FernStone

Recollections: Under The Sycamore Tree Part. 1

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Interactions: Ezra Vanburen & Sloane @Atrophy & Jack @Blizz
The Halloween Festival: Money Making Area

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Sloane giggled. Giggled. it was almost... Cute? Wait, since when did Anya think anything was cute? Ah. Must be the shock of hearing such an unnatural sound coming from Sloane's lips.

She couldn’t give it much more thought Jack suddenly teleported them - something Anya wasn’t prepared for even though she’d expressively begged him to help prevent Sloane from seeing Drake, and he’d said before it was going to happen. Honestly she'd been looking for a distraction to help her steer Sloane away - with their legs. Her stomach roiled, all the alcohol she’d drank threatening to spill back out the way it had come. When Sloane grabbed her to not fall over Anya also nearly fell over. It was only thanks to the handy Jack next to her, whose arm she grabbed, that she and Sloane didn’t comically fall onto a pile on the floor. Thankfully Anya was sober enough to save them both.

But Sloane was much drunker than she’d expected. And they’d had the same number of drinks, yet Anya was perfectly sober. Well, perhaps lightly inebriated. Only lightly. Anya’s lips twitched up into a half smile. Drunk Sloane really was quite cute. Ah, there was that strange thought again.

”I drank the same amount as you?” Anya answered the question Sloane had asked mid teleportation, quite a bit after it had been asked. She had been saving them both from dramatically falling, after all.

But unlike the totally not drunken stumble from both of them, she wasn’t able to prevent Sloane from storming off over… who knew what. It was often the way with Sloane. Something would upset her and it would be obvious (to Anya), and then Anya had to slowly pull it out of her. Normally Anya at least had an idea about what it was. Was it because she was so clearly drunk that she was acting erratic? Because she’d almost fallen?

Anya was stumped.

She could only watch as Sloane walked away, right past her own stall and the man perusing her wares who she didn’t recognise- until he turned around. Anya’s eyes widened slightly. Everyone in the city knew of the Vanburens, and anyone in business knew of the more influential ones. Anya was looking at the most influential of them all - the new head of the family, the one who’d inherited the majority of his father’s money and businesses, Ezra Vanburen. And Sloane had walked right past him without even an acknowledgment.

They were definitely having another chat about politeness later. When Sloane was sober again.

Anya’s lips twitched up into a slight smile when he looked at her - at least, that’s what appeared to be the case. Her gaze then flickered between Sloane’s retreating back, and the richest man in the city.

To do the socially acceptable thing and go after her friend to ensure she was alright, or try to talk to someone who could be incredibly beneficial to her business and future goals.

It was a difficult decision. On one hand, Anya did genuinely care for Sloane. She was one of the three people Anya would even consider putting aside her own priorities for. Surely even considering it proved that she cared, even if she didn’t follow through in setting it aside?

Why was she even trying to justify it? It wasn’t like either of them could read her thoughts.

But, perhaps it wasn’t as simple as her goals and checking up on a friend. After all, someone had to perform damage control for Sloane’s impolite actions.

Damage control. Yes, this was damage control after Sloane had stormed past one of the richest and most influential men in the city. Anya had noticed the way his smile had dropped. He might consider choking Sloane’s business and running her out of town! He’d put down the incredibly creepy doll he’d been considering buying! Sloane was done for!

She had to rectify this. She had to save Sloane.

"You go after Sloane, I'll catch up,” Anya said in a low voice to Jack. ”I need to make sure she doesn't lose everything after offending the man who practically runs the city.”

At least that was the excuse she would tell Sloane later if she was upset about it. It was all for Sloane, not a single selfish thought in Anya’s mind at the moment. She definitely wasn't hoping for an investment in her business or just a powerful contact. She was only ensuring her friend didn’t lose the business she’d worked so hard to build.

She really was the perfect and amazing person Sloane thought she was.

”Excuse me, Mr Vanburen,” Anya interrupted Ezra as politely as possible before he could get too far away. She gestured in the direction Sloane had headed in and pasted a polite smile across her lips. ”I’m sorry about my friend. Sloane- Well, she’s had a difficult night. Please don’t hold it against her. I’m sure she didn’t mean to ignore you.”

She totally did. Anya knew Sloane was perfectly capable of following enough social conventions to not walk past someone without even acknowledging them. She sighed softly, considering pulling out a business card but deciding it would be tasteless at that moment. ”Ah, I should introduce myself. I’m Anya Baksh, close friend of Sloane Farris’ and a fellow businesswoman.”

