Luna lean, crumple, and collapse on the cold floor, blood pooling around her. Her eyes on Greyson as the lights…

…Slowly faded.

A beat, pin-drop of silence, before the expressions on both Demos’ and Fox's faces contorted into dark rage. Demos raised a hand, and a small, volatile black hole appeared in front of Greyson. It collapsed, creating a point-blank explosion that would send Greyson sailing back, over the prize counter and into the glass cabinets, shattering them head-first.

Fox was quick on the follow-up, sending iridescent hooks out that dug into Greyson's neck, chest and limbs, effectively overtaking him, the hooks disintegrating into the flesh, embedding themselves deep, immaterial.

Demos stood over Greyson's immobile body. There was a painful crack as his foot smashed across Greyson's face.

“You fucking monster… You're coming with us.”

It was far too late to leave any sort of impression on him: He was already out cold from blood loss.

---

Cleaners had already been dispatched at the Arcade Blues, the House having paid off any police stirred by the gunshots to disregard the matter entirely. The cleaners made quick work cleaning the precious blood spilled, using chemicals to ensure no trace was left. A fee to cover the damages would be sent to the owner of Arcade Blues in the coming days.

Luna's body was zipped in a body bag and placed in the back of a hearse, sent off to a funeral home on the House's payroll to be made presentable for her funeral, also in the coming days.

All of this was entirely irrelevant, though, for the man that was slowly coming around. Greyson would find himself in an expansive dark space, chained securely to a metal chair by his wrists and ankles. He would find tension on the skin where bandages wrapped around his wounds, one on the thigh, the other on the nick in his shoulder.

The hooks Fox had placed in his skin had since been removed, allowing Greyson the freedom to wallow in his constricting situation. A powerful floodlight was set at his feet, blinding him right in the eyes, making it hard to see.

There was a low scraping that resonated in the darkness, coming closer, and closer. A metal chair, scraping against the concrete floor, as a silhouette spun the chair around to land with a thump in front of Greyson. And the silhouette sat down, coming into view enough to block out some of the floodlight.

It was Valencia. And she was pissed.

“My, my. My instincts were right. We could never trust you, Devola.”

She lifted a hand, revealing a summoned knife, hovering in her palm, light glinting off the blade.

“There's something you're going to tell me, if you want to make it out of this with your sorry life intact.”

The blade was pressed gently against Greyson's neck, sliding slightly to cut through the first layer of skin.

“Who told you about our alliance with the Elite, and our contract with the notes?”

The knife pressed a little harder.

“Speak up.”

Edict: Noun. An official order or proclamation issued by a person in authority. He’d introduced himself as such during the first meeting of the Families he’d held in the Twin Cities. Ten crews, hands in the pockets of just about everything one could think of in the cities. He was the Edict of the Abiding Law, constituted and enforced on behalf of his Father: Don Luigi Affenzo Devola. The entire persona was built upon authority he could only muster in his magic.

Greyson Devola was a miserable, two-timing rat. A bastard child of a man who didn’t really love him… Who loved the idea of him. Some sick and twisted desire of a Father unfit to raise children. Who inserted himself into the middle of things he never really should have.
He wanted his cake and his pie on the same plate, and shat where he intended to eat later on.

And he hated it.

And he hated them.

And he was Edict Devola. And he’d have their heads. He was the word, and the law.

Pain flooded his mind, almost blocking out Valencia’s words. It made it easier to be mean. To be venomous.
”Ask your fucking Mother, Val… I’d say they’re in the same place.”
Of course he wouldn’t go down without a fight: Almost immediately, Valencia would be able to feel the pink tendrils of his magic as he pushed through the pain. Wild Casting was never as accurate or as powerful as proper Channeling, but it didn’t need to be for her to know he was right there… Prodding for any opening it could find in her Emotional Field.

He only had to hold out long enough to do what he did best…
Bullshit.
”What, you gonna cut my throat? Lose your lead? You better get someone Magic in here, and they better be able to suck it out of me with a fucking straw…”
He spat what little saliva he could at her.
”Vaffanculo!” Go fuck yourself!

Valencia could feel the pressure against her emotional field, and her eyes glanced at the shadow behind Greyson. As Greyson spat, it would be his last move with his freewill, at least for now. Hooks dug themselves into Greyson's limbs and neck, hijacking his movements, suppressing and smothering his power.

A light hand fell on Greyson's shoulder, and Greyson, against his will, was forced to look up at Fox, illuminated by the floodlight.

“Let's try that again, shall we?” He murmured, his eyes cold.

Valencia leaned back in her chair as Greyson's gaze was forced to look forward again, and she wiped the saliva off her face, the knife disappearing.

A smirk.

Valencia stood, and pulled a metal cart forward from the other side of Greyson. It was brought in front of him, and he'd be able to see what it was in his peripherals. A basin. A water table. A torture device.

A hose was shoved into the basin, and a slow walk to the wall as a creaky faucet was turned on. Cold, clean water filled the basin from bottom to top, Fox giving Greyson a few anticipating pats on the shoulder.

The hose was shut off, and Valencia came to stand in front of Greyson and the water table. Her smile widened, looking almost hungry.

“You're mad. Good. Anger is fairly easy to break down. We have all the time in the world, after all.”

And she gave a nod to Fox, who glanced at Greyson. And, against Greyson's will, he would begin to feel himself slouch forward, head tilting down, staring down into the water just an inch from his face. Before Fox commanded that he move with speed, and Greyson's face plunged into the water.

Fox had done this many times before, and he listened to the emotional state of his caught prey, listening for when Greyson would tell him he'd had enough.

Greyson's Emotional Field was struggling to push back the invasion of his body, maintaining things like breathing and heart rate regulation and leaving them to the brain to handle. He was thankful for that, at least… That he was an overly-cautious Pure-Pink who had a decade to think about all the awful things that may one day happen to him.

The ol’ Swirly. Intentional drowning. The only thing that really threw him off, and made it different than the thousands of other times he'd subjected himself to this treatment, was the strange feeling of doing it to himself. So long as his Emotional Field held, and he kept holding his breath, he was fine… But he could feel it digging. So close to getting underneath it all and opening his lungs to a deluge of water.

He couldn't struggle, couldn't fight it. He felt the suppression of his Lux in every corner of his body. It wasn't natural… and for a moment, he could only think about killing this guy. A long enough moment that a ripple passed over his Emotional Field…

And the hooks got a little deeper. He felt a gulp of water get in, and swallowed most of it… But the little bit down the wrong pipe forced him to bend. Forced him to struggle enough that Fox would be prompted to pull him out. As if he were some softie who would give up that easily…

He just needed a moment. Just a moment to regain his composure and think about something else. A breath to clear the mind.

He was pulled out, invisible strings straightening him to a sitting position. Valencia was watching him carefully, before her eyes narrowed. “Talk. Who told you?”

Greyson let them babble as he struggled a breath. Strangely, his mind turned to Lynn. To their coffee shop meeting. He was dead in almost all of her futures. There were some pretty bad ones where he was still alive, but… None of the ones that made sense had him alive.

Kind of a freeing prospect. He felt a little bit of warmth from within him well up. A small surge of Pink to embolden his Emotional Field…
Time to try again.
He grinned.

”I… The… Ah, fuck, y’know, I lost it... Put me back.” he said sarcastically, anticipating the dunking again. He kept telling himself that he needed to be strong and hold on. That they'd get bored or sloppy like he knew they were prone to… He'd save all the energy he could for it.

Unfortunately for Greyson, Valencia was made for torturing. Only a glance of her eyes was all that was needed, and Fox puppeteered Greyson's face to dive into the water again. Valencia watched impassively, before flipping her wrist, revealing a small watch on the inner side.

“Keep him under longer this time. Let him think we're gonna kill him. I'm counting the seconds.

“We're at ten, eleven…”

Good thoughts had to get one through drowning… At least until there wasn’t enough air to keep you alive. Since the first time he wound up falling off the dock outside their home on the bay, Greyson had been fairly scared of the water. At first, it kept him from doing things the other kids were doing. Led to bullying. More than he wanted… So one day, he forced himself off that dock again. Just like the first time, he struggled. But he was taller. It wasn’t so deep. He learned to float, and paddle and swim…
And then nothing was too deep. Now, part of his fitness regiment was dedicated to swim-based cardio. He considered himself a swimmer. Saved a young cousin from a riptide in the islands a few years prior…

Fear was easy to overcome. You forced yourself into it. You desensitize. Numbed, deadened, the emotion can’t escape if it doesn’t exist. This practice of Exposure Therapy, while he didn’t realize it at the time, would become a very natural part of Greyson’s life as he became a more skilled Pink Lux Adept. It was, after all, all he had. It was enough for Blinds, enough to get by against the unsuspecting…

Unfortunately, he wasn’t in charge of himself completely. No, no, this was an aggressive Pink that one could only achieve by using a different Lux on top. Pink driver; Red muscle car. He chose to breathe or not, but the fucker was holding his mouth and nostrils open. He couldn’t block his esophagus enough to totally prevent water from leaking into his lungs.
He was going to need to cough soon. There just wasn’t any getting around it.

It wasn’t good. Close to a minute on, and he didn’t have a lot of other options.
Do or die, there is no try. I’ll be home soon, Brit. Just help me out here…
He thought about her as the lights started to fade. As his self control faded more and more, the window was closing. One last Pink spark quietly clambered its way up and out, traveling down the cable of the hook meant to drain it. But this particular spark had a plan: A job. A heist. A plan to hijack the controls, and redistribute the Lux in his favor.

Two Pink Lux users, caught in a death grip. Of course neurons were going to get crossed in a situation like this. Pink Lux was interesting, ethereal in nature, mental. And when that spark ignited, traveled, it created a pocket both could see in their connected mind.

It was a dark space, illuminated by taunt pink strings. Greyson would see the strings embedded deep in his flesh, branching out and connected to each nerve ending. And in the distance, across from Greyson, holding the strings, was none other than Fox.

The spark arced down the strings, before it slowed, and came to a crawl. Fox was pushing raw Pink Lux into the space between them, simultaneously tightening his grip, trying to suppress Greyson's mental activity.

”You're a feisty one, aren't you…?” Greyson would hear Fox's rumbling voice in his mind, emanating from all the spaces in this mental plane.

The outer struggle stopped, marked by a decreased response from Fox as he was forced inward to defend his position. Greyson felt the hooks buried deep, burning his projection and sapping the Lux away from him slowly but surely. It was intense; a bit more intense than he had actually trained for… But this is when skill, talent and raw power all came into play at once. He’d found the Driver; it was time to take the wheel.

”You know what I love? I fucking love my job. I love breaking fake gangsters in cheap suits you fuck!”
He closed his eyes, letting the feeling of Fox’s Lux flowing through him. The threads between them, and the hooks within, began to wrap tighter and tighter into Greyson’s projection. They spiraled up, tugging Fox toward him with a lurch. An intimidating, sudden and very hard jerk.

All at once, the darkness lit up with countless scenes of horror as it happened. Greyson’s Pink Lux was still coursing through Fox’s connection… It was never his to begin with. Bolstered by his own returns, he was already breaking and crumpling Fox’s mindscape.
”Come on! You think I’m fucking stupid? You’ve never met a motherfucker like me, have you!? Mangia merde e morte, Cocksucker!” Eat shit and die, Cocksucker!

Outside, in reality, there was something bubbling under the water… The air in Greyson’s lungs, filling with thick pink smoke as his Wildcasting began to sear his lungs, leaked out and bubbled up to the surface in wispy curls.

In the mental scape, Fox's reaction was instant. Jerking back, as if he had touched something hot. But it quickly became a game of ‘who held who’, and in this instance, it was Greyson who held Fox. Hooks spun off into the distance, trying to disengage, but the connection was still there, raw and vulnerable.

In reality, Valencia looked up to see blood seeping from Fox's nose as he took a step and collapsed. Cursing under her breath, she shoved Greyson out of the basin, rolled the basin away, and dashed behind Greyson’s chair. There lay a car battery and some jumper cables, ready and waiting, along with a small gauge. She took the end of the cables, tapped them once together, causing sparks, and attached them to the back seat legs of Greyson's chair. As metal's conductive, Greyson would feel the raw voltage of an undiluted car battery course through him, desperate to complete its circuit and uncaring of the electrical burns it left in its wake.

She stared for a long moment, before she turned down the gauge to a bearable hum of electricity. Enough to let him think, but not enough to let him cast.

She took two steps and stooped by Fox, fingers pressed against his jugular.

”_...Fuck.”

Slow, but alive.

A quick tap of feet, and Demos appeared by Valencia's side, hoisting Fox up into his arms, and carried him away. Valencia stared grimly, before she turned to glare down at Greyson, hanging limply in the chair as he was.

“You really think you're slick, huh? No matter. You're just making this harder on yourself.” She said, returning to her own seat opposite of him.

“You're forgetting I have all the means and desires to hurt you. Save yourself the trouble…”

A long, sharp stiletto knife materialized in the air in front of him. Six inches of pure pain. Waiting for the command to cut Greyson open.

Her eyes narrowed. “And tell me how you know about the notes.”

Dealing with the constant electrical current, trying to listen and think through the pain and the discomfort of the great neurological scramble. His grey matter felt like soft eggs in his head, every thought burdened by the constant nervous reaction. Muscle spasm wracked him like a taser.

He couldn't feel cables directly attached, rather the pain was coming from the increasingly hot cuffs that were cooking his wrists and ankles. The smell of burning hair and flesh was rising, and were it not so painful, Greyson may have had the chance to feel sick. But here and now, he had no choice.
His body rattled. The chair rattled with it, unbound to the floor.

One shot.

During a particularly bad shaking fit, Greyson did his best to throw his own weight upwards. The chains weren't entirely cooperative, but he managed to awkwardly fling himself and the chair. As the attached cable tugged, he hoped to sever the connection, or better yet drag the ensemble off wherever it was sitting to smash off the floor.
He'd be in pain and prone… But if it was gone, the Pink Lux would immediately flow back up his throat and out of his lips.

And this time he wasn't playful.
”YOU MADE ME KILL LUNA YOU FUCKING BITCH! I LOVED HER LIKE A SISTER, AND YOU MADE ME DO THAT!? DEATH ISN'T SLOW ENOUGH FOR YOU!”
A surge of mourning: Love in Loss. A powerful love. One to drive the last spell he may have the chance to cast… The same one he'd used on a mostly unsuspecting Phantasia.

”SUBTLE ADVANCE: LET ME THE FUCK IN VAL!
Valencia would feel a bomb blast of Pink Lux rush against her Emotional Field, a very real point of pressure forming as the force behind it continued to ramp up. The field concaved, stretched, but it wasn't stopping… Valencia would only have another moment to think fast before the roots of the Lotus broke through by force.

Immediately, Valencia’s hands dove into her pockets, holding up a chain in one hand, and a controller in the other.

The controller was flicked on.

”AAAAARGH!”

Valencia's body quaked as electricity took its course through her muscles, neurons, and synapses. The chain in her hand wasn't a chain at all; it was a shock collar. Obviously an idea from Phantasia. But this time, it would work.

Valencia glared, baring her gritted teeth as she towered over him, trembling with convulses. ”You are the one to blame for the death of Luna; not me, not the House! You should have never interfered in business that wasn't yours!”

She managed to kneel, pocketing the controller through her quaking, and slipped the shock collar around Greyson where he lay prone. Once again, Greyson would find him engulfed in electrical pain, no control over his body with the convulsing that exhausted his muscles.

The stiletto hovering in the air multiplied by seven, and all seven blades dove, burying themselves in Greyson's bicep, forearm, thigh, and calf.

Valencia leaned down low, staring Greyson right in the face.

”I think we're done talking… Have you heard of the Black Death, Devola?”

Slowly, the knives began to twist in Greyson's skin and muscle.

Greyson choked on the pain. The buzzing from the collar was practically nothing compared to the blades. The spasming muscles tensed and wriggled around without his control, ripping the wounds open unintentionally… She was going to kill him…

I’m gonna die, right? That’s what the future said. Lynn. Sweet lady. Shame I’m not into white chicks…

”FUCKING… DOLLHOUSE! VAL! LUIS COX!”

Just stop with the knives… For two fucking seconds, stop with the Goddamn knives. You’re killin’ me here, Val.
Every single bit of effort was being put into staying conscious… To not black out. May as well lie and maybe buy a moment of time to think. To find anything else.

There was a short draw of breath in, then held. Instinctively, Valencia's head turned to face the darkness of the rest of the space. And, faithfully, emanating from the darkness was one sharp click from a clicker.

A lie.

Immediately, the back of Valencia's hand struck across Greyson's face. She ignored the temporary electric current, instead glaring down at the man.

”You really wanna die here, don'tcha, Devola? You don't have anyone waiting for you? That Britney chick, hm? Maybe I'll kill her after all, after I'm done with you.”

The knives dug in a little deeper…

She had a lie detector… Something out in the dark, lurking with the spark of truth in spite of… Well, his Emotional Field was practically ineffective. He was never going to be able to lie and cover it like he may… But that meant he knew what the truth was. Or, at least what a lie was.

”Val… Don’t… Don’t do it! P-please… You know I can’t, but- But it’s bad! It’s bad, and y-you don’t… You don’t want me de-EAD! VALENCIA! A-ask! I-I’m tellin’ the t-ru-th! You kill m-me… It all goes! All of it!”

He had to tell her something… But the code was never going to let him tell. Not the whole thing. It was too close, but he couldn’t let her do it. There had to be something that broke. At least this would bottom the playing field out.

If she didn’t have the balls to test the Dollhouse’s plan, at least.

Valencia waited, until the sound broke the silence and cries. The clicker. But this time, two clicks.

The truth.

A slow exhale, Valencia staring hard at Greyson.

”You stubborn fool. Don't you realize your enemy is my enemy?”

One by one, the knives disappeared.

”You could at least ask for help instead of killing my people.”

Ah. Despite all her effort to become emotionless and ruthless, the opposite of her Mother… Some bits had stuck around.

Valencia stood, shoving her hands in her pockets, thumb running across the still active controller.

”Don't let me see you later today, Devola.”

And she turned over, and shut off the floodlight, plunging the room into pitch-black darkness. Only footsteps could be heard walking away…

For a long, long moment, Greyson laid there still cuffed, collar around his neck buzzing like a son of a bitch… He just felt it. The pain.