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Interactions (Speaking): Sully / Vashti @Atrophy, Interactions (Desperate Hand Gestures): Edict @AtomicEmperor, Britney / Sabrina @Punished GN, Layla @Estylwen
The Toga Line from Hell, The Halloween Festival

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One minute, Linqian was taking hilariously embarrassing photos, the next a toga hit her right in the face.

”What the fuck, Sully?!” Linqian yelled, removing the toga from her face. Where the fuck was he carrying spare togas? What the fuck. ”First time properly seeing each other in years and you throw a fucking toga in my face? Shit, what am I supposed to do with this?”

She looked around - they were right in the middle of the stalls. The toga line was edging closer to her, dangerously so. She was still within view of Sabrina, Britney, Layla and Edict (not that he mattered, he’d already seen everything). Loads of strangers were around. Unsurprisingly, not a changing room in sight. Did she even need to wear this? Sully had given her a strangely terrified look. Were people who didn’t wear togas more at risk of getting attacked during the festival? That did track with everything she’d experienced so far.

Before she could think any further of it Leon appeared - she saw him before she heard him, and it fucking hurt her head. He shouted for the whole fucking island to hear - she bet whatever crackers were on it were broken by now from his fucking yelling. He was much more onboard with joining the weird ass conga line, and stripping down to pull on a toga. Damn. She definitely didn’t eye him up at all while he did it.

”Fuck it, give me a drink of that,” Linqian shot forward and grabbed the chalice from its current holder. She took three big gulps of the wine, sighing as it slid down her throat. Much better than the lukewarm beers she’d been drinking. Once she was done she handed it back… realising who she'd actually taken it from.

”Heh, fancy seeing you again,” Linqian smirked at Vashti, feeling a lot less nervous about the possibility of dying with another dose of beer and wine in her system. She then glanced her up and down. The toga suited her surprisingly well. Huh. And she was clinging to Drake like she wanted to jump on his dick- she probably did. Seriously, of all the available people? ”The toga looks good on you… but you should really go for someone more available. He,” Linqian pointed to Drake, ”Is too busy pining over his wife and punching pathetic losers. But there are plenty of other hot singles on the island down to bang.”

Linqian gestured towards Leon, winking at Vashti. Then she took a few steps away from the line.

With the liquid courage she needed to change in public, Linqian awkwardly pulled her red cloak around herself and over her head. It was just about big enough to cover everything as she stripped off all her outer layers (her underwear was still on, it wasn’t that bad) and very clumsily stuffed it into her bag. She then pulled on the toga. With everything just about covered up, she pulled off the red cloak and tied it around her waist as a finishing touch.

The toga just covered her ass (clearly wasn’t made for people with a bit of booty) and her choice to wear a black bra was a bit unfortunate because it was slightly visible through the white fabric… but no matter! She was pretty sure it looked good on her. All the Greek gods had been sluts, right?

She didn’t really know anything about Greek mythology, to be honest.

It was at this moment, toga settled on her body, that Linqian realised she’d made a massive fucking mistake. She was right beside the conga line. She’d gotten into a toga (because honestly, she looked hotter in it). She was getting that tingling sense that someone she fucking hated was in the area (or maybe that was just the alcohol working its way into her system). Someone was definitely going to try and drag her into the conga line. She absolutely did not want to be in that. Fucking hell no. Even drunk off her ass she wouldn’t go into something like that.

”Alright, I put on the fucking toga to stop whatever horrible thing you thought was gonna happen to me, but I’m not joining this fucking conga line,” Linqian put up her hands and started to back away to where she’d come from. She held one hand up in front of her, ready to get real hot if she needed to fend off anyone dragging her into the conga line, while she threw her other hand behind her. She gestured at Edict, Britney and Layla with a thumbs down at first then a series of desperate waves. She had no fucking clue how to show that she needed help in case someone toga jumped her… but it was pretty clear she’d realised her fuck up and wanted out. ”I’ve gotta get back.”

She kept moving away, slowly, as if she was fleeing from some kind of wild animal. Really, she was. The wildest animal - a toga line of drunken god wannabes. She was prepared to fight for her life if any of them made a move towards her.

Recollections: Under The Sycamore Tree Part. 1

Interactions: Jasper/Lila/Lynn @NoriWasHere, Trevor @Punished GN
The Halloween Festival

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Luca easily posed for the photos, folding his arms and grinning while leaning closer to Jasper. ”Hey, it’s in character if Lila doesn’t smile, it’s alright!”