What was a little more? In the dark of that room, there was a whimper, and the sound of the chair scraping against the floor. Tapping. Wrapping. Snapping. The telltale sound of bones breaking in the dark. With one last scream, Greyson ripped his shattered hand through the handcuff.
Forcing half-broken fingers to stay stiff wasn't possible, so tremendous pressure was put on the shattered base by the wrist. He pawed the back of his neck. Once, twice, thrice- There was tremendous relief as the machine clattered to the floor and skidded away from him.

Now the wounds hurt… Now the blood loss sucks. He felt sluggish and bruised like an unwanted banana. But there was a pained, triumphant laugh.

And an explosion of Pink Lux filled the room to the brim… The only pain now was a burning throat. His kind of burn.

I'm going to gut you, Valencia Vorpal…

The broken hand could reach the cellphone pocket. Cram, scream, scoop, slide to the working hand. It trembled as he slid his finger across the screen and started a phone call with the first person in his phone. It rang, and rang again… Then clicked.

”H-hen-ri… Bring… Bring a fucking medical bag. I need you.”
He hadn’t bothered waiting for the call to pick up before moving to the navigation application and grabbing a link for a pin. It was hard to see the phone from the angle he was at, and everything was a bit foggy overall, but he took a deep breath and managed to hold his finger down long enough to copy the link and paste it.
”H-here… Bring Linqian. Be careful. F-fuck it… Aryin too. Teleporter from… 317…”

His voice was weak. He let the phone sit there, speakerphone inactive. He didn’t want to hear Henri’s questions. Didn’t need them.
”Just fucking get here…”
Pushing up on his elbow, he felt the wound in his shoulder throb. He screamed.

---

In a building not too far away, there was a thud, followed by muffled swearing.

”Fuck, fuck, could you not’ve picked a bigger fucking painting on the ground- FUCK! Get off me!”

Linqian shoved the unsuspecting Henri off her, before scrambling away from the spot below the small painting they’d come through. It was thankfully just a bit up the wall - so Henri hadn’t actually hurt her, just winded her by falling onto her. At least they were both out of the way enough for Alex to come through.

”Tell me again what the fuck we’re walking into, Yi-er?” Linqian hissed when they were all through. They were right next to a window, and she was able to look through it about enough to figure out where they were going. Roughly.

”I’m not sure! Greyson sounded really hurt, like almost dying hurt!” Henri threw up his hands, frowning. He wore a worn rucksack that he’d shoved all the medical supplies in their house into - which was mainly a first aid kit, a bunch of painkillers and a whole bottle of Isopropyl. He hadn’t had time to grab any of those magical healing packs before they went through - but he’d absorbed enough light to stabilise Greyson if he needed to!

”Fuck, so could be fucking anything- he was going to meet Luna, that means House of Cards. Guns. So you two,” Linqian gestured to Henri and Alex. ”Stay behind me. Also, can you-” Linqian pointed at Alex. ”-Carry the painting we came through?”

“You’re going to make me do work,” Alex groaned as they pulled the painting off the wall, “yeah, I can carry it. Just what I needed today. Work.”

Linqian rolled their eyes. She was already regretting bringing along this teleporter - who she’d taken to be the lesser of two evils when the other option was Louis. It was made even fucking worse by the fact Aryin’s lazy ass wasn’t even here. ”I’ll make you dinner again sometime.”

”And I’ll teach you how to get good at Star Wars battlefront!” Henri piped up.

”Alright, enough with this, let’s go- both of you stay the fuck behind me.” Linqian reached behind her, to her waistband hidden underneath her jacket and pulled out… a kitchen knife. One of her best.

”Whoa, Jie, why’d you bring that?” Henri asked as they made their way out of this building. It was still early morning, so it was thankfully empty - though with how quiet the whole area was Linqian wouldn’t be surprised if it was abandoned.

”To slice people’s throats with.” Linqian turned her head to narrow her eyes at Henri. She wasn’t in a good mood at all, being dragged out this fucking early - especially after she’d literally just gotten home having some mind clearing fun. ”Are you going to keep asking stupid fucking questions?”

Henri recognised the look, and shook his head. ”No, Jie.”

They’d reached the bottom of the building, and Linqian straight up kicked the locked side door open with an icy foot. Henri pulled out his phone, quickly figuring out where they were and pointing to a warehouse like building a few along from them.

”You can stay outside if it’ll make you feel fucking better- or safer,” Linqian said to Alex, as she began to lead their little rag tag group towards the building in question - sticking to walls as she did so. ”I don’t want to drag you into our fucking business- fuck, I don’t want to drag either of you, but Yi-er’s our fucking healer.”

“Outside is scary, like what even is that,” Alex paused as they pointed towards the moon.

”You don’t know what the moon is?! It’s the reason we have seasons! Without it the earth would actually spin on its side and-”

Linqian’s eyes rolled up towards the sky as Henri started to spout random facts about the moon. She just let him go on and on without giving anyone a chance to get a word in edgewise until they were almost at the building in question.

”Shut up,” she hissed, interrupting Henri as he described the moon phases in great scientific detail. He shut his mouth immediately. Linqian carefully approached a door, gesturing for the two to go against the wall behind her.

Obviously, it was locked. But a locked door wasn’t exactly a problem… Linqian’s hand started glowing and she shoved it through the metal of the door, physically tearing it open. She quietly stuck her head round - an empty, dark corridor. That was good. If a bit fucking unnerving.

”It’s clear,” Linqian whispered, leading them both inside. The whole place was dark. ”Yi-er, can you make a light?”

”Then I won’t have enough to heal Greyson! I only got a little bit before we left,” Henri replied quietly.

Linqian frowned. Great. ”What about you, Alex? Any magical painting lights? Or a way to locate a person inside a dark as fuck building?”

Alex looked at Linqian before they looked at the dark room. They adjusted their glasses as they took in a deep breath. “Let me check with the big guy upstairs real quick,” Alex paused as their eyes rolled back into their head. It wasn’t some spooky display of power, Alex was just bored and wanted to make it seem like they were having a conversation with their apparition. A second later their eyes rolled back to normal. “Maybe,” Alex paused as they summoned the magic of their apparition. Their eyes quickly lost their normal brown, instead a stained glass like color and pattern filled their iris as they held up a hand. All around the group reality shifted. What was once a darkened and dull warehouse became a vibrant tavern of old, where once alone they soon found themselves surrounded by various patrons, and when the darkness was lifted by the soft glow of various candles the group could see much more clearly. The patrons were a mix of humans, elves, and anthropomorphic animals who walked, talked, and dressed like the people around them. None seemed to pay any attention to Linqian, Henri, or Alex. Anyone outside the building would see a dome that spanned two blocks overtop the building.

Linqian raised an eyebrow as she looked around. There was more to look through, but it wasn’t dark. It was still in the same shape as the warehouse - like some kind of illusion painted across it.

”Whoa, that’s so fucking cool, can I-” Henri’s hand reached out towards on of the candles, before Linqian grabbed it.

”Don’t touch anything. Let’s just find Greyson…”

“Do not touch, do not interact, and do not piss off the inhabitants,” Alex said as they looked genuinely scared of what reality was shifted to. They could feel their apparition laughing in their head, gleefully aware of the danger it put the group in.

Henri’s eyes widened, hands moving to his side. ”I- I got it!”

Linqian didn’t feel anymore relaxed with a now lit path - after all, there were more obstacles. ”Stay close.”

She started to make her way down the corridor, trying to ignore the panicked urgency clawing in their chest. This helped with light, but not with the actual finding- did they really have to try every door? Fuck, she’d do it. Greyson wouldn’t die in that time… he was a hardy fucker. They all were.

”Can you dispel it when we get to him?” Linqian asked Alex, as she carefully opened the first door they came across. Nothing real, only bar patrons. She moved on. ”Fuck, where would you lock up a fucking prisoner if you were a mafia?”

“Yeah, as long as I’m not put in any danger the ghost man will release his grasp on reality,” Alex said with a cautioned tone, “probably in a room. Maybe in a room. If I was a mafia goon I’d totally lock up my prisoners in a room because rooms have doors that can be locked. Or in a basement.”

”I’ll kill anything that’s a danger to you,” Linqian intoned, knife glinting in the candlelight.

Henri was thoughtfully silent. Weighing up if Greyson had sounded close enough to dying that it was worth going a bit faster, at the risk of Linqian killing him anyway. ”It’s probably a basement. Someone in the centre of the building, so nobody outside can hear any screams.”

Linqian paused, turning around to glare at Henri. ”Has Greyson been showing you his fucking mafia torture basements?!”

”N- no! He just showed me around some of the places- empty! They were empty-”

”Oh that asshole is going to wish he was dead when I find him,” Linqian hissed. It was an empty threat - spark of anger fuel more than anything. A way to push down the fucking anxiety she didn’t want to feel. When the fuck had she started to care about Greyson enough to be this worried he was going to fucking die?

She changed course a bit, following whatever bit of the corridor seemed to take them towards the centre. Eventually, they found stairs down.

”Fuck, I’m surprised we haven’t been shot at yet- Is it the same art dimension down there?”

“Yes,” Alex paused as they looked down the stairs, “parts outside are also the art dimension right now as well,” a second later reality in the stairwell was twisted once more and the group would see the staircase descending into what looked like a world inspired by the Relativity painting by M.C. Escher. The gravity defying stairs stretched as far as the eyes could see, with various people walking them. The sound of the tavern was still very present behind them indicating that only the path forward had changed.

”... I think I prefer lightless reality,” Linqian muttered. But this way meant that anyone still in the building - any House of Cards members - would have a harder time getting to them. The only way was forward.

But fuck was it trippy.

Linqian started to go down the nearest stairs as quickly as she could, while also keeping away from any of the art world denizens as she did. Henri stuck right behind her. It felt like they just kept going and going… This was definitely longer than the actual stairs were. Fuck, how were they supposed to figure out where the downstairs rooms were with the place like this?

”I feel a bit sick,” Henri groaned.

Linqian shook her head at him, managing to make her way to a door. She pushed it- it was locked. Another burning hand later, it wasn’t so locked. ”Fuck, not here either- I can’t fucking figure out this shit.”

”There’s another door!” Henri pointed to one above them. At the same time, he rummaged in his backpack and pulled out… a flashlight.

Linqian turned to him with a heavy scowl. ”What the fuck, Huanyi, you had that on you this whole fucking time?! You didn’t think to fucking say?!”

”You didn’t ask!”

”Dispell it-” Linqian said to Alex. ”Now.”

Alex raised their hand and the art dimension slowly melted around them until all that was left was reality. Alex’s eyes still remained in their stained glass form. The nameless apparition still very present, Alex sighed as they looked towards the flashlight. How much simpler life would be if they had one of those. “At least the door is not above us now. Thanks Alex, your power is so cool Alex.”

”I was going to thank you till you said that,” Linqian said, holding out her hand for the flashlight. Henri reluctantly handed it over to Linqian. It was an old one that he’d pulled out of the cupboard, and at least had the brains to put a fresh set of batteries into. It took a few overly frustrated slaps from Linqian to actually jump into life.

They shone the beam of light in front of them. A much shorter corridor - only two more doors. If Linqian was going to guess, she was going to guess the one right in front of them… the one that had been above them before.

”I’m sorry about her, she’s in a bad mood,” Henri whispered to Alex as Linqian once again turned her hand into a metal melting device. This door was much thicker, so it was taking her a while to get through it. ”I think your magic’s super cool. So cool. Maybe one day when we’re both free you can show me round?”

“She’s always like that though,” Alex paused as they looked at Henri, “do you get used to it? And that’ll be fun. We can explore all the weird paintings around this town. Some people have some real freaky stuff hanging in rooms they think people will never see.”

”Yeah, you get used to it- but she’s normally not this bad! Just… after my brother died y’know…” Henri trailed off, before forcing himself not to think about that. Instead, he latched onto the art dimension trip. ”Whoa, like the kinda shit you normally only see on the internet? That sounds like great fun… we’re definitely doing this. It’s just gotta be when she’s out.”

He tilted his head towards Linqian, who’d kicked off one shoe to use her foot to also melt through the far too thick metal door.

“Oh yes. I’ve never understood why people like them but the others seem to laugh a lot when they see ‘em. They’re like a moth drawn to the light,” Alex paused as they looked towards Linqian, “you need help? I got nothing but wanted to check.””a

”Yeah, I don’t really get it either,” Henri shrugged. ”Yeah, Jie, maybe I can… hold the flashlight so you can use both hands!”

”I’ve got it,” Linqian gritted her teeth. Finally, she got her hand through. She pulled it to the side to completely destroy the lock, before forcing the door open with a pretty horrendous screech - which was dampened quickly by Henri absorbing most of the sound.

As reluctant as she was to admit it, he was handy to have around.

She shone the flashlight into the pitch black room. It was mostly empty… chains, like a real torture dungeon… a broken shock collar- fuck!

”Greyson- fuck, this is going to fucking hurt- Huanyi, get the fuck in here and heal him as much as you can- Alex, take the fucking flashlight.” Linqian threw the flashlight at Alex, before her hands started glowing. She melted through whatever cuffs chaining him to the chair remained, she sliced through them with a hot finger so the molten metal fell onto her hands rather than him as much as possible. As it did her hands’ temperature shifted, going freezing cold before the metal could melt through her flesh.

It still fucking hurt - and the extreme temperatures near him would hurt like hell too. Less than being coated in melted metal, though, even as frost burns covered Linqian’s hands and crept up her arms from the constant temperature shift.

As she cut through the last one, half destroying the chair in the process, she shifted her body to catch him with it.

”What the fuck, what the fuck- WHAT THE FUCK?!” Henri wasn’t prepared for the scene he was met with, hesitating at the door where Linqian had immediately powered through and started helping. But he managed to push through it, even though he was crying like a baby by the time he got over to Linqian and Greyson. His hands glowed with a soft light that began to heal Greyson - enough to stabilise him, stopping him from slowly bleeding to death but not much more before he ran out of fuel.

Greeeeeysooooon… Wake up, Mr. Edict. No time like the present.

Greyson heard the strange voice in his head guiding him up toward the warm light. He felt like a fucking lizard. Had he died? Reincarnated as someone's paludarium feature? His throat was dry, muscles ached on an individual basis, each one screaming at him in a specific tone. Even the eyelids…

He came back to them how he left: Screaming bloody murder. Even healing, the raw sensation of new nerves being created was enough to kill anyone's mood.
”NNNNNNNNNGHAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!”
There was only enough windup for him to catch a quick breath. Probably wound up jumpscaring the others… But he was alive and breathing.

”Ohhhh… Oh f-u-GGAAAAAD DAMN IT! V-V-ALEN-CI-AAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!”
He wasn't all there yet. Every face looked like that wretched fuck. This was new torture, right? It had to be… But it wasn't. It was taking everything Henri had just to make sure the wounds were sealed over. So the severed veins stopped giving up their life force.

And then he passed out again. This time fully from the shock of pain. But he was visibly breathing, and he *had* woken up once… But carrying him was starting to look like the main option. Glancing over him, between the bullet wounds and knife wounds, he had roughly ten new holes to contend with. His overloaded brain didn't even get a chance to deaden it.

It simply shut off again.

”MY FUCKING EARS,” Linqian got the brunt of Greyson’s screaming, practically cradling him against her as she was. The healing did shit all before Henri couldn’t do anymore - he was going to eventually bleed out. Possibly on the way back, cause they still had to make their way through that fucking art dimension. ”Give me the fucking first aid kit, Yi-er.”

With trembling hands, still sobbing, Henri pulled out the red bag from his backpack. Linqian didn’t even bother with any of the shit like antiseptic or isopropyl- who cared about stopping the wounds from getting infected when they could magically heal it later. Right now it was just about stopping the bleeding a bit more. Linqian efficiently bandaged everything she could, as quickly as possible. It rubbed her own burnt hands raw, but that didn’t really fucking matter.

At least she was a little more confident he’d survive the journey.

”Between us we can probably carry him,” Linqian grimaced, looking up at Henri. Thank fuck she’d gotten Alex to bring a painting along.

Henri shook his head. ”I got this, Jie.” Henri put his arms under Greyson’s legs and back, fueling himself with a slight amount of sound continuously to give him enough strength to carry another fully grown man. With a grunt, he stood up, perfectly bridal carrying Greyson.

If Linqian had been in a better state of mind, she probably would’ve found it funny - but worried, tired and covered in Greyson’s blood as she was, she could only grab Henri’s backpack for him. Then, she took the flashlight back from Alex.

”Keep him alive with this,” Linqian shone the flashlight at Henri. They didn’t exactly need the light to go through the painting. Henri nodded, light dimming as he started to absorb it and channel it into light healing. Linqian then turned to Alex. ”Take us back through the painting- to the one in my living room.”

Alex was looking at the far wall, watching a spider move across its surface. Suddenly they thought they heard someone talking to them. Their eyes slid over to Linqian, an eyebrow raised, and they took a deep breath in.

“Oh were you talking to me?”

It was very difficult for Linqian to not just lose her temper there and then. The only thing stopping her was the fact that they needed Alex to get out of here. They dug their nails into their burnt skin, the pain pulling them back down from an explosion. ”Yes. Take us back through the painting and to my house- before he fucking dies.”

“Oh yeah, I gotchu,” Alex said as they put the painting down onto the ground, “remember the rules,” they warned as they touched the frame, “let’s go,” they finished as they activated the portal and simply dropped into the art dimension. It was a short fall into the realm below and Alex landed on their feet with ease.

”I’ve been through this shit three times, have I ever broke the fucking rules?” Linqian snapped as she fell in behind Alex, before clearing the way for Henri, who came last cradling Greyson in his arms as if he would die with the slightest shake. He was otherwise silent and… still crying. It was a shame he couldn’t absorb and use water for anything useful.

”Let’s go, quickly,” Linqian said to Alex, trying to sound polite rather than snappy. It was fucking hard when they clearly didn’t understand the urgency.

“Yep, no I know you follow the rules but these paths are paved with the blood and bones of those who did not,” Alex responded in a surprisingly grave tone, “follow me.” Alex took off in a slow jog, head constantly twisting back around to make sure they were staying within sight of the group. The path beneath them snaked to the right sharply and Alex slowed as they took the turn, and a few moments later they were in front of the painting that led to the living room. “Can you heal him, or do you need help?”

Linqian looked over at Henri, who was still keeping Edict alive with the pitiful beam of light. He met her gaze and nodded.

”We can heal him. Probably better he doesn’t wake up with any more unfamiliar people around- he’ll try strangle them or some shit,” Linqian said. They had the green goop, and it seemed like a real risk with how Greyson was when he first woke up. She went to step through the painting then paused, looking at Alex. ”Thanks. I was serious about cooking for you again sometime in the future. Maybe before you and Yi-er go on your painting adventure.”