He laughed, smile becoming even brighter as he nodded enthusiastically to Lila saying they needed a group photo. Definitely! The might may not have gone how they wanted it to so far, but it would from now on. They’d all cheer up and have a nice time. Then after they could-

Luca’s thoughts ground to a halt at the feeling of Jasper’s fingers running across his back. He froze, lips still in a wide smile even as his gaze went vacant. It had been nice, he could still feel their gentle warmth, but he wasn’t sure what to think about it. He liked being close to Jasper, being able to actually touch- but it was just as friends, right? It couldn’t be anything else?

Was it a straight guy thing? Was Jasper so confident in his straightness that he could just casually touch Luca, running a hand over his back, like it was nothing? Or maybe he wasn’t and Luca was mistaken… No! That was a dangerous place for his thoughts to go. While Luca was an optimist, he liked to be realistic about it. Just like he’d accepted that he was dying, he’d also accept it would never happen.

Would it?

His attention half drifted to the conversation going on between his friends and the PRA, but he couldn’t quite process it. Logically, he should be one of the ones most upset by what happened. It could have killed him. But perhaps that was why he didn’t hold onto any hard feelings. What was the point, with such limited time?

”Oh yeah, let’s,” Luca snapped out of it, smiling brightly again at Jasper. His eyes creased slightly, joy radiating from their depths. There was no point thinking too hard about it. He’d just enjoy Jasper’s company right now and the fact he could be so close to him - and the others! - without hurting them. ”Alright, let’s do this.”

He shifted closer to Jasper, moving himself to be slightly in front of him - practically half in his lap while leaning his head back against his shoulder. Getting so close was a bit unnecessary but… he wanted to, and it made it easier to take the photos! Because of the height difference! It also made him feel safe and happy… Luca threw up a peace sign and grinned brightly for the photos, throwing a different pose for each one.

Luca then turned his head towards Trevor, not moving away from Jasper, and flashed the power ranger a relieved smile at the sight of his unrotted hands. ”Phew, I’m glad! I dunno how long decay like that takes to heal naturally… Good things healers can get healed, yeah.” He laughed.

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Interactions: Britney & Sabrina @Punished GN, Edict @AtomicEmperor, Layla @Estylwen // Mentions: The Toga Crew @Atrophy
The Halloween Festival

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”Sorry, Layla, but the money has spoken,” Linqian laughed, rolling her eyes at Edict's weirdly fatherly frown. Did he see himself as some kind of Layla protector after messing with her mind? Well whatever. She leaned in and winked jokingly at Layla. ”Don't worry, I'll get you some booze when we're off fed island."

She tilted her head to smile coyly at Edict when he slipped the money into her bag. He didn't take the beer yet, which was fine… she'd somehow made more on a single can of beer than she would've by actually handing out the business cards the beer had partly paid for. Happy with that, Linqian pulled out the other Heineken she had, leaving the last Stella for Edict. She cracked it open and took a long drink. The drink and money combo was enough to stop her from swearing at Edict for his suggestion they go to his Uncle’s bar first.

”So long as there really isn’t anyone there,” Linqian shot Edict a hard look, pointing a finger at him. She’d already dealt with far too much of his family today - while his Uncle seemed the most tolerable, she got the idea that plenty of the rest would normally hang around that spot. Just the looks alone she’d gotten had been annoying. ”I met way more family members of yours than I ever wanted to today, I need at least a fucking week before I see a single one again. Preferably years, or never again, actually.”

She rolled her eyes again, but followed his look into the festival. Just Auri with two people she didn’t recognise, eh, whatever.

But something incredibly interesting past that caught her attention - well, more a recognisable booming voice dragged her eyes over to a toga clad conga line. Even in the distance she recognised Sully and Drake’s ugly mugs (though Sully’s lack of beard was shocking). They were clearly pissed and behind them… was an equally drunk and toga wearing Vashti, along with fucking Emily! Hah! Even without those two additions Linqian wanted a picture to taunt the front two with… but with them, it would be even better material. She chugged half her beer in one go.

”Hold my beer,” Linqian shoved her nearly empty can at Layla (who seemed least likely to just throw it away, magically cheerful as she was). She completely ignored the tendrils of Edict’s magic sliding off her emotional field. She didn’t give a fuck about what he was doing when she had a goal set in her tipsy mind. She pointed to the chaotic pantheon conga line. ”I gotta go get a picture of this. I’ll be back in a moment. The ferry won’t set off for a bit anyway, if its even there now.”