“I’ll hold you to it,” Alex said as they yawned, “do you need anything else? I need to get back to gaming.”

”You’ve done enough,” Linqian said genuinely, before stepping through the painting.

”I’ll call you again if we do!” Henri said, voice cheerful even though he was still crying. He then followed Linqian through.

”Put him on the couch- ” Linqian cleared away the mess that was left on the couch by Henri. He put Greyson down on the couch.

”What do we do now?!” Henri was clearly still panicking, the lights that Linqian had turned on in the living room flickering. ”I don’t know if I have enough fuel to heal him- Jie, what if I can’t do it and he dies?!”

”It’s- Where’s the green shit?” Linqian crouched down beside Greyson, using her hands to put pressure on two of the worst looking wounds. ”Did you bring anymore in when you healed us?”

”I- I- in my room! I put some in there in case!”

”Then go and fucking get it!”

Henri ran out of the room, his thudding footsteps up the stairs echoing in Linqian’s ears. She shifted, narrowing her eyes at Greyson’s prone body - he was still breathing. Thank fuck. The brief moment of silence let her think about how the fuck they were going to get this shit into him. Did she just fucking stuff it in and hope? That would fucking choke him… what was it that they used to do to get Greta’s potions down people? Some neck massaging shit.

”I got it!” Henri ran back into the room with two packs of the weird green shit. Linqian held out her hand for one.

”Come here,” Linqian patted the floor beside her. Henri knelt down beside her and she put a hand on his shoulder, squeezing it. ”I need you to massage his throat for me while I feed him this. Just… not so hard you kill him.”

”I- I don’t think I can, Jie, can I not feed him?!” Henri looked down at Greyson, bleeding out, then at Linqian with wide arms.

Linqian snorted, opening the package of green goop. ”You’re not going to be able to do it that way I plan to. Unless you want to fucking shove it in there and choke him. Hands on his throat, massage.”

Popping open the packet, she put some into her own mouth. She used one hand to open his mouth before leaning in, pushing the green healing goop in as best she could from her own mouth. She kept doing it bit by bit, Henri doing his best to do as instructed.

It wasn’t long before Linqian would feel Greyson’s hands grip at her arms in pain. Mouth to mouth, he was conscious and screaming like he had when they’d initially closed the wounds up…
Only at first he was screaming directly into another person’s mouth. As predicted, his reaction was violent and fast. Every muscle was screaming in pain as Henri’s half-patch job was completed by the Temple’s Key-Lime. First her arms, then her hair. He yarded back until their mouths were finally apart, and he could scream properly.

”OH GOD JESUS FUCK!” he shouted at the top of his lungs as he flung Linqian away from him. There was always an adrenal boost with this stuff… There had to be. The brain simply wouldn’t function under this kind of pain without it. Like watching someone experience a full body cramp. Linqian would know it well from the incident with Scott Reese…

But after a moment, after his eyes stopped rolling into the back of his head and the shaking started to subside, he came to the realization that the faces were friendly. And then it came back to him… The whole night.
”G-gha… Fuck… H-henri! O-oh, oh Jesus… This ain’t a sick fucking… This-”
His hand, still fixing the many mashed bones, tried to fumble around in his pocket until it produced a sharp spring-loaded blade…

Which he promptly proceeded to cram into his own leg. He screamed again. But this time, pain done unto himself by himself gave him a clear and acceptable margin of this being reality. Not Heaven, not Hell, not some fucking Apparition’s trickhouse. The knife came out, and he tossed it far off to the side of the room before surging forward.
One arm wrapped around Henri. The other around Linqian… And he wept. As the pain continued on to heal his wounds, he wept like a lost child.

”Thank you… My friends… F-fucking… Thank you…”

”I’m- I’m just glad you’re alive!” Henri sobbed. He’d been crying since they found Greyson, as if he had an unlimited supply of tears. He completed the hug circle by wrapping his arms around both Greyson and Linqian and pulling them in.

Linqian grunted, dealing with her own pain as the green goop she’d absorbed while passing it to Greyson did its work on her burnt hands and arms. ”You’re both fucking babies. Can’t take a little bit of pain, Greyson? Well, if it makes you pull my hair like that-”

”JIE?!” Henri shouted, looking at her in shock… then he somehow hugged them both tighter. ”She was just as worried as I was! More worried! Really fucking worried!”

Linqian didn’t deny it, unable to even really look away awkwardly trapped by them both as she was. She just redirected. ”You need anymore of that green shit, or was that enough?”

It didn’t take him long to be his pugnacious self, wiping away the tears and holding out his hand.
”Gimmie the shit, Linqian. I fuckin’ paid for it.”

”Technically the Temple put it in my fucking car,” Linqian rolled her eyes, shoving the packet at him. ”Go on, you can suck down the rest yourself.”

”You know, you’re such a fucking bitch… I almost die, and you-”
He crammed the packet into his mouth, wrapping his fist around the bottom end and squeezing it all into his mouth. One big gulp, but he wasn’t going to get it all down. Dropping the packet on the floor, one hand stretched out to cover Henri’s eyes. The other moved like lightning, grabbing Linqian by the hair and cramming their mouths together in a fairly aggressive kiss. Of course, to part off with the rest of the healing gel… Nothing to do with the massive bloom of Pink Lux that rattled across the room.

Pulling away, he still had her hair wrapped up in his fist.
”-I needed that…” he panted.

”Fuck.” Linqian gulped down the rest of the healing gel, gritting her teeth as the nerves and skin on her hands were fully reformed, and all the other bruising across her body fixed.
”What, the earlier one that had you throwing me on the floor wasn’t fucking enough?” Linqian snapped, though contrary to her aggressive as normal words, her body was pretty lax. She even leaned her head against his hand.
”You should almost die more often if you’re gonna be like this- but stop with the fucking casting.”

”Wh- What, what, what?!” Henri wailed, Greyson’s hand over his eyes not exactly providing the best covering.
”B-b-but, what?! What- WHAT?! But- what about- WHAT?!”

”Shut the fuck up and spit it out!” he snapped, lowering his hand and staring at Henri.

”BUT YOU'RE MARRIED TO BRITNEY?!”

Greyson’s eyes slowly narrowed. Very very slowly.
”That… Is cute…” he spoke hesitantly, almost sizing his trainee-in-crime up. ”What the fuck gave you that impression?” he questioned, a monotone delivery making it hard to read where the question was coming from.
The Pink Lux didn’t let up either. He was still feeling the effects of the Gel, and Wildcasting was practically negated by it. So, it was just a lot of wasted lux being thrown off into the air and making the room into a slightly warmer place.

”W- well the other night! When you came round cause Jie was acting crazy- OW, don’t hit me when you’re still healing, Jie- you were talking bout going back to Britney. And I said something about how you’re a guy who likes going back to his wife, and no one corrected me! So- so I assumed you were married?”
Linqian snorted, holding back a more mocking laugh at that.

Greyson sat for a moment longer, his stare unwavering. He was trying to build enough connections to understand where Henri was coming from.
”I didn’t say anything because it was a dumb comment. But you don’t know me, so… No, Henri. She’s not my wife. One day, maybe, but I’ll never be a one-woman man. Monogamy ain’t part of my culture.”

Now it was Henri’s turn to sit there, staring and buffering. It wasn’t so much the concept of non-monogamy - he knew all about that thanks to the internet and college friends - but the culture comment. What culture? Greyson wasn’t a secret Mormon, was he? No, no, that didn’t make sense.
”Italian culture? Are all Europeans like that?” It was the one continent he had very little experience with.

Linqian pressed a hand against her forehead, Henri’s fucking idiotic questions stopping her from thinking too hard about whatever the fuck Greyson had said. Yeah, sure, that shit was a bit obvious, but also kind of implied they were more than just friends slash fuckbuddies. Whatever.
”Pretty sure it’s not a fucking Italian thing, Yi-er.”

”What is it, then?”

”It’s a Mediterranean thing. Throughout history, quite a few polygamous traditions have spawned from different reasons… Greeks, Romans, Carthaginians, Turks, Egyptians, every culture you see that touches those warm, sunny waters? They’re fuckin’ Henri. And they’re doing it wherever, whenever they can. My family? Naples. Specifically in the spirit of La Cosa Nostra, a man is generally assumed to have two women in his life: Your Wife, and your Comare. One is the mother of your children, the woman you marry under the eyes of God. The other… It’s the trophy-”

As soon as the word left his lips he knew he was in for it. He didn’t even turn his head to look at her. Just braced.

”The fucking what, I should’ve left you to fucking die in that shithole.” Linqian’s temperature dropped, hand shooting out to punch him right in the stomach. Her other hand grabbed his shoulder, cold fingers digging in. The cold was enough to hurt him without being properly damaging.
”Or did you just want me to be the one to fucking kill you?”

Henri watched with wide eyes and a slightly open mouth, feeling like he’d been thrown into some kind of sitcom.

After the night he just had? The Gel was still vaguely circulating. He simply craned his neck to look at her with a disapproving scowl.
”History Lesson, Linqian. Do I need to give you some sort of fucking disclaimer that it’s a historical tradition and in no way reflects the relationship between us? Or do you want me to insult your intelligence and spoon feed you the information like a child?” he growled, the pain getting a bit more intense the longer she sat there.

”Are you calling me stupid? I know it’s fucking historical- but it also seems like the kind of shit you’d fucking like, so it’s fucking hard to tell.” Linqian snapped back, neither letting go of his shoulder nor changing her temperature.

”Am I not allowed to feel proud of having my arm around you? For the little bit of time we spend around one another and we’re not screaming at one another? Or is it hard to imagine that I always had feelings for you, and that now that I get to double dip a little bit I’m fucking ecstatic?”
His face was almost pleading… Almost.
”I don’t think you’re stupid. I think you’re smart enough to know that we’ve got more going on than me thinking you’re some fucking trophy. So quit getting huffy everytime you think I don’t have more going on! I am a complex man! I have a great deal of feelings and I’m doing my best to deal with them! God damn it Linqian…”

Linqian was shocked into silence. Her hand flew up, ice cold fingers pressing into her own face. What? Fucking what? Sure, he was right, she was smart enough to know that but… well… she’d just been fucking ignoring it. Ignoring it enough that she hadn’t done what she normally did when she slept with people and mostly cut them out of her life. Why?

And why had she been so genuinely fucking concerned that he was going to die. Sure as shit wasn’t about his money anymore, cause she’d signed a contract that gave her that either way.
”... I don’t… fuck.” Linqian visibly struggled the words to say anything, as if she’d just fucking lost the ability to speak English out of nowhere. It was always a thing at a certain point- strong emotions, confusion- where speaking her technical third language was a pain. Not that she knew what she was fucking thinking or wanting to say anyway.

”You- ah fuck- - always? Seriously? This whole time? Yeah, that is pretty hard to- no, Jinhai knew, fuck. How-” Linqian swapped to Chinese midway through speaking before pausing, having turned away from Greyson to spot Henri still sitting there, watching. Silently. Knowing if he said anything it’d be his head on the chopping block.

Linqian’s hand pointed towards the door. ”Go to bed.”
”But Jie, it’s like six in the morning, I-”
”Did I stutter?”

Greyson cleared his throat.
”Just go, Henri… You’ve got packing to do, remember? We’re moving in together Friday. Tomorrow… I guess… Just trust me, you don’t want to see what comes next. Thank you for answering your phone, and I’m proud of you. You’re a good younger Brother.”
He gave him a sincere look, one hand climbing slowly to usher him out.

Henri looked at Greyson, then at Linqian, then back at Greyson. As much as he’d been enjoying the show, he knew when he wasn’t welcome. But he grinned brightly at Greyson.
”I’ll answer and save you everytime!” He paused on his way over to the door, turning around to narrow his eyes at them both.
”The walls are thin.” Then he was gone, though his thudding footsteps up the stairs were audible.

”He’s started talking back too much,” Linqian muttered, giving herself a moment before she regretted sending her brother out the room- should she fucking leave too? Kick Greyson out, pretend this didn’t happen, not talk about it?

”You were being serious about all of that? It wasn’t just some weird shit you said in front of my brother?” Linqian, eventually, turned back towards Greyson - it was hard, for once, to tell how she was feeling. She didn’t know how she was feeling.
”Really?”

”I’m pretty sure I was dead at some point there. I don’t know… Life’s too short to lie, isn’t it? You remember that hallucination thing at Wilson’s place? Mine… It was at the farm. I really love it there. And Britney was there, and we had a couple rats. But I got the distinct feeling that you were there. Somewhere nearby. Like you were helping, or maybe you were watching, I don’t know… But I knew I wanted you in my life like that. I always thought you were sexy, and the whole bitch thing is fun and funny and… You’re what Britney isn’t for me. The other puzzle piece.”
He lingered there for a moment, just looking at her.
”I never wanna tie you down: Wild horses run. You know? But I’m not some old school Gangster whose gonna try and rope you in… I ain’t my Father. You’ve got your life, I’ve got mine, and where we cross in the middle… Ain’t that love all the same?” he asked fairly gently.

”Is it? Really?” Linqian's head dropped forward to press into her hands and she processed it. What was her experience? Bianca- not wanting anything but her. Then… Marcus… Complete control of her life. Love? She’d lost a lot of it then. Since she’d avoided any feelings like the plague. Never let herself sit with it long enough to consider where shit was going. Just denied it. What did she even feel here? It was… enough for her to not be telling him to fuck right off, at least.
”I don’t know. That’s not how I’ve ever experienced it. If you really don’t plan to tie me down, and it doesn’t turn into some fucking ‘I can fuck around but you can’t situation’, that’s fine. What does it really change?”

She pulled her head back out of her hands with a slight smile towards Greyson.
”Save the sappy shit for Brit, though. Don’t expect any of that shit from me- just take me not fucking killing you for the shit I normally would as whatever that fuck it is I feel.”

”Then keep on not killing me, and I’ll make sure Britney knows to pull your hair harder next time…”
A devilish grin formed across his face, bloody and torn shirt still half clinging to him.
”Speaking of which… I should get back to her place and make sure she knows I’m not dead. I uh… I’m not gonna tell her I needed to be, y’know, brought home in a bucket. Is it between us? And him… Obviously…” Greyson laughed to himself.

”Yeah, yeah, fuck off, you know where the fucking door is,” Linqian rolled her eyes, though she laughed too, making a dismissive gesture with her hand. It wasn’t so much that she actually wanted him to fuck off- cause after that kiss earlier, fuck- more that she cared enough about Brit to not have her deal with that worry.
”You’re fucking lucky I’m tired enough and like Brit enough to let you leave, so, get the fuck on with it.”

He grinned at her a little bit more before moving forward and planting another kiss on her lips. It was playful.
”You saved my fucking life tonight… I get to fight a little longer still… Protect her when I’m gone, that’s all I want.”
He winked at Linqian, pulled his hands away from her waist, and slipped from the room with a gentle clicking of a shutting door.

”Henri! Come here…” he shouted.

There was some thudding, the sound of something dropping and another door opening, before Henri appeared at the top of the stairs and ran down.
”Wow, that was quick! What is it?”

He laughed.
”We didn’t fuck, you little Gremlin.”
Reaching into his coat pocket, he was surprised to find that the fake fucks who had bagged him in the first place didn’t bother stealing from him. Probably something to do with the few people left in that organization who still follow the actual code.

So a wad of cash came out. Greyson’s hand extended and took Henri’s, then slapped it into his hands. It was heavy.
”You did good. You did what you had to, and you made it so I’m still alive. You’ll make a real Made Man one day, Kid.”
A free hand took Henri’s head and brought it forward slightly. Greyson’s lips met the young man’s forehead.

”Funny… You probably know a lot more about love than all of us do. Too bad you ain’t Pink.”
And then he ruffled Henri’s hair and laughed.
”Make sure when you’re done packing your shit, you head over to my apartment and start boxing shit up. No need to carry anything, just boxes and tape… And padding if you think something may break, like use your brain a little bit. Capice?” he grinned, slapping his cheek playfully.

”Got it! But- if I did good, does that mean I can get a gun?” Henri asked cheerfully.

Conspiratorially, Greyson turned his head to look at the door he was hoping Linqian was still stunned behind. Then it turned back to Henri.
”Dude? You cried. You cried on the phone, you cried when you saw me, you cried all the way home… Can you shoot a man in cold blood? Can you really?”

”I was crying because you were hurt! I could if someone was going to hurt you, or Jie, or Brit, or Aryin- well that’s not really cold blood, is it…” He frowned thoughtfully, before answering honestly.
”I couldn’t if it wasn’t to protect someone.”

Still resting his hand on Henri’s cheek, he pinched it playfully.
”Then may-be when we get some more hair on our chin…” he almost mocked Henri, but had a wide smile on his face now.
”I’ll teach you how to use one, but I’m not going to be responsible for giving you one of your own until I know for sure you won’t accidentally kill your own goofy ass… Now go! And I want receipts from what you spend that money on, you hear me motherfucker? If three grand goes missing and all of a sudden I see you on Instagram with your shirt off holding up a Switch, we’re gonna have problems.”

Henri nodded, taking two steps back up the stairs before pausing, turning around to look at Greyson.
”Why would I take my shirt off? Why would I need a switch when I gotta PS2 and an Xbox at your place? What is this cash even for anyway?”

Greyson smiled to himself.
”For a job well done, you Nut… Do what you can and get some sleep: Tonight's gonna be just as long.”
Of course, unless they took it… His car was still parked outside Arcade Blues. Thankful for a cellphone, he reached into his pocket to start a call for a ride.
[Hr]

It'd be another couple of hours before Greyson made the less and less harrowing trek through the Nightmare Garden of Britney Williams. He was fond of her little house, how cozy it was, and how everything he saw reminded him of her. Even the perfectly scattered leaf cover that hid the five meter deep holes full of spikes.… Part of it was probably the glowing radiation of avoiding death; the warm little center bolstered by a second-chance high.

He'd been back to his own apartment, finding most everything already boxed up and ready for the move. Mostly, he wanted to fuck with Henri by telling him to show up there at some point… But he still managed to shower and get a clean set of clothing, along with a fresh duffle bag full of cash from under his bedroom closet.
And another ride, with someone instructed to pick up the vehicle he left.

It'd later be revealed that House of Cards had disposed of it in a lot not too far away from the scene. At least it was recovered…
But now Greyson was at the door to Britney's, unlocking it and stepping into the only real solid ground on the property.

”Brit!? I'm back… You home!?” he called. At almost ten in the morning now, he was sure she would still be home. But he parked out front, and didn't bother peeking to see if her truck was around.

After a moment, Britney called back.

”... Greyson?!” A few moments later, the door opened and Britney Williams presented herself… fully nude. She tilted her head at Greyson, and said, ”Oh Lord… you look like you been through hell and back…”

She awkwardly laughed, keeping that forced smile on her face.

”... How’d it go? Did Luna see the light orrrrrrrrrrr…?”

For a moment, he just stared at her. She'd easily be able to see the wisps of pink smoke curling out of the sides of his mouth. He didn't say anything for several seconds.

”Coming home to you makes it worthwhile…” he said, clearing his throat a little bit. The duffel hit the table with a thud.
”She saw muzzle flash. And I spent ten thousand dollars on a bullet just to get a night of garbage anyway…”

He frowned.
”I was too soft about it, Boo…”
Happy to be in her company, Greyson pulled his shirt off and exposed some clearly fresh wounds still in the process of healing.
”They nailed me. Had me in a box for a few hours, trying to get me to give up our new friend… The contact. They got piss in their eyes. But, I didn't get Valencia. So, I think they're gonna be expecting us tonight…”

”Oh Greyson…” Britney said, extending a hand to Edict’s shoulder, she sighed as she said. ”I’m so sorry to hear all of that… I know Luna’s a bastard, but I know how much she meant to you.”

She paused for a moment, ”But… if she was, at the end of the day, always going to be loyal to the House of Cards, there was no other way this was going to end. Well, not with you getting kidnapped, I mean the whole thing with Luna - you know what I mean.”

Greyson just laughed at Britney's frantic correction.
”You mean a lot more to me… Tonight made my priorities that much clearer. You, Linqian… Her goofy ass little brother. The family you build is the Family you fight for. And I want to build with you. Fight for you some more. I love you…”
The radiant Pink Lux was thick like fog around him. It was hard to tell if this was a natural reaction, or if House of Cards had… Done something to him.

He knew the answer, of course, and Greyson coming on strong wasn't out of character… But he did seem rather insistent about it.

Britney took his hand, and looked him in the eye as she said,

”... I love you, too.”

Recollections: Under The Sycamore Tree Part. 1

Leon

---

A Match for the Ages

Oh why did Aryin only have a single brain cell and why didn’t she at least try to use it? That was the thought that was pounding through Aryin’s mind as one hand remained on the wheel of her car and the other furiously holding a lit cigarette. Their eyes had a slight bloodshot look to them, and their breathing quickened at a building rate of mistakes not long since made. Mistakes like drinking too much last night, mistakes like buying a pack of cigarettes while drunk because that sounded like a good idea, mistakes like challenging a world champion fighter to a fight, and mistakes like scheduling the fight for so early in the morning. It was a boon that she had a near unlimited stamina otherwise she might feel tired at this moment. Still, this morning was a test of her desire to be the best, a test of her will to overcome any obstacle, and a test of her newfound commitment to being one of the fiercest protectors that this coven ever knew.

Aryin turned up the volume on her car's radio. She had put her music on shuffle and it had graced her thus far with banger after banger. This was getting her ready. She took a long drag of the cigarette as her other hand made the rubber off the steering wheel squeak. It wasn’t long before she had arrived at the gate to the temple and slowed the car to a crawl. She grabbed her phone and sent a text to Leon.

“Hey St. Portwell’s Own, I hope you’re ready.”

Aryin smirked as she tossed the finished cigarette into an ashtray situated in her cup holder that she bought while drunk to go along with the cigarettes. Her smile only grew larger as she placed both hands on the wheel awaiting the gate, twisting and turning with anticipation.

Still so early in the morning, the gates to the Temple of Charming and Graceful Individuals were still closed. Curfew for anyone living on campus was ten o'clock without notice or some kind of personal magic bypass. Leon had already left far earlier in the morning, conditioned past the natural lack of sleep thanks to the magical diet provided by his association. Circadian rhythm meant little to people able to maintain the most premium of meals within the Temple.

He was currently chugging a protein shake filled with extract of a Bananasaur: a peculiar creature Project Eden was keeping a hand on as they tried to grow the fruity flesh of here in Shimmer. His other hand was on the wheel of Edict Devola's car, which he'd not picked up yesterday…
The smart radio read off the incoming text with one of its features, but he was coming up to the gates himself.

Grabbing his phone, he started to slow down, and the application to open the gate popped open for him thanks to the vicinity feature their head IT people had come up with. He pressed a button, and the gates swung open with a warm welcoming sigh for Aryin to proceed. At the same moment, Leon pulled up behind her as she began to drive down the laneway. The facilities were another mile or so pushed off the main road, so there was plenty of time that they were simply driving in tandem one behind the other.

From the car window, Aryin would be able to see some of the stranger creatures living their lives in the magically saturated forest surrounding the Temple.
One in particular, a massive bipedal ape-like creature sauntered out upon the lane with enough distance to stop comfortably. Its twisted face, bright red and adorned by a crown of strange and unruly horns, stared down at Aryin with what could only be described as a look of intelligence.

The beast leaned in, and as its head hovered over the hood of the car, it twisted slightly to let its ear rest against the hood. The humming, warm engine below was its interest, and as it laid its head upon the hood of Aryin's car, the whole thing disappeared under the absolute size of the unit.

Leon, behind Aryin, had also stopped as the creature he called Bobo started his morning routine. He knew they wouldn't get anywhere if he didn't step in, so-

“Oy! Boboooooo… Is that my boy!?”
Aryin would be able to see Leon exiting the car behind her with a smile.

”Ooooh OOOOOH!”
The creature seemed excited, head perking up and releasing Aryin's car. It even seemed to smile, pushing back on its massive leathery hands and readjusting to face Leon head on. In turn, Leon raised his arms in a hug, and the giant otherworldly ape excitedly shuffled forward to lean its face in.

“Good Bobo! That's my big friend, you learned your lesson after the last car you tried to fight… I know, Boo…-”
Grinning, Leon's face turned to look at Aryin in the car. He waved one of his hands, inviting her out.

Aryin zipped up her black north face jacket and stepped out into cold air, following the invitation from Leon. She walked next to him and looked over to Bobo. ” His name is Bobo then I take it,” Aryin asked as she looked up to Leon with a smile. She looked towards Bobo and held out a hand, offering it to the ape to shake.

”Ooooooooh!!!”
The ape, having seen Aryin from outside the car, quickly moved a massive body-sized finger to rub Aryin’s cheek gently. Leon could only laugh in turn.

”Yep! He’s the Male of the group we’ve cultivated… I guess like the bull or whatever. They seem to isolate themselves, since the girls are much bigger and more aggressive.”
Leon put his arm around Aryin, leaning down and planting a kiss.
”How’s it going, my favorite demon? Ready to take a different kind of pounding?” he laughed at his own crude joke, rubbing Aryin’s shoulder in a friendly manner.

Aryin blushed just the slightest bit at the kiss on top of her head but she quickly pushed that away. This morning focus was entirely on one thing and one thing only. Winning. ”Oh you sweet, naive, beautiful man,” Aryin paused as she looked up at Leon, ”I never lose,”Aryin paused as she stuck out her tounge, ”your favorite demon is good. How are you, big man, after that terrible fucking meeting? Are you doing okay?”

Leon’s face looked back up at Bobo, who looked down from behind tangled horns with a childlike smile. He could only laugh and wave him along.
”N’gua la’d e dna’tue!” Run along, big fella!
The tree-sized ape brought a massive leathery finger to his lips in something of a “shoosh”, then grinned an almost knowing grin before making his way across the road and into the woods.

Alone again, Leon looked down at Aryin and shook his head.
”It had to be Alizee of all people… Over the fucking Void Heart? Layla’s still recovering, last night was a long night. I haven’t actually slept.”
Looking up and back down the road that they stopped half-way on, Leon giggled to himself and nodded out into the woods in the direction Bobo had originally come from.

”Lets get the cars off to the side of the road and just walk in. We can avoid my Mom gawking at you.” he laughed, moving toward the car and getting into position to simply lift and jerk it into place.

“If you lift my car up with your muscles I promise I’ll only be looking respectfully,” Aryin paused as images of Leon’s mommy MILF crossed her mind, ”Yeah.. Why does she gawk at me like that? I don’t mind, just curious. And a little cardio never hurt,” Aryin paused with a grin. Her eyes looked down the road and smirked even more. Today was no mistake.

”Well, she’s not met many changelings. I’m pretty sure it’s entirely a fetish thing, so… If you don’t mind her objectification, I guess we can go up? But, it certainly makes me feel weird knowing that my Mom wants to jump your bones.”
There was a burst of energy that pushed the air out from around Leon. In a single motion, he locked up and flicked the car up close to five feet in the air. Enough that when he yarded back with his own momentum, the car smacked back down in place much tighter to the edge of the road.

”I don’t think that broke anything… Edict’ll let me know one way or another.” he laughed.
”Come on, I know you can do it too… Probably better than me!”

“Even if it broke something that was worth the view. Oh I think I can give it a try. I have been working on a few new spells, mostly plant magic and all. But learning that also revealed to me a different way to use my stored energy. Watch as I give it a whirl,” Aryin cracked her neck and began channeling her magic to muscles. Her durability, her toughness, was innate to her form. And while this form brought with it enhanced strength it was nowhere near the level of Leon. At least, as it stood. As she channeled her magic into her muscles a dull but visible glow began to glow outward, illuminating the bones and muscles within. She walked over to her car and squatted down by the front. She grabbed hold and began to lift upward, and as she did the glow grew in intensity. The car rose upward and Aryin did not falter, did not break a sweat, and her face showed no signs of a struggle. She took a few steps over and placed the car down, and as she did the bright light flared in intensity before sputtering out completely.

“Ta-da,” Aryin said as she raised a peace sign to her face and smirked. Aryin crooked her head “A fetish thing?,”

Leon’s face was bright red.
”She’s a well known perv… If you know magic that makes for kinky sex, she’s interested. And I won’t tell you that you can’t go for it, I only ask that you don’t do it in the bed she and my Father shared. Up to you…”
He walked forward until he was next to her completely, then waved one hand out into the woods.

”It’s a nice little walk. Be mindful of things falling from the trees; you never know what it could be in these woods.” he tried his best to redirect the conversation, but had a funny feeling Aryin wouldn’t let the subject go so easily.

“I will keep my eyes open,” Aryin followed Leon’s command and she began to walk down, “and I don’t want to fuck your mom, Leon, least of which in a kinky way. Don’t get me wrong, she is a mommy milf that I may or may not have wanted to ravish in so many ways but I gotta trust someone enough to be open like that, you know? And I don’t trust her like that.”

Leon laughed aloud.
”Oh, God… Yeah, please. Literally, never trust her. She’s definitely not screwed together right; I mean I’m hardly all there but those are the kind of conditions she made.”
He blushed a little bit, throwing his arm around her casually.
”But, uh… You mean that? You trust me like that? Even after yesterday, with the whole Layla thing?” his voice was sincere and warm.

“Of course,” Aryin paused her speaking as she looked down at her feet, “not many can say they’ve been through what we’ve been through you know? I trusted you with my life back then. I trust you with my life today. Us frontliners have to trust each other more than most. After all,” Aryin looked up and flashed a weak smile, “a bond like that is not that easily broken,” Aryin paused as the smile faltered a little, “do I think you made the wrong call? Maybe. Maybe not. Does that affect how I view you? Not at all,” Aryin paused as she playfully shoulder checked Leon as best she could.

Leon accepted what Aryin had to say slowly as they walked on into the woodlands. He was finding more often that Sycamore members had a hard time imagining that he was so invested in his family's situation. People taking umbridge when they hadn't before. It was stressful, and he found the constraint difficult to operate under when he was receiving so much pressure from the other side.
He couldn't just be himself anymore. He either had to be what everyone else expected; his old self with all the quirks that came with that. Or, he had to be the Temple stalwart, and actively pursue his Mother's end game. But being selfish at this stage wasn't an option.

Leon let the smallest amount of Lelou's energy pool into the resonator, taking a deep breath through his nose to hold his breath. He was listening for the telltale hum coming from a listening post. Hearing nothing active, he found himself free to speak his mind.
”I'm not sure if it's because of the Void Heart situation, or if it generally has to do with my active role with the Temple… But people seem pretty cold toward me. Even people like Sully. I was surprised as Hell that you and Linqian were so… Willing. I figured she was one who really hated me.”

“Listen, Linqian has hated me more times than I can count and she’s a complex person. But she is a good one at the end of the day. She may hate you again but I promise you it’s only temporary,” Aryin smirked, “It’s hard to find someone who can actually feel something. I had to see if you were up to the challenge,” Aryin gave him a wink.

He blushed again, smirking and laughing slightly while they walked.
”Well, like I said the other night when we were… Getting started… I can’t go too far unless Lelou’s willing-”
There was a bubbling sensation, and a bit of warmth in the air.
”-ah, fuck…”
The steam began to pour off his skin in the brisk November morning air. He pulled his sweater off, tilting his head back. Aryin would easily be able to spot the ethereal specter of Lady Lelou Faim, Queen of the Imperial Pack.

The shade of an arm stretched out to brush against Aryin’s chin. Leon took a deep breath.
”Well, she certainly remembers you. Looks like she’ll be willing to lend herself out for a little fun.” he smiled, shaking his head.
”I wish I didn’t need her approval, but… Well, since we’ve had to start working together, our relationship has gotten a little better. I don’t mind living the lifestyle she enjoys.”

“I assume that’s good,” Aryin joked as she looked at Lelou Faim, “I like to leave as good an impression as a girl can,” Aryin paused as she blew a kiss Lelou’s way.

Lelou's spectral form, sitting with her legs wrapped tight around Leon's shoulder and arm, swooned with her hand on her chest as her head tilted back.
”It means as long as there's pleasure in it for her, she won't try to overpower me and take the body. She associates you with a good time.” it was a little embarrassing for Leon to admit that, but reality is strange and life is short. Too short to avoid discomfort.

“There’s always a good time when I’m around,” Aryin swapped down to Aaron, before backing up to Aryin. Her form change betrayed her giddy state.

“Plus, I am a shapeshifter. I can always learn…new forms to take.. the experience could always be fresh, new, and always, always, exciting,” she looked at Leon for most of that, but she made sure that she gave Lelou the attention she was owed.

Still blushing, Leon couldn't help but laugh as he felt Lelou's excited, almost childlike reaction. He wasn't deep enough to hear her voice, but he felt the gentle unreal tugging against him.
”Don't be such a fuckin’ tease, Aryin… I can't fight with wood.”

He was a liar, of course: He could fight under any circumstance. But as they advanced into a clearing in the woods, Leon could see some of the other denizens of this wonderland they were in.
Taymore Wolves, six legged beasts standing at thrice the height of a normal dog. Their faces peeled open vertically, barks like men struggling to breathe beneath a pile of gelatin. Their twin tails wagged, and the alpha cautiously approached Leon with full knowledge of the beast within.

They were attracted to him naturally, because of Lelou's connection to the Lupine. Really, it was her essence they were interested in, and they brushed against Leon's legs as he tried to walk. Their constant companionship remained even as they made it to the spot Leon figured they'd be good to fight in.

There seemed to be plenty of follies built around the property: This particular one was a small Roman-style amphitheater, a large round area in the center was completely open to activities, and several rows of seats wrapped upward around it to give the feeling of peace and privacy.
The many wolves waited on the outskirts of this circle, as if they were patient spectators themselves.

Leon waved his hands about smoothly.
”This is plenty of space, right?” he asked.

Aryin responded by taking off her shirt, revealing a black workout focused tank. “I think this is perfect,” Aryin said as her eyes scanned the area between them. It was missing something. Namely, it was missing a fighting ring. “Get me up to speed on the temple code of conduct,” Aryin paused as she channeled her magic into a fist. This did not glow, but she remembered her lessons from Britney from yesterday and she wanted to make this fight as memorable as possible. “Namely, can I do a little landscaping before we start?”

”Lately we’ve been a bit more lax on some conduct rules… Old guard is on the way out, y’know? We’ll deal with whatever you’ve got… Well… Just, don’t destroy what’s already here.” he laughed, starting to pull his shirt off.
Lelou’s seals loosened more and more, heat building up beneath his skin as the cells of his body gained their magical charge. Lelou’s specter became more and more visible as the fog Leon produced got thicker. Soon, only the man and the formless figure riding his shoulders and gripping into his hair could be seen.

Gusts of wind gently blew through the amphitheater, pushing the rolling clouds up and away, causing little curls to climb up off of Leon. His massive arms and chest flexed, raising upward to hold her figure. Since Lelou was mostly invisible, it looked like he was striking some kind of pose.

Aryin grinned as she slammed her first into the ground, and spread her magic in a square around the two of them. The ground shook as at the four corners of that magical square pushed upwards. Soon, four wood pillars pushed through the earth until they formed the four corners of a fighting ring. Seconds later vines shot out from the trunks and wrapped around each other, and within a few seconds the fighting ring was finished and Aryin rose from the earth and cracked her neck.

“I can fix that when we’re done,” Aryin smirked as she channeled her power into her hands, causing them to glow bright before she slammed the firsts into themselves, causing a loud clap to echo through the grounds.

“You ready, pretty boy?”

There was a gentle ringing emanating from Leon's physical form as the specter of Lelou tightened her hands through Leon's hair. She tugged, pulled at his skull, and where her fingers met his hair, black became white and his eyes glazed over into a dark grey. His ice blue irises were the only things that managed to pierce through the dark as the sclera turned black like umbran pools.

When the noise stopped, the subtle transformation was over.
”Unity: Thirty Percent.”
Leon's hand flicked outward, a burst of air like an actual punch driving itself into the unfeeling gut of Aryin. He hardly moved, yet this kind of force came out of him… It was hard to imagine how hard he actually punched Alizeé the day previous.

”Ready.”

The burst of air hit Aryin in the stomach. It carried enough power that it charged some of her reserves. It carried with it a gust strong enough to blow her hair all the way back. Aryin smirked as their muscles began to glow. “Good.” Aryin took off as fast as her legs could carry her. As she got close she jumped into the air, raised an arm back with a glowing fist, and descended her strike onto Leon.

Aryin's fist drove into Leon's skull, causing the stone beneath him to buckle as it shoved deeper into the ground. It hurt significantly more than he was prepared for, which caused Leon to reel backward for several steps. Groaning, his voice turned into a growling moan.
”Oooooh… Mmmmffff…” he whined, rubbing the top of his head.