Linqian pulled out her phone and walked a bit away from the group (but still in their sight) - closer to the conga line, but hopefully still far enough away to not be spotted by them and dragged into it. With a malicious grin, she held up her phone and spammed the camera button.

Perfect. She couldn’t wait to send this to Sully and Drake when they woke up hungover tomorrow.

Recollections: Under The Sycamore Tree Part. 1

Interactions: Sloane @Atrophy & Jack @Blizz
Resort Bar -> The Festival

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“It sounds like Jack doesn’t trust our taste in men, Anya,”

Sloane

”His loss,” Anya laughed lightly. It was fine that Jack rejected their very generous offer. She could understand his reasoning somewhat… Though she couldn’t really understand why anyone would want to be in a relationship in the first place. Ah well. She was the odd one out there, Anya mused as she finished the fourth drink she’d magically ordered.

The alcohol was beginning to go a bit to her head. Four cocktails stronger than the wine she normally drank over a whole night would do that. She was still very much aware, though. More than aware enough to look at Sloane in surprise when she spilled exactly what had been on her mind without any subtly prying questions on Anya’s part to wheedle it out of her.

”Of course he didn’t,” Anya said coldly, eyes narrowing. She’d never had good opinions of Drake, and wasn’t close enough to Jade like Sloane was to start to see him in anything but a negative light. ”Drake doesn’t have the ability to see beyond his own narrow point of view, or realise the harm he’s done.”

She scoffed, shaking her head. Out of nowhere Sloane slammed the table and Anya jumped, half falling out of her chair and very gracefully catching herself with a hand on the table. Her head swam slightly. Ah. Drinking while sitting down was always dangerous, it seemed, because it hit harder upon standing up. No matter. She could handle being lightly inebriated.

”But you’re right, he isn’t worthy of even a single thought. Instead, let’s enjoy the rest of the night.”

She stood up properly, smoothing out her skirts and quickly making sure her hair was still all in place. All good after a near fall. Perfectly saved, Anya.

”Shall we?” Anya smiled at both Jack and Sloane, taking the lead in leaving the resort bar to an empty area where Jack could teleport them. The trip back was more disorienting than the one there. Perhaps drinking pre teleportation wasn’t the smartest idea, nausea roiling unpleasantly in Anya’s stomach. She smoothed out her rather ugly expression before the other two could look at her.

They were just a short distance from the festival proper, hidden by the shadows of one of the few actual buildings in the area. It was a quick few steps to get to the stalls.

Anya nearly immediately wanted to leave and go back to the resort bar for another four drinks.

“Toga, toga, toga!”

The Toga Conga Line

”Oh. My. God.” Anya must be seeing things. Had those four drinks gone to her head more than she thought? She was slightly tipsy, but not drunk enough to start hallucinating.

Anya’s eyes were assaulted by haphazard togas that barely covered skin she had no interest in seeing. Even on the path to inebriation she’d rather men’s chests were kept well within clothing- But it was the people in the budget Greek God conga line that had her wanting to hit her head against a rock so she could forget all about it. Sully, Drake, some fake redhead, Vashti and… Emily G. Reed.

Slapping a hand over her mouth, Anya stifled a combination of laughter and gagging. At least Emily wasn’t bearing it all for the world to see - but the whole thing was ridiculous. And horrible. What an embarassment. A line of complete and utter fools. Worse, drunken fools. She wanted to get very very far away from it.

Ah! Sloane had already been upset once by seeing Drake! Witnessing this was even worse.

In a move very unlike Anya, who disliked most physical contact, she reached out with the intention of grasping Sloane’s shoulders. Assuming Sloane didn’t dodge it, Anya would try to spin her around to face the other way - didn’t matter how much, as long as Drake wasn’t in view.

”Didn’t you say you should check on your stall, Sloane? Let's go there now.” At the same time she looked at Jack, expression begging him to play along. Hopefully Sloane hadn’t seen them. Or heard them. It wasn’t like Anya had paused and stared for a good moment before reacting. ”Best to get work out of the way so we can enjoy the rest of the night!”

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Bianca Manalo

Interactions: Lynn @NoriWasHere, Stormy @Blizz, PRA @Punished GN
Cracker Island Cracker Bar

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“Maybe she wasn’t,” Bianca shrugged. She raised her glass with a smile. “Here’s to fresher pastures.”