As he did so, a great deal of steam rolled out of the spot that Aryin had impacted. It gave a clearer picture of Lelou's specter: Of the tail and ears, the clawed hands still gripping into Leon's hair and dragging it upward. She was like the Jockey of a wartime beast, and both hands yarded back on Leon's mane of hair.
Both his hands moved like machines into a high guard, and he surged forward.

Feigning left, Leon let his body slump, almost hitting one knee. His left fist came from downtown, putting a tremendous amount of force into a swing he was expecting to get blocked or dodged.
It was the right fist, along with all of his good sense, that searched for a good moment to get a jab or cut on something important. If they dodged, it'd be directly into the rapidly approaching right fist hunting Aryin's face.

Aryin did not see the right fist hunting her face. Aryin raised her guard and absorbed the left strike, but her face was left to absorb the right. Aryin’s face was moved ever so slightly from the blow, more than most people could move her face. As well, the hit stung. It hurt. It actually hurt enough that Aryin stumbled backwards with a smile on her face. Leon’s speed, decisiveness, and skill was already on display from his first attack. Aryin needed to be better. She also needed to close the distance, her momentary retreat put her out of range of striking, but still in range of being hit. Aryin slowly moved back forward, guard up, before throwing a few probing jabs. Her muscles once again glowing.

Any average combatant would crumble under the power and strain caused by fighting the twin-bodied brawler. Converting impact to force was a surefire way to punch above one's weight class, and each jab that landed instantly shattered bone. It was only through the grace of Lady Lelou Faim's bottomless well of reserved energy that he was able to maintain a guard as his arms gelatinized. As they broke, they formed again within an instant, the surrounding muscle tissue actively strengthening within the body to prevent the broken bits from slipping out of place.

But he had to give them a break, or the bones were going to grow back so thick it'd be too hard to move them. Not having asked Aryin if they were expecting anything other than a boxing match, he took it upon himself to dodge low, letting one of his massive and powerful legs lash out to sweep Aryin off their feet.

This was her moment. Aryin could feel that Leon was struggling to keep up his defenses. Her durability, strength, and desire to win would give her the edge. She took another step forward as Leon dodged her strike, and suddenly the sky was in front of her vision. A moment later she crashed down to the earth with a solid thud. Her body was fine, but her leg began to scream at her. She was quickly learning that enhancing her strength with her magic reduced her durability. Aryin raised up her guard on the ground, trying to give herself a moment to breathe.

Leon was already capitalizing on the sweep. Aryin would be able to feel the heat coming off of Leon's palm as his hand wrapped around their ankle. In an instant, sky became trees, which turned into stone in their face as he ragdoll swung them into the ground. The rock floor of the atrium buckled on impact, sending stone chips high into the air.

Hoping that planting Aryin like a root into the ground would give him a few more seconds, he backed off in a single backward hop. His body slinked forward, the regrown bones coming back longer and thicker. It turned them into gorilla-like appendages, which he comfortably hunched down onto. Lower, lower, he was nearly parallel to the ground, preparing to surge forward or dodge as necessary.

Aryin was surprised. Leon had attacked her with an almost savage-like strategy, and it hurt like hell. She needed her durability back, she needed her ability to stay in the fight back, and she couldn’t risk taking another savage blow like that. Her muscles quickly stopped glowing as she rose to her feet once again. Instead, only her fists continued to glow. Aryin swapped to Aaron and channeled the magic into his hands. He started to throw jabs of his Ki Blasts, sending blast after blast. These blasts were precise. Several were leveled towards Leon himself, but a few were sent towards the ground. Each one explosive, if weak, and the ones that exploded off the ground sent a dust cloud into the air. After a few dozen blasts Aryin was back. Her guard ready, and up for any counter attack.

Feeling the welling energy before it even left their hands, Leon’s spine twisted and loosened within his body. The torso it held up slumped in an unnatural way, only pure muscular control keeping it in the same shape as it was. Rapidly generating tissue turned the midriff area into a thick, round coil of muscle, and as the blasts began to come his way, Leon pushed with all his might.
Elastic, almost rubberlike, Leon’s torso extended like a bungee cord into the space between them. At first, he stayed low to the ground, but launching off his overbuilt and empowered arms, vital areas soared up into the air in a perfect arc to crash back down onto Aaron.

Meters away, the legs almost seemed to have a mind of their own, sprinting in a strafe for a moment only to kick off into a dropkick from a completely different angle than where the torso was coming from. It was as if Leon had completely severed his spine from his lower body, and the two consciousnesses within the frame were able to independently operate each section. The power of True Unity between an Adjoined and their Apparition…

Aryin's mouth dropped at the horror before her. She did not know where to block, did she block the torso and leave herself open to the back legs? Or did she do the reverse? Which open would be the best one in a fight like this? Aryin panicked. Neither option sounded good, each choice would come with consequences. If she was going to take this hit, she would at least make sure that Leon felt it as well. She took a step into the attack as she raised her fist back. It had none of her magically enhanced strength, instead she planted both feet on the ground to become the immovable object that she so perfected, and as Leon drew closer she let loose a punch towards his midsection. She was going to use the force of Leon’s attack against him. At least, that’s what she hoped. Her eyes danced from torso to legs and back.

Leon’s entire existence rippled against the quite literally immovable surface he was trying to attack. The blow delved into the soft, thinly stretched midsection caused the back legs to shift position, flying out around Aryin’s flank. She had only successfully defended against the assault in that she took no great damage from its delivery…
But as Leon’s stretchy, ever-regenerating form carried momentum, rapidly wrapping around Aryin’s form like a serpent until the legs managed to gain traction again.

Practically attached to them, Leon planted his feet into the ground quite literally in order to hold Aryin as tight as possible. The Torso, chest and arms specifically, began to rain blows down onto Aryin’s head and upper body.

Aryin struggled to fight back. The snake-like constriction that Leon forced on her bound her arms away from each other and gave her no room to build up strength. While the blows were no longer as painful, she could feel her stored energy hitting its limits and thus, her ability to move was diminished greatly. Aryin looked up to the monstrous face of Leon and gave a small, innocent smile. Her eyes started to twinkle at him. Maybe cuteness would be the key to her continuing the fight. After a few more blows, Aryin knew that it would not. Aryin tried to pull herself free for a few moments, arms pushing and pulling, legs trying to kick herself free all the while she kept the innocent look on her face. She hoped that Leon remembered her safe word.

“Meatloaf.”

Leon, of course, remembered. That didn’t mean Lelou did, nor did she really care. The fists stopped coming all at once, leaving only the squeezing serpentine pressure of a band of muscles crushing her in between them. His voice strained, very clearly struggling in itself as he tried to tell her how to stop it all.
”Y-you… S-submit! T-to h-h-her! I c-a-an’t…-”
Ominously, his clawed hand was climbing upward and tightening into a cone shape with the claws pointed forward: A razor sharp piercing blow, should Lelou find her opponent unwilling to properly submit to her savagery. With so much energy around them, Lelou’s ethereal form had a chance to dance just beyond Leon’s body, her graceful voice a faint whisper in the dark.
”Say. I. Lose.” she growled into Aryin’s ear.

Aryin let out a weak chuckle as she watched Lelou’s form dance around Leon. While she was durable, she was losing the ability to breathe. The constriction was completely preventing her from expanding her chest. Like a person stuck in quicksand each breath she took was weaker and shallower than the last, and Aryin knew that this fight was completely finished. Despite this, this new sensation was welcomed. Aryin’s smile only grew as it got tighter. Her eyes completely fixated on the ethereal form commanding her to submit. Very few people could make her feel pain, make her feel weak, make her breathless. Leon, and Lelou, continued to surprise her. Aryin’s eyes began to twinkle once again. She blew a kiss Lelou’s way before she submitted completely, body falling limp in their grip, with the requested “I lose” escaping her lips.

An ethereal moan climaxed in Aryin’s ear, girlish squealing fading off as the phantom playfully spun away. Its arms seemed to grab at Leon’s shoulders, ripping the body out of place to let it all recoil into a neat package. Steam began to pour out of Leon from every place it could as the body consumed itself, eventually leaving him as he had always been: Raven haired, freakishly tall, and now… Nude. Of course the transformation had shredded his clothing, but Lelou’s phantom managed to gather a great deal of steam at his waist. He looked a little embarrassed as he walked toward Aryin.
”Jesus… You okay dude?!” he asked, his voice concerned.

Aryin collapsed onto her back as a series of painful gasps filled the air. She breathed fast, and hard, and she held a hand on her chest. Her eyes were fixated on the sky, and she could not move them as she felt her heartbeat at a million miles per minute. It felt like it might jump out of her chest at any given moment. Sure enough, as more and more air entered her lungs her heart slowed to a more manageable speed. She smiled as she felt life return to her body once more. Incredible. Absolutely incredible. Eventually Adonis himself appeared in the corner of her vision. She shifted her eyes down and saw Leon was naked, her eyebrows raised ever so at the sight. She pulled her knees up, resting her feet underneath them. She held up her right hand with a single thumb up to indicate that she was fine.

“That was,” Aryin gasped again and the air was once again filled with the sound of her choking, it was still a little too soon for her to talk, “incredible.”

Leon wasn’t exactly surprised to hear Aryin react like that.
”God, you’re such a masochist… Pretty sexy honestly, y’know it takes a lot to make a ghost cum.”
He could only laugh as he offered a hand to Aryin to help them get up.
”You nearly fuckin’ brained me at the start; I knew I had to turn it the fuck up from then. Sorry if it was a little overboard, but you… Well, you liked it. Let’s be honest.” he grinned, teeth still sharp as hell in his mouth.

Aryin joined in the laughter as she took his hand and allowed herself to be pulled up. It was still painful to breathe, but she was almost breathing as normal as she could right now. Aryin, once on her feet, ran a finger across Leon’s chest. Her eyes followed where her finger moved. She eventually slowly raised them all the way up to match Leon’s. “What can I say, you are one of the toughest people I know. I knew I had to start strong if I had any chance. It turned out though that you,” Aryin paused as her whole hand moved across his chest. This time she spoke to Leon and his lady, “it turns out that you finish was even stronger.”

Aryin paused as she pulled her hand away. The word masochist lingered in her mind. “I like strength, and feeling new things. You delivered.”

Leon couldn’t help but maintain the grin. His hand swept down to grab Aryin’s and he stepped away slightly.
”Come on… Let’s go get sweatier.” he winked. ”But first… We should probably move the cars. Besides, if we get back up to the property, we’ll have comfortable beds to lay in after.”
Tucking her close, he started to walk.
”I’m glad I can make you feel new things. Did you learn new things too?” he casually asked.

“Lead the way. I need a bit more action, and a comfortable bed after.” Aryin smiled brightly as she followed close. While she did have a full day moving after this, she could be a bit selfish in the morning. She’d earned as much, and Leon earned it doubly so. Aryin’s mind lingered on the final question. She learned a lot. Her boxing training had allowed her to fight the mundane fight more efficiently, but a lot of the rules of said fight went out the window when fighting the magical. “Start strong, push the advantage early, and don’t rely on defense if the opponent outclasses it,” Aryin answered as she looked straight ahead, “don’t be afraid to be the aggressor, I’m strong. I’m fast. I’m not as durable when I’m strong, and I need to be decisive when I’m pushed back. Show strength, even in defeat.”

Leon rubbed Aryin’s shoulder playfully as they walked along, proud of them for such insight.
”I think that’s a great assessment. But I will say, as someone who knows you, I was a bit afraid of your defense… It’s pretty intimidating knowing that no matter what you’re gonna do, the other person’s just not going to flinch. Maybe we can develop your style into something more robust. Like… Like Judo! If you timed it right, you almost certainly could’ve taken the initial impact and redirected me in time to avoid the legs…”

He thought about what that must’ve looked like to them.
”That was probably a trip, huh? Legs and torso not working together like you think?” he giggled.

“Bro.” Aryin couldn’t continue the conversation for a moment. “That form legit scared me. I did not know you could do that, and I saw that coming right at me and I panicked, I’ve seen a lot of apparition and monsters but that was the first time I saw anything like that.”. Aryin laughed as she pushed her body into Leon, holding the physical contact for a minute. “If it gives me nightmares I’ll be sure to ask to spend the night. You know, for safety and comfort.”

Aryin paused as she moved away from Leon, extended her hand to still be held even with the distance. “And I think some mixed martial arts will be in my immediate future. With a teacher like you I’ll be a force to reckon with in no time.”

Recollections: The Compendium

THE.EMPEROR'S.TANTO
| The Last Murakin Oath | "Of the Ten, it's said the Toad clings tightest to life." ORIGINS & CREATIONS: | It's said by some that Ten Paths Kai forged each of the Beast Arms within their respective spheres of Uesekai, where each Beast gave a piece of themselves to form the Pacts of Kin. Others say that Kai's hand never touched them, and that each branch of the Kin Clan were directly bestowed the ceremonial armaments upon reception of their Pact. The only fact anyone can agree on is that it's been so long that nobody remembers the truth, so the speculation forever continues. | TYPE: | Legendary Beast Arm | LOCATION: | Recently transfered to the Nomad Guild HQ after its establishment. | NOTABLE OWNERS: | Being one of the ten Beast Arms of Uesekai, it is believed that this blade was first utilized by Tennogama, Emperor Toad and Great Beast of the Gama Pact. Due to the nature of it's usage, however, only a handful of Murakin Clansmen have ever wielded it for longer than necessary to defend their Hidden Village. Kenshiro Murakin, the last of his line, earns the distinction of wielding this Beast Arm longer than any other Kin Pactkeeper. | ABSTRACTION-GRANTING: | No, but it's close. | .............................................................................	The Emperor's Tanto is one of the Ten Beast Arms of the realm of the Golden Beasts: Uesekai. Thousands of years ago, a being of great power came to Uesekai, and claimed to be a God of another world. Through trickery, deciet and combat, each of the Ten Kingdoms of Uesekai were brought to heel, and each of their great leaders were in turn taken under pact, with the one called Kai sealing each of their souls within powerful armaments that would bridge the gap between Uesekai and The Shimmer. In the heart of Gama, in the Crown Temple of the Heavenly Toad Emperor, the body of Tennogama is interred and prayed over day after day by the Heavenly Priesthood. It is their energy which allows Tennogama's soul to remain linked to the Shimmer, with his blade acting as the physical medium from which he conducts himself. This, along with the others like it, Sage Kai distributed among the Kin clan - they who would later spread themselves among the Palette Clans as an evenly distributed shade of the Painter. To the Purple and Gold, Mura-Kin, The Emperor's Tanto was given as the power of the toad and their kind over the celestial forces. The blade itself, while sheathed in the hands of a human, is nothing more than a personal defense weapon of the most personal order. Six inches in length, its blade is suited only for being kept tight to one's belt, or to slit themselves open in honorable suicide. When channeled with Purple Lux, however, the blade and hilt expand to the size of an intimidating Ōdachi; thus allowing the blade to expel that energy in razor sharp waves of gravity. A Pacted individual, such as a member of the Murakin Clan, may additionally channel their Gold Lux into the blade in order to tap into the raw energy of Tennogama himself. This allows the individual to take on a toad-like form, increasing their individual strength, endurance and capability to channel Purple Lux.

Recollections: Under The Sycamore Tree Part. 1

New Temple NPC just dropped!!!

Lena Zöller

Alena.Zöller

25 | Alena Zöller | She/Her

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"Shame is for those burdened by Conscience."

Description:

Born to Vladimir and Hellen Zöller, "Lena" is the final link to a family who once tried to dip toes into two different ponds. While Vladimir, a vehement Nazi, served as a Lieutenant to the wretched Kaiser Draeger and his Sonnenrad Fasci-Cult, Hellen was a well-established friend of Lynette Richoux. Through this friendship, Hellen attempted to foster and maintain some vague semblance of peace between the powerful Sonnenrad and the still-chafing Temple of Charming and Graceful Individuals. Vladimir's interests were far from his established family, leaving Hellen and their children with relative freedom to seek out alternative lifestyles. His only rule, Lena remembers, was that if Kaiser had a problem, then he would remove the problem. Through skill, will and wit, Hellen managed to keep Lena and her younger siblings well out of the way of Kaiser Draeger and their Father, where word would never reach them about what those girls were doing.

As the Eldest, Lena felt responsible for insuring that her sisters stayed safe while they were kept mostly on Temple grounds. It was there she became friends with the likes of the Richoux siblings and their peripheries, and soon she was a well socialized young girl. Only, that age old problem when participating as a member of the Temple: As years passed, Lena simply wouldn't Kindle. Her Father was one of the premier Green Lux Adepts in St. Portwell, and Hellen herself was Adjoined to an Apparition which few people had ever seen. Yet, as her younger siblings Kindled, year after year, nothing came for her. The blessings skipped her.
Loneliness, sadness; Eventually she found herself seeking the arms of her Father. In those dying days, Kaiser and his ilk were desperate for soldiers. Desperate for anything to turn the tide, or just another body to see brought down with them. She was happily taken in and forcibly Adjoined. She thought they would be her family, and that her companion Apparition would help fill the void she'd fallen into as she became a teen...

As magical warfare opened in the St. Portwell streets, Lena was doing everything she could to impress her Father and Draeger by using her new abilities to kill their enemies in greater and greater numbers. Eventually, conflict between Sonnenrad and the Temple became unavoidable. As Hellen chose her Sisterhood and the love she received from them, she was... Still just an Adjoined. She was the first to volunteer, to insure that someone else may live, and in these conflicts Mother and Daughter clashed more than once. They were painful, emotional battles that left Lena scarred more emotionally than physically. It became harder to cope until she was unwilling to fight as she had. When she became useless, Draeger finally gave Vladimir the queue...
Were it not for Hellen's timely rescue, their fates may have been swapped. She never would've died for the daughter she couldn't hold onto... But Lena never would've turned on the Kaiser. She never would've had the opportunity to rip Vladimir Zöller in half as he reveled in the slaughter of his traitorous wife. She never would've returned to the Temple, or accepted reeducation, or accepted being scrubbed clean of her sins and the blood on her hands to be returned to those she'd abandoned.

Alena has never forgiven herself for her fate... But she's yet to forgive anyone else either.

Abstraction:

Lena is Adjoined to the Apparition known as Aufseher, Rute and Kette.
A master/slave entity, this spirit consists of a main controller manifested by a large pair of eyes that hover behind Lena as well as two massive black gauntlets that flank her on either side. Aufseher, or Warden, shares full sensory usage of the body with Lena, and the two can separate from one another within a certain radius. This allows Lena to maintain total awareness of her surroundings, as the phantom eyes are capable of passing through non-warded surfaces and are capable of transmitting all five senses back to Lena from their position.

The more dangerous aspect are the gauntlets, which when summoned are fully tangiable objects that are roughly the size of an average dumpster when sat next to one another. Strong enough to crush vehicles, dexterous enough to screw in a lightbulb without breaking it, these gauntlets perfectly mimic the controller's hand movements, and the material they're made out of absorbs surrounding Lux projections like a Black Hole absorbs surrounding material. Projectile spells, fellow close-quarters buffs; the gauntlets are two hungry guard dogs who hunt for their meal of Lux; and the Warden holds the leash.

Recollections: Under The Sycamore Tree Part. 1

& &

Mood Music

Edict & Linqian & Henri

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Mentions: Britney Williams, Aryin/Aaron Thorne, Anya Baksh, Lila Blackwood, Jinhai Han | Written in collaboration with @FernStone | Location: The House on the Hill > Edict's Apartment

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The meeting had been a shitshow stopped at just the right moment by a timely fire alarm. Linqian had already been planning to head out, but it gave an easy excuse to get the fuck out of there. Though with Britney in some kind of conversation with the not-a-kid, that was their easy ride out of there gone.

Thankfully, Edict had them covered - all it took was a quick call to have another car on the way.

Fucking rich asshole.

Linqian lit the cigarette she'd pulled out a while back as they walked a bit away from the main group, making sure to keep a tight grip on it and blowing the smoke away from Edict. Cheap shit, the kind of stuff he was likely to try snatch from her lips and throw away - and she really wasn't for waste right now.

”Well, that was an absolute shitshow,” she said, with a shrug. With her brother's voice in her head it was easier to reflect on the meeting without getting all tense about it, but it had still gone to shit. Very little decided... Again. She was still seriously considering striking it out with just Aryin to hunt the fucking murderer down themselves. ”Thank fuck Lila suggested that group shit, so I don't-”

She was cut off by her phone buzzing in her coat pocket. There weren't many people who'd call her, so it was either her brother or her (other) boss. She pulled it out with a frown. Andre, right. Less worrying than it being Henri.

”One minute, got to take this,” Linqian said to Edict before picking up.

”What?- I'll take whatever tone I want with you... Tonight?- Fuck no, I'm busy... I got loads of shit going on, fuck off... Just fire Sophie! She never does shit, hire someone more reliable, stop calling me! Yeah I need the money, but I can't-” The hand not holding her phone to her ear jerked about, trail of smoke following the aggressive motions. It was more comedic than it was scary, similar to the way she used to bicker with Jinhai. ”Oh, threatening to cut my pay again? Well you can go kneel at my mother's grave and beg for her forgiveness, cause her ghost won't be so fucking nice, Andre- Right, fine, you were just asking… Wednesday. Don't fucking call tomorrow, I'm busy too. I'll see you Wednesday.”

Linqian rolled her eyes, slipping her phone back into her pocket. She turned her head towards Edict with a languid smile. Unbothered, even after what sounded like a lot of aggression. She figured there was no point starting with any actual business while waiting around for a car, so she went with just complaining a bit. ”It's a fucking pain being in such high demand. As if I'd work a shift tonight after doing double Saturday and then yesterday- Well, I didn't really work in that way yesterday. I certainly worked out.”

Her eyebrows raised, smile turning more smug, before taking another drag of her cigarette.

“Oh, cram it… Like I wanna hear about you gettin’ stuffed by the big bad wolf.” Edict started off, knowing that it was going to be a long ride.

She was mostly relaxed now, even if he was acutely aware that he'd planted a funny little virus in her brain. His Jinhai construct had, at the very least, taken her off the doom spiral course and into a state where she could function. Function enough to think about getting plowed…
That fuck… Not even transparent cult shit? Because Ruby is familiar. More like she's actual family.

“You don't make much sense to me sometimes… Didn't I offer you a job? Not like some fuckin’ bullshit mafioso job like whats between us right now: And certainly not some dead end Temple bar where your boss plays cozy for a bunch of crazy people. A real job being in charge of real people…”

Edict ignored the whiff of shitty cigarette stench that rolled past him in favor of lighting his own. They were standing on the front side of the main area road, both pressed up against a shop's exterior wall. A scene not so uncommon ten years ago, when they would both loiter with their cheap smokes to bitch for fifteen minutes together.

Edict softened, clearing his throat.
“I'm serious… There is no catch: I think you'd be good at it once you got the hang of being a manager. I know it doesn't sound glamorous, but it's not a small position… More than enough for me to get you set up on payroll right now, and you never have to worry about that prick bothering you again…”

That piece of shit, tell him to fuck off. Don’t accept anything. Just walk-

”That ‘prick’ you’re talking about knew my mom her whole life, so watch it,” Linqian retorted, though there was very little bite to it, as much as Jinhai yapping away in her head wanted there to be.
”You offered me a job for after this shit is done. My bills don’t stop, and my debts sure don’t get fucking smaller. It’s not the lack of glamour- I mean fuck, what kinda glamourous job do you think a highschool dropout would be doing? This bar job’s one of the best I’ve had cause I can actually say no.”

None of it was said aggressively, rather just with blunt honesty, which she continued talking with. She watched him closely, trying to figure out if he was being honest. Was there really no catch?
”You’re actually serious? Look, a stable job and pay is all I fucking want… but I’m not quitting the bar one. I’ll reduce my hours, one day a week or fucking whatever if that’s what I need to, but I can’t. It’s not even a lack of trust- What happens if you die? I’d be fucked, again.”

“Linqian, that's the fucking point.” Edict grunted through a cloud of smoke.
“The farm, the club, the fucking… I have legitimate business with legitimate people! I'm not a fucking monolithic dictator sucking my wealth from the state, I'm a business man! Entrepreneurship with a self-replicating bankroll that I can use to expand. The people who I deal with down in Louisiana are starving for full time leadership, and right now the person I have doing the part time work can only handle so much. I'll fucking… Payroll you now. We'll go, we'll do the paperwork; but for God's sake, get some fucking sleep for a change. You nearly blew up your spot, and if people start to see you as a loose cannon, they'll be less likely to work with you!”

Edict was fantastic at jabbering. He jabbered, and did it some more before he finally took another cigarette drag.

“Besides… There's more pressing issues than work right now. If it takes me paying off your entire life for you to focus on that, I'll take the short term financial impact.”
His voice shifted slightly as a recognizable car turned down the boulevard.
“I need you to promise me something… That for the next twenty minutes, you will refrain from any sort of physical violence? I know it sounds weird now, but it'll make sense real soon…-”

The car pulled to a stop in front of them, and a young man got out of the driver's seat in a fresh suit. He practically sprinted to the back of the car, opening the carriage style door for Edict and Linqian to slip into.
Inside was a private rear cabin, the slight stretch of the vehicle allowing for two bench seats facing one another to be installed. Edict let Linqian get in first, then slipped into the seat opposite of her.
“My place, Fenzo. Thank you, my man.” Edict politely instructed, slipping a hundred note to the driver before they were closed into the private space.

Just punch him right now. In fact, use your magic. I won’t tell you to hold back. Don’t promise that.
”I’ve never fucking hit you for all I threatened it, have I? But fine, I promise, twenty minutes,” Linqian leaned back, folding her arms in front of her chest. As much as the car was really nice it was so fancy she struggled to relax. Which was probably good, because it prevented her from nodding off immediately.
I’m counting down the minutes.

Linqian laughed out of nowhere - at least it would look that way to Edict. She tapped her head. ”Honestly, you’ve no idea how much I’m fucking holding myself back right now. This is way too fucking realistic- but fine, I get it. Most people already don’t want to work with me, but that’s not the fucking point, is it… I don’t want to die. So give me the paperwork, I’ll cut back on the other shit, and I’ll actually sleep. So long as I can keep a roof over my brother’s head and don’t have to worry about the debt collectors calling round, I don’t give a shit.”

Edict didn’t want to mince words. If he had twenty minutes, it meant he had to calm her back down with Jinhai in her head. He couldn’t hear it, but a gentle prod into the recent opening let him know it was working overtime.
”Linqian? Your brother Henri… Uh… Look, I know you told me to keep away, but I’ll come clean with you. I don’t know if he told you like I told him to, but the kid Kindled. Recently, not so recent, but recent enough that he’s got no clue what he’s doing. But the kid’s strong, he’s… He’s learning, Linqian. About us, about you and Jinhai. I’m teaching him. The right way.”

His words hung in the air, waiting for swift and furious retribution.

”He told me.”
Linqian’s tone didn’t change - in fact it was entirely monotonous. Cold. Just like the temperature in the car, plummeting towards painfully cold without causing any actual damage. Her left hand covered the other, fingers touching the two wedding rings on her right ring finger. Her eyes narrowed.
I told you so. He can’t be trusted. Do you understand now, Qian-er? This is why I made you cut him off. This is all a game to him.

Somehow, Jinhai’s own vitriol calmed her down enough to stop her from immediately breaking her promise. Her skin was visibly pallid, the kind it went when her temperature dropped enough to actually hurt someone, but she didn’t make any more movements. Not that she raised the air temperature at all.
”What gave you the right to teach him? I told you to keep away for a fucking reason- and I told him to stay away from everyone too, fuck. Fuck, you piece of shit. If you’ve messed with his mind, that’s it, twenty minutes or not, I don’t give a fuck. And- and you told him to tell me?! Did you tell him to do it like that?! Acting like he thought I was going to fucking disown him or some shit. Fuck!”

Her hand jerked out to the side, punching the car wall - not denting it, but frost spiralled out from where it contacted.
”Give me one reason why I should believe any of this shit you’ve said before this- fuck, why I shouldn’t just beat your ass in-”
Seventeen and a half minutes.
”Seventeen and a half minutes.”

”Because when you go and ask him what I’ve taught him, you’ll know that every single bit of it has been true. Linqian, I came here with the same bullshit I left with. I was still holding onto it until I saw that kid. Until he let me in, and I saw who he was, and I felt fucking ashamed. You hear me, Jinhai? When have I ever felt fucking guilty about something? That fucking kid, he’s got these… These eyes, and they suck up all the light and the space in the room, they drag it all into one spot, I fuckin’-”

Edict shoved both of his hands forward, holding them out to Linqian.
”-Fucking kill me now if you think that’s necessary! If that’s really how you feel, like you can’t listen to my explanation, or give me the chance to prove to you that I’m trying to be fucking better, then just end it! Cash me out here!”

Jinhai was silent.
Linqian glared at Edict, seriously considering it. To protect her brother from someone that could be a threat, as much as she was starting to trust him. But it was that same need to protect Henri that stopped her. Everything that Edict said made sense. Henri was so bright, he lit up the room, and he brought out the best in people. He could make someone like Edict want to change just by being himself… that was exactly what her brother was like. He was her whole world, and she’d do anything to keep him safe. Sacrifice herself, kill someone, and… let someone else near him that could protect him too.

Her hands shot forward to grab his. On first contact it would be like holding ice, a sharp burn that quickly disappeared when her temperature moved back towards normal. Her expression didn’t change - still pissed off, scowling murderously. She held onto Edict’s hands like he might somehow jump out of the car rather than agree to what she was about to say.
”Promise that you won’t hurt him. In fact, promise that you’ll protect him if you have to. If I die, you make sure he doesn’t. If for some fucking reason there’s a choice between me and him, if one of us is going to die, you choose him. Every fucking time. Promise, and I won’t kill you.”

Edict’s eyes turned cold and dead. It was an expression that, until now, Linqian never would’ve seen him make in her life. It wasn’t the pain of being nearly frost-bitten, or how hard she was still gripping onto his wrists. He didn’t speak for a long moment, face slowly and surely narrowing the gap between them. When he finally spoke, it was darkness that left his lungs and traveled across the air into her ears.
”I will kill, and kill, and kill again. For that smile.”

He didn’t stop staring at her. Directly into her eyes. Into her soul.
”But we need to buckle you down too. No more work. Not so much that you can’t train. Britney and Me, we never stopped working on our magic. It’s good she got you out this morning, but it can’t just be a morning.”

Taking a deep breath, he finally pulled his torso back into the seat normally.
”And I’m thinking about renting a house. A bigger house: You, Henri, me, Brit, Aryin… Anyone looking to be included in our operations. I’m sorry, but we can’t keep that poor kid out of the loop, not with how he feels about you possibly getting hurt. We’ve gotta include him, and he’s gotta learn how to defend himself. God forbid something happened to him and he couldn’t do anything to stop it.”

Linqian took a deep breath too. It was what she needed to hear. She was pissed still, but just like Henri’s smile was enough to have Edict trying to change his ways, it was enough for her to push down her anger. For him.
Don’t even fucking consider it, Linqian. I’d sooner die than have you live with him.
”Seriously, use your inside voice… and you’re already dead,” Linqian groaned in Chinese, pulling a hand back to press against her head as Jinhai absolutely yelled within her mind. It was almost funny, if the current topic wasn’t so serious.
”This is honestly too realistic- ah-”

She grimaced, forcing the switch back to English, and back to the actual topic at hand - the one more important than making conversation with a fake Jinhai with an anti-Edict agenda as big as the real one.
”Aryin’s going to be delighted when she has to move again, since she’s moving into mine tomorrow… Which used to house five, by the way, but I won’t complain if you’re looking for somewhere larger- as much as I’m wary about it. You’re- fuck he’s going to yell in my head again, and I hate to admit it too, but you’re right. I thought that keeping it from my brother would keep him safer, but now that he has magic… Well, fuck, he’s at risk just by being in the city.”
Give him my spellbook and it won’t be a problem.

Just like she often had before his death, Linqian ignored Jinhai.
”I’ll train too. It’s not that I didn’t want to, I just didn’t have the fucking time. You think my sleep now is bad, you should’ve seen when I was working two full time jobs- but fuck, that’s not important. I started working on three spells this morning, but one’s fucking useless, so I need to keep trying… and I need to not work for that. Fuck! I’m still so fucking pissed at you, and it’s worse that everything you’re fucking saying makes sense. Fuck.”

She groaned, conflicted with all the emotions clashing in her mind while being squished into a corner by the Jinhai voice talking over them.
”When the fuck did you really start caring? Just when you got inside his head?”

Edict’s face deflated. She was going to hit him.
”Seriously? Fuck, Linqian, anywhere but the face…-” he mumbled before holding up his hands.
”I was… I was going to feed him a line. Get him hooked, to get under your skin and make sure you would stay in line when things got heavier… It wasn’t the first time I was in his head, more like the second. But he…”

Edict paused, staring at Linqian with a slacked jaw.

Without a single thought, Linqian shot forward, one freezing cold hand grabbing his hands to shove them out the way and another ice cold fist slamming right into his chest. It remained there and pressed in, forcing him to feel the painfully low temperature as frost spiralled across her clothing and almost seemed to form in her eyes.

But she didn’t follow up with another punch, pulling back to sit down across from him again, temperature lowering.
”I’m holding back for him, so keep fucking explaining.”

Thankful for the vest plate under his shirt, Edict accepted that she’d broken their agreement and decided to move on with minimal resistance.

”-He took me to your fucking childhood home. I saw pictures of you, your family, it was all in his mind. The kind of picture I would paint. In that moment, I wasn’t me anymore, I was… I was me from so long ago, Linqian! I was fucking younger than him again, I saw myself in him; every little part of me I thought these fucking ingrates burned to death! Him and his fucking smile, and his goofy curly hair, the way he fucking loves the two of you! You and… Jinhai… And how much he wants to keep you safe, Linqian! You’re the only thing he has left!”
Linqian would easily be able to feel the bubbling of pink Lux filling the cabin of the car as tears welled up in Edict’s eyes.

”Please don’t let this be how things are, Linqian… I wept in front of him, and I’ll weep in front of you, manhood be damned. I want to be a better man, Linqian. For Britney, for you, and Henri… Fuck proving the babbling ghost in your head wrong, Fuck proving the rest of the Coven wrong: They’re right. I’m still a piece of shit. But I can’t change that without y’all.”

She knew what he’d seen, because it was a real place - somewhere shitty and small and messy, but filled with love. It was a home that didn’t exist anymore outside of Henri’s head. Henri himself was her home now… She couldn’t lose him, but she couldn’t let him lose her either.

But with Edict crying, she wasn’t entirely sure how to react, just staring at him as pink Lux smothered her emotional field without trying to actually get in. It wasn’t that she hadn’t seen other people- men- crying. Henri did all the time, and there were times when Jinhai did too. It was different with them…
”You might as well just confess your love putting me in the same sentence as Brit, haha,” she joked through the awkwardness, waving a hand in front of her face.

”I… I’m not standing on some fucking high ground where I can give second chances or shit. Henri is everything to me- so fucking be as awful as you want to everyone else, so long as you don’t hurt him, or me, or Brit… Change or whatever it is you need to do for that, so I can actually fucking trust you, and it’s-” Linqian let out an exasperated hiss, pinching the bridge of her nose. She really hated talking about such serious shit, even when it was someone she knew had deep dived into her mind and seen it all anyway.
”It’s not like I fucking trust anyone, alright? But it’s only because it’s you that I haven’t actually fucking killed you over it- You, Brit, Aryin. That’s it, outside of my brother.”

Her hands went back to her lap, fiddling with the wedding rings, a clearly non-confrontational posture.
”Do all of that for us, then, and I’ll try trust you- and Brit too.”

”There’s gonna come a point where you’ll need to take a leap of faith with me. Every bit of you is going to rail against me, and it’s going to look like I’m a filthy liar… But I’m wrapped up in something bad, Linqian. Something that I need to stick with, or we may never really know what’s going on with Father Wolf. I came into it with bad intentions, and they really think I’m in with them. They tried to hurt that kid, I’m certain of it.”

Greyson did his best to rope himself back in, taking a deep breath and leaning back into the seat again. His hand flipped through his pocket and started to rummage until he pulled out his cigarette case. One practically flipped into his mouth, and he held out the box to Linqian.
”So… In case anything happens to me, we need to set this up as soon as possible. It’s hard enough getting your crew to cover one another if anyone gets pinched, never mind cursory orbits. I haven’t talked to Brit about moving, but I don’t think she’s going to want to. Not even with this sub-group shit.”