Bianca’s suggestion they introduce themselves was ignored, but that didn’t really bother her. She waited for Lynn to be done with her photos

"Since nobody else wants to introduce themselves, I'll just take you through them," Bianca said to Lynn. "You already know Meifeng, and the maid next to her is Cindy. As for the power raaangersss." She pointed to Trevor first, finger moving along with each name. "Trevor, the HR violator. Fiona, our youngest. Samson, who asked if Stormy was my boyfriend during the shootout situation… as if. Leon... Yeah, I know, confusing when you have your own Leon. And Maximilian, who just got here."

Bianca then turned back to the main conversation, which was mostly Stormy and Lila ripping into Meifeng for her apology. Which was fair, after what had happened. Stormy talked a lot and… it did make sense.

"Hey, let me just jump in here," Bianca held up her hand as if that was needed to talk, before continuing. "Look, Stormy, it wasn't just about Kali. That was a part of it... But you're so mad because people, friends, got hurt. You'd go after anyone who attacked other coven members, right?"

She rubbed the back of her neck, trying to figure out a way to say this that would get through to Stormy without sounding like she was excusing an, admittedly, poor action. It wasn't like she could entirely distance herself from that either, since she'd had the option to sit it out.

"A big part of it was Everleigh beating me up in the Veni parking lot for absolutely no reason. It was my day off, I was trying to make sure the situation didn't get out of control... And Everleigh slammed me with a shadow fist for sending a text. If the situation was reversed, if I'd punched Everleigh multiple times while the rest of my group was starting a gang war, would you not go after me and my... Uh, friends, in that situation?" Bianca frowned, taking a sip of her drink. "Not justifying it, but it was more than just Kali... It was also one of her agents getting attacked unprovoked."

That whole situation had been a shitshow. She should've just stayed out of it... But her boosting had also helped keep people safe.

“Just wanted to fill in the missing details, y’know.”

Recollections: Under The Sycamore Tree Part. 1

Interactions: Britney & Sabrina @Punished GN, Edict @AtomicEmperor, Layla @Estylwen
The Halloween Festival

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They left the situation almost as quickly as they left it and honestly, Linqian was unbothered by that.

Would’ve been nice to get drinks, but they were also way overpriced here. She couldn’t afford to just start spending cause Edict paid her a hefty amount tonight.

Layla looked way more cheerful than she had when Linqian left. Unnaturally so. Oh yeah, she’d let Edict inside her mind. Fucking idiot. Sure, hypocritical when she’d let him in herself - once. But she wasn’t some snivelling coward who went around calling him ‘Mr Devola’ like she was still in highschool. Anyone who knew what Edict was like wouldn’t be calling him anything vaguely respectful… She was in for a treat in four hours.

Linqian definitely wouldn’t be sticking around her long enough for that.

She looked at Edict and raised her eyebrows, though she didn’t say anything. Obviously. But still, he worked fast. They hadn’t been away that long.

"But the whole scene was a big bag of NOPE."

Britney

”A ‘big bag of nope’ is an understatement,” Linqian snorted. ”There was bird shit everywhere and Stormy was tryna get into some sexy PRA maid’s pants. You’d have to kill me before I’d drink with them, fucking hell. And the lines were like a mile long... for some booze you could get for half the price at literally any bar on the mainland.”

Linqian had absolutely no qualms about essentially throwing Stormy under the bus as someone trying to get friendly with the feds. That was on him. She didn’t even want to be associated with that. It was bad enough her ex was one… ugh.

”I’d rather go somewhere we can drink,” Linqian said. Then maybe she could finally eat the dinner she’d been lugging around with her all evening, without a decent chance to sit down for a moment and eat. She should’ve done it at work before leaving… Well, hindsight was a bitch. She did have a bunch of finger food too, though, so she could munch that in the haunted house if she needed to. ”After already running into Sloane and Vashti, I don’t want to risk running into more assholes… And a haunted house is kinda shit when you’ve fought a fuck ton worse looking than people dressed up as skeletons and ghosts. I’m not a good enough actor to fake being scared.”

She then carefully (because there was a fucking gun inside) lifted up her bag, giving it a slight shake. Her lips curved up into a joking smile. ”I do have another two cans with me… The highest bidder can have the second one! Since alcohol's in such short supply on this fucking island.”

Linqian wasn’t really bothered either way. If they stayed on the island then they’d eventually end up going towards activities she enjoyed… or she could jump ship and find someone fun like Sully. If they left, she could drink cheaper booze and would still spend most of the evening with people. Which was her main reason for even going to the festival.

”But hey, going to-” Linqian paused, trying to remember Britney’s friend’s name. After a moment it came to her. ”Sabrina’s place sounds fun.”

Though the name Trisha, combined with her surname being Vanburen, rang some very strong alarm bells in Linqian’s head… she lived with fucking Trisha Vanburen. Someone Linqian had absolutely hated ten years ago, and she highly doubted she’d changed.

”So long as it really is empty, uninvited siblings are real night ruiners,” Linqian half joked, deciding not to say that if she saw Trisha Vanburen she’d probably just straight up burn her face off. Best to keep that to herself when talking to a very rich near stranger. She then glanced at Layla, then Edict - lingering on him for a few moments before deciding to make this offer… Against her better sober judgement, but seeming good three drinks and one near death experience in. It probably wouldn't even be neccesary anyway. ”There’s also my place if needed. Definitely empty, my brother'll be out all night.”

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Interactions: Stormy @Blizz, Jasper/Lila @NoriWasHere, Trevor @Punished GN
The Halloween Festival

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Britney left, and Luca relaxed slightly. She’d panicked when she’d seen him… Which didn’t make Luca feel any better. Part of him was glad she didn’t even bother trying to talk to him, but another part that he’d tried to bury was pissed off about it. If she felt so guilty why didn’t she even try to make amends?

She was gone, so there was no point in dwelling on it. Luca forced himself not to. Normally he wouldn’t even care - he’d moved on! He could peacefully exist in the same place as her!

Just not tonight.

At least Lila seemed to be alright, now. The two of them would have to talk later… But not tonight for that as well. They all needed to relax now.

Luca really wanted to take up Jasper on his offer for going to get food, but they needed to follow Stormy. Honestly, Luca didn’t want to sit with the people who’d raided them last week. Not because he didn’t want to make peace, he was perfectly happy with that, he was just drained. He wanted to spend the rest of the night with his friends, with Jasper… And Lila and Lynn and Stormy! He blushed.

”Let’s follow before Stormy gets too far away,” Luca said to both Jasper and Lila. Last thing he wanted was for the Rot to slink back right now when he was dependent on Jasper for support. He could walk now, just he’d fall over if he did it without something to lean on. Though maybe Jasper wasn’t the best idea… he was getting all sorts of fluttery feelings in his chest with how close they were.

He looked up at Jasper with a grin, poor expression disappearing as if it had never been there. All the pain he’d let slip through was hidden back down underneath layers of optimism and bright smiles. It was still there, eating away at him, but he was no longer letting everyone else see it. He’d already worried them enough - and would continue to do so until he could move properly.

Leaning on Jasper for support, legs aching with each step, Luca followed after Stormy and the whole PRA entourage. He sat near to Stormy, making sure there was space beside him for Jasper and Lila, and ordered a water.

”We should get pictures while I’m still… rotless. Then we can do all sorts of fun, close-together poses. If you guys are still up for it… Maybe Stormy will take them for us?” Luca said softly, leaning in towards Jasper and Lila. Lynn was drinking with Bianca it seemed - which was nice, Bianca had always seemed like a good person… Incident last week aside.

Which their leader apologised for. Luca was taken aback, staring at her wide eyed for a moment… Before quickly looking away. He couldn’t look at her and Cindy for too long without feeling… weird. Definitely just embarrassment after the whole bottle feeding incident. Definitely.

Since they’d apologised, the slight hard feelings Luca had about the incident were gone. Sure, he’d almost died - but he almost died when he tripped over his own feet every other day! That wasn’t their fault. They made a misjudgement, they wouldn’t again, it was all good. He didn’t say anything, though, because he didn’t feel it was his place to accept it.

”Oh.” Luca turned to Trevor with an apologetic smile. ”Are your hands alright? Sorry about uh… the rotting. I can’t do anything about it without this guy,” he gestured to Stormy with his thumb, ”to keep it under control. I appreciate it, though, I’m okay cause you healed me… Well it was you guys fault I was like that, heh, but all good now.”

He grinned, taking a large gulp of his water. He then leaned back towards Jasper and Lila, though he was talking directly to Lila this time - voice lowered to a near whisper. ”You alright being here? We can go elsewhere if you want… I can handle the rot coming back.”

---

If anyone looked close enough, they’d see a pair of glowing eyes staring out from underneath a nearby nachos stall. They were focused on a pair of men that were enjoying themselves a little too much…

Razgoy, Stealer of Joy, was good at biding their time. They had followed the two through the festival, hiding from stall to stall, waiting for a moment when they were alone. They were perfectly hidden, perfectly silent, waiting for the right time to strike. But the targets were on the move. Time to follow. Slowly Razgoy moved their skeletal head out from under the stalls fabric cover. With them so distracted, it would be easy to follow-

Something hot landed on Razgoy’s head, trickling down the white tendrils and covering their eyes. A bright yellow, sticky sauce. Cheese sauce dripping from a human’s nachos. They were clumsy, and now it was all over Razgoy.