Linqian took a cigarette, not even bothering with a lighter, managing to heat up just her finger tip enough for it to start burning at the tip. A sign of her growing control after just one training session.
”I’ll try take that leap of faith when it comes to it… But that shit aside, it’ll be hard to move if she doesn’t want to. I don’t think Aryin will be too happy about living with you, but I’ll be able to convince her. Can you convince Brit? Cause I don’t see how this shit works if you can’t… Well, I already live with Henri and Aryin- nearly- but five is better than three when it comes to watching each other’s backs. I don’t fucking know, I’m not a thinker… I’ll follow your lead with that.”

She took a long drag of the cigarette, holding the smoke in her mouth before sighing it out without much care for how it filled the space. They were both smokers anyway.
”One thing. Before we move on with this house shit- and the payroll stuff too- we’re sitting down and talking with Henri. The three of us, because I’m not dealing with anymore fucking secrets there.”

”Then we've gotta get to my apartment: I've been letting him use it to get out of the house, I've got games and shit. Him and his buddy… Uh… What's the name…?”
Greyson pulled out his phone and didn't see the tell-tale text Henri was instructed to send whenever he left. It was the deal to confirm that everything was spotless and in the same shape in which he found it.

”Louis.” Linqian pressed her free hand to her forehead, feeling a headache coming on with each new piece of information. She wasn't particularly happy that Edict had just had her brother at his apartment, and that this had been going on for almost a week without her knowing… but it was better than him out in less safe locations.
”Your apartment, then. Anything else you want to tell me? You haven't been training him to use fucking guns or anything, have you?”

Edict looked at Linqian with a strained expression on his face that could only have been his admission and resignation of his fate.
”Y'know, the guys love him. Started calling him ‘Q-Tip’ ‘cuz of the… Hair…”
The car ride to Edict's apartment was certainly hot for all the wrong reasons. Upstairs, there was a gentle beeping that Henri would've come to know as someone making their way up the elevator coming toward the penthouse. It usually only happened when Edict was coming home, so it served as a good warning to get their ducks in a row before he showed up.

”Hide the booze!” Henri yelled dramatically as he threw a game controller to the side, character on the screen quickly getting shot in the head. He jumped up, looking around in a panic at the pizza boxes spread out over the place as well. He thought they had more time!

“It's four cans of beer, and I can legally drink,” Louis commented, not even bothering to get up from the couch, eyes still concentrating on shooting as many other players as he could… before Henri went over and kicked him in the shin.

”I can't! Its- it's all yours then,” Henri shoved the cans of beer - two empty, two unopened, all over to Louis' feet and then started to close open, half eaten pizza boxes too. Otherwise the place wasn't an awful mess - they were a few strewn pieces of clothing, both men having discarded hoodies, jackets and shoes in random locations on the way in.

“You respawned,” Louis pointed out. “I'm going to shoot-”

”Don’t you dare!” Henri jumped to grab his controller, thought of tidying up completely discarded in favour of getting more kills in the somewhat realistic shooter game they were playing.

The elevator opened to an argument.
”-ian, I swear to God! I swear, it has not been that serious! I took him to a racket once to get a quiet space so I could do an exam, then after that it's all very casual stuff! You guys ain't even Italian! Not even a little! What makes you think I'd even wa-”
Greyson rounded the corner trying to avoid Linqian. Turning his head, he looked into the living room at the two younger men.

”Oh! OH! Henri!? Help me!”

”Greyson! Help you with what- Jie?!” Henri's expression went from a bright and cheerful grin at Greyson's appearance to wide eyed terror as Linqian came round the corner right after him.

”Don’t try and fucking drag him into it, Greyson,” Linqian hissed, pointing a slightly glowing finger at him. Not that she'd gone to punch him again… entirely… but heating up the elevator on the way up wasn't exactly pleasant.
”You think I give a fuck if it's casual or serious, I don't fucking want him around them, I barely want him around you and I'm seriously fucking regretting-”

”Jiejie, why are you here, I thought you had a meeting!” Henri bounded forward, physically putting himself in between Linqian and Edict. He put his hands on her shoulders with a bright grin that had her temperature lowering immediately. ”I don't know what you're arguing about, but I'm sure it can be resolved if you sit down and listen to each other's side!”

“Yeah, take a chill pill, Linqian,” Louis commented from the couch.

”Shut up, Louis, don't make me call your dad,” Linqian snapped, before looking up at Henri with a heavy frown. ”We’re fucking arguing about you.”

Henri's eyes widened again, head snapping towards Greyson, then back to Linqian. He hadn't even realised at first… oh shit! ”It’s not what it looks like, Jie, I swear!”

”I didn't say cover your own ass, Henri! I already told her everything, there's no point in lying. Just… Tell Linqian how you've been doing for the last week! In fact, why don't you show her the progress we've made!?” Greyson was trying to find a damage control method that would keep her from freaking out more.

If Henri showed her how responsible and diligent they'd been, he figured maybe she'd ease up!

”Oh! Oh- everything?! Even those things I asked for advice about cause I was too embarrassed to ask her?!” Henri asked with wide eyes.

”What things.” Linqian narrowed her eyes.

”Nothing! Look, look, Jie! I showed you what I could do before, right? I could absorb light but not do much with it, but look…” Henri held out a hand, absorbing light from one of the many in the room. Then, in a burst of speed, he dashed around the room - so fast it was only visible by the after trail, and the breeze it kicked up. ”I can also shoot a blast of it- I won't do that here- and heal myself. Hit me and I'll prove it!”

”I’m not hitting you, Yi-er,” Linqian stepped back, arms folded and still clearly pissed. But she wasn't aggressively going after Greyson anymore, so it was a step in the right direction. ”How do you even know that- you know what, fuck it… Is that all?”

“No! There's more… Louis, shoot a bunch of guns- in the game!" Henri shouted loudly enough that Linqian winced, trying to ignore the exhaustion headache that was just making her grouchier about this whole thing. A bunch of gunshots rattled off from the speakers, before going completely silent - while Louis was still quite happily shooting random people in the game. “Look, I can absorb and use sound now too!"

He reached out for Linqian with one arm, easily lifting her up… before going to do the same with Greyson, enhanced strength more than enough to pick both of them up at once. “We've been training really hard, Jie, I promise!"

”Fine, I get it, just fucking put me down,” Linqian grunted out, visibly softening. She could stay pissed with Greyson for hours, but as soon as Henri was involved and present… it was impossible. She'd always been to soft on him.

Greyson happily swung his legs, no longer the direct target.
”See? No harm, no foul. And tell her how safe we've been at the range and stuff…”
He stopped, pointing at Louis.
”You too! Don't act all innocent, I've been letting you hang around us and help him too… You got nothing to defend your buddy with? Anecdotes, anything?”

While he was mostly joking, peanut galleries were some of his least favorite social happenings. Spectators… Freeloaders stealing their entertainment from the frustration and pain of others.
”My point, Linqian, is that if I thought we were doing things the wrong way, I'd have kept it hidden from you, and the only thing you would've heard is that he was magic. Also my idea for him to tell you in the first place…”

“She's got my dad's number, I defend him and I get a beating when I get home,” Louis said with a shrug. “But he's been real chill, Linqian, nothing dangerous.”

”Right! It's been super safe, if anything, Greyson's made it safer- remember that one time we all went to a range for fun and I kept doing stuff the instructors couldn't stand? Well he doesn't let me do any of that!” Henri put both Linqian and Greyson down, turning to her with a pleading expression. ”He’s right! I wasn't going to tell you because I didn't want you to have more to worry about…”

”Fine! Fine.” Linqian let out a hissing breath, stepping back again and tilting her head back. Fuck, she wanted another cigarette, but that would mean going back outside. Just because she was calming down didn't mean she was done talking. ”I understand. I'm still not fucking happy about it, but I'm not going to beat your asses over it. It's as safe as bringing my little brother around any mafioso could be… and you fucking told me about it, even if it was a week.”

”Yeah, yeah, that's right, Jie! And you're real hard to tell stuff sometimes, yknow, you get all mad! So we can move on-”

”We’ve still got plenty to talk about,” Linqian cut him off with a sigh, before also pointing at Louis. She just looked tired more than anything now, as her explosive temper dimmed like it always did, quick as it came. ”You go home. In fact, go to the bar, cover Sophie’s shift so I have one less thing to worry about.”

“Well I know when I'm not welcome!” Louis joked, hopping up. He went over to Henri first, patting his shoulder and leaning in. “Good luck explaining the beers without me.”

Then he disappeared in a blink of green and purple, leaving the three of them.

”They're not mine,” Henri said immediately, pointing to the beer cans.

”Oh, Henri, what the fuck… You gonna sit and lie to two troublemakers? Who ‘you foolin’?” Greyson lifted a hand and swept it forward, his eyes narrowing in judgement of Henri’s fibbing.
”Who cares, man? A couple beers at eighteen ain’t gonna kill you. But lying? That could definitely get you killed anytime. Now-”

Going into his pocket for another cigarette, he held the case up to Linqian and took a deep breath in order to light his own.
”Pay attention, because this is important: As far as what we’ve been doing goes? She knows. Some things we’ve talked about? Not so much. Private, man things… Not vulgar, but… We’ve got different emotions, and without your older brother, you ain’t had many people to talk about that stuff with. It’s fine, and that’ll always be between us. But, whatever is magic? You make sure she and I both know what’s going on at all times. We’ve gotta be on the same page: The three of us. So, how do you feel about moving out of your house and into a new one with me?”

”Got it- wait, what?! Like- like with just you?!” Henri's mouth fell open, shock quickly coming after the relief that Greyson hadn't shared any of those private things they'd talked about… the magic and what they'd been doing was fine. He was glad it was all out in the open. ”I’m not sure…”

Linqian took a cigarette with a frown, but didn't actually light it. She didn't like smoking around Henri - he was the reason she'd been able to almost quit in the first place, even if Jinhai's death had sent her right back to doing it far too much again. ”I’m moving too. Me, you, Greyson, Britney and Aryin… remember I told you about her, you'll meet her tomorrow anyway.”

Henri scratched his chin as he thought about it. ”Well, if Jie's going too and she's already agreed to it! I love our current place but it's not got much space… and living with more people will be fun!”

”You have the largest room in the house- And it's for safety, not fun,” Linqian rolled her eyes.
”We’ll move back when everything's over…”
”What about Ge? He's still…”
”Hopefully we can have a proper funeral before then,” Linqian said, in a much quieter voice, with a sigh. It was easier for her to talk about when there was still the occasional comment from not real Jinhai in her mind, but the reality of her brother's ashes sitting in her closet was never a fun one to have brought up.

”That was also something… I know the last thing Jinhai would’ve wanted was me picking up the tab for his funeral, but every bit of my blood feels uneasy not having him properly rested. We may never have liked one another, but that doesn’t mean I can’t respect him. Right? So, that’s covered. We’ll get that done as soon as you’re willing.”
Which was the same kind of truth Greyson had given to Henri at the outset.
”But, it’ll be fun too, Henri. A property I’ve been interested in on the bay opened up, so we’ll have direct access to the ocean. You’ll all have your own space, the rooms are big enough. Me and Brit’ll take the top floor, you and Aryin can have the middle, and Henri can take the suite in the basement… Or, whatever, you guys work it out, but there’s plenty of room. We could have more people in, and I still don’t think it’d be a problem.”

Greyson continued to look toward Linqian, taking a drag of his cigarette and ignorantly flicking the ashes onto the floor.
”We’ll all be close. You’ll have three of the finest Adepts in St. Portwell to teach you, and it’ll be a place where you can use your powers without worrying if other people are gonna be affected. And if it ever comes down to it, you’ll be able to help protect your sister…” he said, head turning slightly to Henri with an encouraging smile.

”I’ll need to talk to Sloane first- I'd rather not, but she did offer to pay for the whole thing and I didn't want to accept that,” Linqian said simply, deciding not to argue with it. At this point, she wanted Jinhai properly buried, rather than sitting in her wardrobe like he was right now… laid to rest in a place they could visit, near their parents.

”Oh, the whole basement?! That'll be so cool… I've always wanted my own room. Properly… I always had to share with Ge till…” Henri trailed off, hanging his head slightly. Linqian reached up to rub his shoulder.
”At least you always had a room. I slept on a couch for years.”
”... Jie, you're awful at comforting people!”

Though just like that Henri brightened, as if easily cutting himself off from going down the many heavy emotions that came with grieving.
“Oh, if they're as good as you are I'm sure I'll be learning even faster! I can't wait… I have loads of ideas for spells, I'm just not sure about how to do them. Don't worry, Jie, I'll get strong enough that you don't have to worry about anything."

”Aw, that's cute of you,” Linqian managed to laugh, reaching up to squeeze Henri's cheek with an eye roll.
”I’ll be able to fucking defend myself, thanks, but we do need to train more-” Henri turned his head away as Linqian spoke, coughing. She frowned, glaring at Edict.
”Can you not fucking smoke inside?! I'm not having that shit around him if we're all living together.”

Greyson’s head tilted back slightly, a small grin forming across his face.
”Brit don’t like it either… But this is my apartment. He’s magic Linqian… The cure for cancer is in there.” he said, pulling his free hand up to his temple to tap away at his head gently.
”But, when we all move in together, I will not smoke in the house. Because that’s right.”

He turned his body, beginning to walk further away from the two of them and on toward the fridge.
”You got any more pizza in there, Henri?” he asked very casually, trying to make sure he didn’t stick on anything for Linqian to get mad at.

”Well I fucking hope he's got a cancer cure, then he can fix the two of us after all our bad decisions,” Linqian snorted, folding her arms over her chest. She was pretty fucking hungry too, having only managed to snatch a piece of pizza before everything went to shit at the meeting. She looked at Henri expectantly.

”Uhhhh…” Henri went over to one of the pizza boxes on the floor and flipped it open. There were a few slices left, and he held it up towards Greyson with an apologetic smile. ”Didn’t put any in there, y'know how it is, we got big appetites! I'm still growing.”
”I fucking hope you're not, you've already outgrown everyone.”
Henri laughed. ”Oh, I bet Jie will cook something quick! Or I can order more pizza… But Jie's cooking is nicer and I'm still kinda hungry.”

”Hey!-” Greyson prodded, poking the slice of pizza at him as he pulled it from the box. ”-Your sister’s a busy woman: She’s not your personal chef. If anything, she’s been pretty cool about this whole thing, so you should think about how you can make that up to her. While we go work on something that needs to be done. Capice?” he asked, head tilting and eyebrows furrowed.

”But I only know how to make eggs…” Henri said.
”He didn't mean with the fucking food, idiot,” Linqian moved to Henri just to slap him around the back of the head, though there wasn't any actual force to it. She tilted her head towards Greyson with an almost grateful smile. Not that she minded cooking- in fact it was one thing she enjoyed that she still had- but it was different when it was demanded.

”Ohhhh! I get it, yeah, then, capice!” Henri's fingers formed an ok symbol and he grinned.
”I’m surprised she didn't yell at us for hours- uh, don't glare at me like that, Jie, I'll do something for you! I'll think really hard about it!”

”So long as it doesn't involve making more mess for me to clean up,” Linqian pressed a hand to her forehead, looking between them both.
”Since I've been pretty fucking reasonable about this all… but don't get any ideas and think you can get away with other shit, alright?”
”Yes, Jie!”
Linqian sighed, and turned to Edict. ”Let’s go get that other shit done then…”

Nodding her along, Greyson led Linqian up to one of the doors that he'd been very insistent about not getting opened. The first night she was here, he'd told her not to open it… But it was fine now. If he really was going to try and work with them, anything particularly nasty was all moot.
Entering in, it was clear the place was an office. A messy one, with books on books strewn about the desk and small table within. Coffee cups were full of cigarette butts, a fly danced around a rotting apple core sitting on the floor next to a full trash can. On the desk, three monitors sat with a pale pink glow playing off the wall they were facing.

Specifically, the monitors illuminated a massive cork board. It was full of notes, names, pictures taken surreptitiously. Ominously, Linqian would recognize herself in a picture secretly taken at the bar she worked at. She was behind the counter face half-obscured by her arm held up pouring a drink.
There was also a glass display case, and inside were some strange, ancient carvings surrounding a notebook that sat on velvet cloth.

”Henriiiii!?- he called out. ”If you wanna be useful, come take these cups and wash them for me.” he chided, scooping up the cups off the meeting table. His foot pulled out one of the chairs, and he nodded to Linqian.

”Sit, sit. Let me just tidy up.”

”On it!” Henri shouted back, practically running to the door to take the cups off of Edict without even looking at the room, and running back out.

”Fuck, if I gotta give you credit for something, it's getting him to do that. You have no idea how much I need to ask for him to get off his ass and do anything,” Linqian commented, sitting down in the chair Edict had pulled out. Her nose wrinkled slightly, and she had to really resist helping tidy up. It wasn't her place, it wasn't her mess, but that urge was still there. With Henri in and out of the room quickly, and likely to be out most of the time, she lit the cigarette Edict had offered her and finally started smoking it.

That's incredibly creepy.

As Linqian looked around her gaze landed on the very ominous, and creepy, cork board at the back. She stayed sitting rather than getting closer to read anything like the voice in her head wanted to. But she did point to the picture of her, turning to look at Edict with raised eyebrows.
”You couldn't have gotten a better picture for your creepy stalker wall? No secret cameras when we were fucking? Hell, a day I was better dressed at work would've done.”

Greyson looked a little embarrassed about it.
”I didn’t take it; I complained when I saw it too, trust me. Didn’t get your face well.” he shrugged, sitting down at the computer and pulling up a landline phone. Holding it up, he shook it.
”Y’know what’s great about magic? Anti-tapping. Leon’s little brother; real cock sucker, and not in a great way. But: Hell of a wiz with magical computer components…”

As Linqian had to sit there, he plugged in a number. There was a ringing, then a little more, then it ticked over into a woman’s voice.
”Lotus Root: Julietta speakin’. What can I do for you?”
”It’s me.”
”Dat don’ change my questions: What’chu want?”

Greyson laughed aloud, shaking his head.
”Can you prep some onboarding paperwork for a management position on the Farm?”
”You finally found someone?”
”Yep, yep. Here in St. Portwell.”
”Dey there now?”
”Yes…”

There was a click on the line, then the computer began making a great deal of noise. Tilting his head back, he brought his hand up to usher Linqian around behind the desk.
”If I die, this woman becomes your Boss… So, come here. Come meet my sister.” he explained to her.

Linqian pushed herself to her feet with a half eyeroll, taking another long drag from her cigarette before tapping it off into her own hand, cooling down the ashes before dropping them in the full bin on the way past.
”Any chance I can swap bosses in before death?” she asked as she came round the desk. One arm went round the back of Greyson's chair to let her lean on it as she turned to properly face the screens. She raised a hand in a half wave.