No matter. Nacho cheese sauce covered, Razgoy continued their hunt.

Recollections: Under The Sycamore Tree Part. 1

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Bianca Manalo

Interactions: Lynn @NoriWasHere, Stormy @Blizz, PRA @Punished GN
Cracker Island Cracker Bar

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“My last boss was just a piece of shit,” Bianca shrugged. Being a Nazi made you the biggest piece of shit, so it was a bit of an understatement. But unlike some of their members she didn’t just go spilling shit like that, as much as she liked Lynn. Certain things had to stay secret. “The details are… classified, sorry.”

She figured if she was open about not being able to tell her, Lynn would understand. Hopefully.

“Mommy Meifeng-” Bianca snorted, covering up her mouth with her hand before she spat up a bit of beer. Oh lord, she was not going to forget that nickname anytime soon. It fit too well… Damn, that was her boss. She had to not think like that. “Yeah, yeah, I’ll introduce you.” She shook her head, still laughing, and got up.

“Hey, it’s always the way with exes, I’m just surprised she keeps unblocking me,” Bianca shrugged, eyebrow shooting up when Lynn mentioned Kari. They’d dated? Huh. Must’ve been after the coven ended… Bianca didn’t press, cause she could tell Lynn didn’t want to talk about it and she wasn’t an asshole. “It’s a constant cycle. I reach out, she blocks me, then a year or so later I realise I’m unblocked and try again. She did have me unblocked for a solid couple of years, once, when in another relationship. Probably wanted to show off. Crazy. Not surprised piece of shit guys blocked you- this is why you should stick to women.”

Bianca flashed Lynn a bright grin. She adjusted her now slightly lopsided werewolf ears, before following after Stormy and the other agents. She tried to position herself right in the middle - so she could be in between her coworkers and the Sycamore Tree members essentially, leaving space beside her for Lynn if she still wanted to sit with her.

“I’ll have whatever Lynn is having,” she said, leaning back, completely relaxed. Of course, that didn’t last long when Stormy jumped right into it. He did know that they were federal agents, right? He was acting like a school teacher talking to two kids who’d gotten into a fight. She sniggered at that thought.

“Hey, hey, hey, c’mon Stormy, you can’t just jump into it,” Bianca leaned forward and waved her hands as if to stop a fight breaking out. “Let’s start with introductions, yeah? If we’re all gonna be drinking together. Everyone knows me, butttt,” she dragged out the word, gesturing to everyone else around the table, “none of you even know each other’s names. Well. Mostly. So, introductions. Then we can talk about what happened.”

Two could play at pretending to be a school teacher.

Recollections: Under The Sycamore Tree Part. 1

Interactions: Edict @AtomicEmperor, Layla @Estylwen, Britney & Sabrina @Punished GN
The Halloween Festival

---

It looked like the information hadn't been as useless as Linqian thought it would be.

Surprisingly, Edict hadn't pushed her away or tried to create any distance even with Britney standing right there. He did the opposite - putting his arms around her almost automatically. Maybe the night extending beyond the festival wasn't off the table after all… Her eyebrows raised when he took her hand, before smiling at the feeling of a thick, paper wrapped block underneath her fingers. The following movements to cover up the whole transaction, from his pocket to her handbag, were incredibly impressive.

And a little too attractive. She almost rolled her eyes at herself for that.

Linqian could've gagged over how Edict got over Britney. His smile was sickeningly sweet, it was almost jarring compared to the normal Edict. This time she really did roll her eyes. At least Britney ran off before he could start saying some grossly romantic shit or something.

”Linqian, please go with them... I'm gonna stick around with Layla, make sure that we spread the firepower around a little bit, y'know? You're better with those people than I am anyway. We'll catch up, and yes I'll take a Stel. Thank you.”

Edict

“Got it,” Linqian agreed easily, the extra weight in her bag more than enough to stop her from getting annoyed at essentially being told what to do (albeit politely) - and the fact she hadn’t offered to get him a drink. But it was fine. If she thought about it, he was essentially paying for a glorified bar service! On top of the information. Though at the end of the day she was still herself, and had to get a little snide about it. ”Wasn't going to ask, but fine- A Stella for you, and I’ll get a bottle of water for the non drinker.” Linqian smiled somewhat convincingly at Layla. ”On me.”