”Linqian Han. I don't have much experience in farm management, but I've done plenty of person managing in bar jobs.” Linqian spoke with a certain amount of politeness Greyson probably wasn't used to - she was certainly never that polite with him. It was reflexive when it came to some new possible higher up in a job… him and Andre were different, since she'd known them well before working for them. And she'd rather lose her job than have to be weirdly polite to him.
”Nice to meet you.”

On the other side, an incredibly beautiful dark-skinned woman with the thickest dreadlocks tied into a single tail that hung down her back. Her clothes seemed modest, but her smile was beautiful with her teeth in perfectly straight rows.
”Greyson… Whad’we say about ‘irin’ your beddies?”
”Naaaaah, it ain’t like that! I’ve known Linqian for a very long time. She’s absolutely the right decision.”

The woman gave a loud laugh, tilting her head back and snorting.
”M’playin’... You said… Sister, spell that shit- L-I-N-S-”

”L-I-N-Q-I-A-N H-A-N,” Linqian replied easily, squinting at the screen a little. She'd slept too little and been wearing contact lenses far too long, screens were a fucking pain… but she could see well enough to know the Greyson's sister was very attractive. Not that Linqian was going to fuck up what she had here for something like that.
”And I made him wait ten years, would've done it earlier if I wanted to sleep my way into money- and honestly, someone easier with that shit.” She was joking, of course, easing up a bit with the forced politeness she'd grown used to. Possibly not a good thing… for Greyson.

She laughed aloud again, snorting even harder than the first time.
”M’likin’ what M’seein’! Gaddamn Gal… Call me Julietta, family L’roq. Dis’ clod y’call Greyson is my half brotha… Lil’ shit.” she snickered.
”Y’ain’ gotta tell me nothin’ boutcha qualifications. Far as I’m concerned, until you’re out there, y’ain’ more than a donation. Maybe y’ll be worth it one day, but ‘til then, I’on know nothin’ bout nothin’. Buuuuut I look forward t’seein’ you provin’ me wrong, aye?”

”Jules, it’s extremely important that we make sure there’s a position for Linqian at the salary we agree on, even if things don’t work out at the farm. I mean it.”
”D’ja get ‘er fuckin’ pregnant, Greyson!?”

”Ha ha.” Linqian tilted her head up, telltale heat radiating off her body. Jinhai yelling inside her head didn't help dampen her reaction at all. She was fine with all the rest of it - she didn't expect to be respected for qualifications when she had none, even if being seen as a donation pissed her off a bit when she'd worked so hard to get anywhere in life… but it just meant more hard work to prove it again, as she always did.

But that shit? Really rubbed her the wrong way, even as she took a deep breath to calm down.
”Fuck no. If he did I'd be fucking getting a lot more out of him than a job.” Not that she would technically know, when it'd barely been over a week and with her cycle completely fucked from stress, lack of sleep and poor eating. But she was pretty fucking confident gut feeling wise.
”He’s gotten fucking attached to my little brother. If I'm sorted, then he's sorted. He's the only kid in the fucking picture, so I'm not taking this job just in name or any shit like that. I'll work for that salary wherever I fucking need to.”

Julietta clicked her tongue between her teeth.
”Peeeeeace, Sister. T’wan mean’ta be affront, aye? M’play too much, ‘tis the nature of the Lotus…”
Greyson giggled and laughed slightly.
”She’be aflame?”
”Yes, Sister. She’s a fellow.”
”Den sh’gets what sh’wants! We’ll set’cha lil’ brotha up too, get’chu both onboarded so we can start unloadin’ a bit more of this cash. Salary’s a great way to get it out t’people. ‘Ow long y’thinkin’ we be watin’ before ye gettin’ down here?”

Linqian's temperature lowered fully back to normal, and she frowned a bit. Aflame? Fellow? Some cult sounding bullshit… did they mean about her magic? Well, whatever. So long as she wasn't dragged into that shit she couldn't give less of a fuck.
”Don’t set my brother up. He's a college student, he'll be back in a completely different city next summer…” She held back from saying any shit about him having a future unlike her, because that was not the thing to say to the people she was getting a job from. Probably the best fucking job she'd ever have, and one she'd never qualify for otherwise. But it wasn't what she wanted for him.
”And honestly? I don't fucking know how long it'll be. Gonna be stuck here till-” she paused and looked at Greyson, raising an eyebrow.
”Does she know?”

”’Bout Daddy Doggy? Aye, ‘das grim shit! M’told young G he should be comin’ back t’me Islands t’be wit us, but what d’wa know?” Julietta threw her hands up into the air before clearly moving around on her mouse and keyboard.
”So m’don one then. And what’s the portion, Grey?”

Greyson looked sheepishly at Linqian.
”How much do you want a year? After taxes… We’re legitimate here, so you’ll get your tax paperwork every year. Don’t worry.” he explained.

Linqian looked back at Greyson, lips slightly parted and eyes widened. For once, she was speechless. It wasn't often that Linqian didn't have an instant response, even if it was a fucking awful one… but straight up being asked how much she wanted? Choosing her own salary? Fuck, he really was serious about all of this shit…
”One moment,” Linqian said, pulling out her phone. She swiped through the lockscreen, displaying a picture of her brothers, and opened up a spreadsheet filled with numbers. Mortgage, bills, Henri's money, all the debts… the amount she needed monthly, how much she earned, how much she still had to pay off. A number higher than it had started at thanks to interest… and a very large one at that.
”Fifty five… sixty thousand? Fuck, you can just ask me what I want. I can tell you what I need, and that's about it if I ever want to be debt free.” she didn't even look up from her phone, frowning at the numbers. That'd cover all the current bills, and Henri's rent when he moved back out… plus it'd pay off enough of the debt yearly she'd be clear eventually. But it was also more than double any salary she'd ever had.

Greyson narrowed his eyes. He wasn’t sure in that moment if she didn’t understand the question, or if her expectations of lifestyle were simply that low. His tongue rolled in his mouth as he tried to find words to use to convey what he wanted to say.
”A-a… A year? Fifty five, sixty thousand a year?"
Julietta knew to keep her mouth shut knowing full well that it was her brother’s money that kept their privateering lifestyle afloat.

”That too high?” Linqian lowered her phone to look at Greyson, head tilted. With the amount he'd given her so far it seemed pretty reasonable - it wasn't excessive, but she'd be comfortable enough, especially when she didn't have to support her brother anymore.
”You can cut it when Henri's out of college, I don't really give a fuck then.”

Greyson stared at Linqian another few seconds, his eyes not saying anything particular about his actual feelings of disbelief. Finally, he cleared his throat.
”Julietta… Please set our friend here up with the level benefit package, and shoot for a yearly net income of one hundred and forty thousand, please. A five year contract. I expect that to be upheld and renegotiated based purely on inflation and a standard three percent increase in perpetuity. Until, God forbid, the company dissolves. Is that understood, Jules?”
”In perpetuity, Greyson, aye.”

Greyson’s eyes turned back to Linqian.
”When you do finally get there, and you start doing everything you’re supposed to be doing well, and you think you deserve more than that? You come talk to me and we’ll work it out from there. I expect to have to make adjustments.” he said, holding out his hand to her and standing up.
”Deal?”

One hundred and forty thousand, one hundred and forty thousand, one hundred a forty fucking thousand. Linqian was in fucking shock. That was the kind of money she'd dreamed of Jinhai making one day… she had never wanted it for herself. Hadn't expected much of it to come to her either. How much was she going to have to be working for that money? Every waking hour? Well fuck, she'd do it.
”Deal.” Linqian reached out to shake Greyson's hand.

Immediately afterwards, it came up to press against her forehead.
”What the fuck am I supposed to do with that much fucking money? Fucking thinking I deserve more… what the fuck would I need more for. Fucking hell, Greyson, how much fucking work am I going to be doing? Fucking hell.” It wasn't even a lack of confidence that had her in so much shock so much as realism about her qualifications, and how much she'd ever been able to earn. Sure, she hoped to do management in bars or some shit sometime, but that'd barely reach the amounts she'd said.
Well, fine, she wasn't going to fucking dwell on it too much. If he wanted to pay that much, she'd let him pay that much.
”Don’t expect me to be any fucking nicer to you cause of this.”

”Justifiably, ‘tis a lotta work. Big job, lots of machines, probably a hundred employees. I’ss not just a tobacco farm, y’got the livestock and the bumpa’ crop. ‘Tings y’d not think about just imaginin’ a place we grow a plant in. Mostly, it’s the processin’ facilities, where we age the product and roll them smokes… Important shit, reason we can charge almost twenty bucks a pack n’ rich people still be buyin’ em.”

Greyson nodded his head, hand waving toward his sister on the monitor. The printer under the desk began to spit out pieces of paper one at a time as she transferred them to him.
”Once it’s all done, I’ll scan it back in and send it off to you Jules.”
”Take a few days: Do you need any dough for now, Linqian?”
”I can cover her for now, just make sure I get another infusion soon. Double it.”
”You got it, Lil’ Brother. Linqian, I’ll pick up y’number off the paperwork and contact y’when it’s all set. And, Greyson, the property?”
”All set?” Greyson asked simply, leaning in.
”I’ve already called the movin’ company for you.”
”Oh, good shit. Alright, I’ll talk to you soon then; give Momma my love and affection.”
”I will, I will. She ‘spectin’ you back down ‘ere before too long so get your shit up there takin’ care of, Baby. B’bye for now.”

And then the screen closed, Julietta’s face disappearing to leave a blank desktop background. The printer was still printing away below, making little mechanical noises as Greyson leaned back, a smile crossing his face as he looked at Linqian.
”You really don’t have a clue about workman value, do you… You know, families like mine got started working through Unions hundreds of years ago: We believe in fair pay by merit. God, I’m just sorry you’ve been getting fucked so hard your entire life. They could’ve paid you better for it.”

”Well sixteen year old highschool dropouts aren't exactly in high demand, I took what I could get, and kept doing it,” Linqian shrugged, turning around to half sit on the desk without actually touching any of the shit on there. If he had a problem with that… well he could fuck off, honestly. And then she'd move.
”Not like I had any fucking comparisons, and even if I did, most of my bosses wouldn't give a fuck. Couldn't exactly afford to just tell them to fuck off and walk out. The poor salary was hardly the worst I put up with, anyway… current place aside. They're really paying me best they can.”

Did it even fucking matter if Greyson thought they weren't? Probably not… not like they'd slighted him like that bar he'd burnt down had, or any shit like that. Wasn't a risk.
”You don't realise till you lose your parents how much fucking shit you need to ask them. Fuck, they weren't exactly sitting us down as kids and talking about that shit. Even Jinhai with all his fucking brains didn't know shit about ‘workman value' or whatever.”
Her lips pulled up into a half grin at inner monologue Jinhai's protest to that, pushing it down. If she'd really been underpaid her whole life, it didn't matter that much. They'd made it to here. Henri was healthy. It'd get better.
”But y'know, I got fucked hard in some pretty good ways in my life.” Of course, it wasn't Linqian if she didn't sidestep that more serious shit with a crude joke.

Greyson teetered on the edge of danger as his brain thought of every innuendo it possibly could. He choked on the Pink smog that drifted up through the veins in his throat and out his mouth in a little hiss.
”You can’t be talking like that with your little brother in the other room… Really kills the potential. I mean, I could lock the door, but that’d look fishy wouldn’t it?”
Clearing his throat again, he leaned downward and slipped the papers out of the printer. It was a solid stack of them, all neatly marked for Linqian to sign.

”Now, I know you don’t have a lawyer, so you’ll just have to trust me that I’m not fuckin’ you over with this contract… Or, you can take it home with you. Sign it as you like, give it back to me on the day we move you guys into the new place.” he offered, running it through a hole punch in sections before sliding an empty binder out and putting it all in for her. His hand held it out to her.

”Well you're gonna have to figure something out when we all move in together, cause I'm not censoring myself,” Linqian's lips pulled into a playful smile, before she laughed. She really wasn't going for anything today, anyway, as much as it was always fun. One time led to another time which led to a whole night, and less sleep. She really needed that fucking sleep tonight.

”You can't fuck me over anymore than I already have been… unless there's some fucking indentured servitude clause in there, that'd be real fuck.” Linqian took the binder from him, flicking through it casually. A lot of long sentences and jargon she didn't entirely understand. It was the kind of thing she would've had Jinhai go through with her before… but he wasn't here, and as smart as Henri was he'd probably never read a contract in his life. He'd just get fucking distracted anyway.
”I’ll trust you this once, since I said I'd try to. Not like I'll understand it any fucking more in a couple of days.” She held out a hand as she scanned through it, assuming he'd understand she was looking for a pen.

”Hey, I figured you could give it to… I don’t know, Anya Baksh or something, have someone with a brain read through it. But fine, you wanna just go for it, please- Fill in all the info between the lines, sign on any stars. I’ll… I’ll call Brit; we’ll get reservations for a nice dinner tonight. You, me, Henri, her… Fuck it, bring Aryin too.”

Recollections: Under The Sycamore Tree Part. 1

& &

Mood Music

Edict & Leon & Kenshiro

---

Mentions: | Direct Interaction: Linqian Han & Luca Olivera/@FernStone, Clancy Patrick/@Zombiedude101, Layla Hyacinthus & Alizée Vul/@Estylwen Britney Williams & Ruby White/@Shin Ghost Note, Lila Blackwood/@NoriWasHere| Location: The House on the Hill

---

"Control yourself. Be better."

Clancy

Leon listened to the Vessel speak. He could smell the cold death of Clancy Patrick and sneered without turning his head.
"Rousing speech, Husk. We'll refer back when someone gives a fuck... You all speak about consent and caring as if your actions reflect that. Sycamore: You could barely remember the poor girl's Abstraction, yet you deign to decide if one parasite is greater than the other. And then compare her to the likes of Emily G. Reed, or Vashti Nour? Britney's projects? Spare me your talk. You all scream about the Temple, wail, bemoan yourselves as you huddle for warmth...-"

”Don't you dare make this decision for her. Force this on her and I will rot your flesh until you wish you would just die."

Luca

Luca's hands on Leon's arm caused the specter of Lelou to recoil, practically standing up on Leon's shoulders in the thinning cloud of steam. But, as the blood purposefully rushed away, Leon looked down to watch the flesh dry-rot and slough away in little handprints.
BREAK IT! BEFORE IT PRESSES FORTH!
No. Luca's not like that.
Do as I say or face them alone!
Luca isn't a threat. It was an accident, please... I just need you until we leave. Please!
I DEMAND BLOOD FOR THIS TRANSGRESSION, LEOVU!
No...

Leon stepped back half a foot, hand gripping at his arm as smoke curled off the self-healing wound struggling against the magical agony of The Rot. An entity that all others should, and absolutely did fear. Even Lelou. As he stepped back, there was a puff of air that drove the haze out of the room. In an instant, Leon's pale skin and snow white hair both regained their color, like he was being painted in. Pale became pink, white became black, and there was a gentle popping noise that indicated the seals scrawled across his body were depressing. It was enough to stop Kenshiro, who had moved with Clancy up into the fog and whose momentum had picked up to move into a defensive position in front of Luca.
Leon was holding his arm, the last bit of free power he had access to bleeding out into a frothy yellow liquid that filled in the newly festering wound. It would take quite some time to heal fully... He looked at Luca with a slight frown, closing his eyes and almost bowing his head.

Bones clicked and ticked until he was his usual towering height, absent of the magical influence which quite literally grew his bones. He was simply a man again, the entity within no longer willing to provide him power in harmony. If he wanted any more, he'd have to pay the price and fight the beast for control. But that couldn't matter now: He'd done what needed to be done, and something he thought was for the best of both the individuals involved... And he'd take the blame for whatever came after that, secure and unbothered by people whose opinion-stocks were plummeting in his estimation.
As he practically deflated, Ken took a deep breath before forming a bubble around Luca's chest. He wrapped his arms around the telekinetic field, letting Luca feel the comfort of a hand on his shoulder. Even if it was one that was trying to move him away from danger.

”I'm done.”

Britney

There was a long moment where Edict had to decide whether or not he was going to step in between Leon and Britney. To him, whatever Leon and Alizée had going on told him that this was Temple business. - As much as he wanted to involve himself, the chances of ruining a good thing were far greater than he wanted to deal with... But as Britney disengaged and Leon seemed to reduce the necessary force escalation, he took the chance to breathe. Layla wasn't in any immediate trouble, and even if she was, he didn't really care. He just didn't want people's focus turning back onto Britney. She'd done her time, and for what it was worth, he was sure that she was doing what she thought was right. It was a shit show, and he could only think of one real solution...
A solution nobody in that room was going to want. Especially not from him. Leon's voice was wavering, but Edict's head turned to listen to Ruby.

"Get your shit together, or we're out. We're trying to make a difference: we don’t have time to babysit nobody."

Boss Lady

Lila, usually a quiet voice, echoed out in response to Ruby's proclamation. She spoke about the group breaking up into pieces, and about wanting things to work.
Leon and Edict both felt the same way, but Edict was the one to say something.

“How's that sound?”

Lila

"I think that's about all we can hope for at this point, Lil' Sis. I mean, we can't have all these heads like this... I love y'all, from the bottom of my heart I swear I do, but if we can't forgive each other and agree on a plan, then we can't be out here worrying about one another either. Honestly, if we stick to our little groups, maybe we can elect representatives and cut these meetings down to important people who have level heads and can make agreements on behalf of the people around them."

Leon cleared his throat, eyes and head turning to Ruby.
"Just absorb who'll come, Ruby. Let the chaff blow into the wind..."
Back to Layla and Alizée, Leon nodded his head toward the exit.
"Come, you two. They don't want freaks like us."

"Pity yourself, Leon Richoux... We'll take the knives out of our backs once we've made you feel better. You're hardly better than the Matchmaker."
Ken turned his back on Leon, looking directly at Luca. His hands came around the invisible coat, rubbing his arms.
"You're okay? You're okay, my friend..." he tried to comfort, no longer concerned with the clown procession happening around him. He only wanted to protect those he felt deserved it.

As that spat happened, Edict was quietly making preparations to leave as well. He'd come with Leon, and whether or not they expected some sort of ride, he definitely wasn't planning on going with them. With Leon making his way toward the door, Edict cleared his throat.
"Leon-" he called, tossing his set of keys. The giant man caught them with his good hand. "Just uh... Get it back."
He nodded solemnly, turning his head to Layla and Alizée and nodding them along.