As much as she always claimed her brother had the brains, Linqian wasn't actually stupid. She may not be academically intelligent, but she was smart enough otherwise. It was immediately obvious to her that Edict wasn't staying with Layla to make sure she was protected. She'd just given him information about the void's sealing, which he'd paid handsomely for (unless he'd handed her a massive stack of one dollar bills), and now he wanted to have a nice chat with Layla alone? Connecting the dots wasn't hard. Why it was so important to him she didn't know, nor did she care, quite frankly. She'd been paid and would keep doing whatever she needed to to get paid again.

Including making herself scarce, and going after Britney.

”Don't have too much fun without us,” Linqian smirked, before turning on her heel and hurrying after Britney and Sabrina. She didn't want to stick around, anyway, after she caught the start of Edict laying it on thick with Layla. As she walked, she carefully opened her bag to rearrange the things inside. The envelope was moved underneath the tupperware and beers, and the gun slipped down the side of them so it was easy enough to get out but not so easy to see. Satisfied, she closed her bag and covered it with her cloak.

Nothing could restore Linqian's good mood like a massive stack of cash. There was a slight bounce to her step as she followed Britney into the drinks area. Now nothing else could ruin her night, nothing-

Except Bianca and Evelynn drinking together.

Just like that, Linqian chest tightened and pure hatred seized her. Seeing Evelynn was enough to put her in a bad mood, but her cosying up to Bianca? That was too fucking much. Fuck. Linqian couldn't fucking believe it. It hurt more than she wanted to admit. It really fucking stung. Bianca had fucking seen what happened! She’d offered her fucking condolences and said she wanted to meet up again. Now she was cosying up with the fucking enemy? The person who said Jinhai deserved to be fucking dead? Bianca had gotten on with her brother- she’d practically been a part of the fucking family for the time she was there. Yet she was fucking drinking with that bitch? Fuck. This was the fucking worst.

Linqian tore her eyes away from them, dark red lips twisting down into a nasty scowl. Part of her really wanted to go over and slap Evelynn again... But the colder, more detached part stopped her. Evelynn didn't deserve the effort right now. She was dead to her. Something to be ignored. She felt nothing towards her at all. She wasn't even worth having feelings over. A cold apathy washed over her, pushing away the residual fiery rage. She would completely ignore Evelynn's existence.

Linqian looked back over, gaze ice cold as it passed over Evelynn as if she wasn't there and came to rest on Bianca. It softened slightly there. She looked cute, dressed as a werewolf- shit, they practically matched. Her expression lightened slightly. Bianca caught her gaze and grinned, giving a small wave. Linqian's lips twitched slightly upwards towards more of a straight line than a scowl. She immediately turned away, giving them both the cold shoulder and going over to Britney.

”Can't believe all it took was some sexy maid outfits for Stormy to fall in with the feds,” Linqian muttered, watching him gather them for drinks (out of his pocket). Fucking typical. She looked up at Britney, and realised that she hadn't been there when the PRA had ruined everyone's day a week ago. She'd have no idea who these people were, and had barely paid attention to anyone beyond Lila. Which was strange, cause Lila looked perfectly fine. Linqian gave Lila a nod, because she may be friends with Lynn but she was impressively anti-fed, before leaning in towards Britney.

”Oh yeah the annoyingly hot maids are the ones that tear gassed us last week,” Linqian said in a low voice to Britney (and Sabrina). She tried to subtly point to Meifeng. Lila could definitely hear her too, but that wasn’t exactly a problem since she clearly didn’t like the PRA either. ”That's the leader. An absolute fucking bitch- Bianca says she not normally like that, but I don't believe it... oh yeah, Bianca's part of the PRA too. Between us we've got exes in the worst groups possible - the mafia and the government. Lucky us.”

Linqian lips twitched up into the semblance of a teasing smile. Though, she knew which one she'd choose to work with any day - and actively did. She'd sooner starve to death than get a job like Bianca's.

Now that she was coldly ignoring her ex she kind of still liked and her worst enemy drinking together, and Stormy making nice with the feds, she actually took note of the situation. Namely the awkwardness. Luca looked like absolute shit and was clinging to Jasper like he was about to jump his bones (which surely wouldn’t be fun for anyone), Lila looked distressed and of course Stormy said that ‘nothing happened’ while essentially telling Britney to fuck off. Which clearly meant something had happened, that much was fucking obvious, but Linqian had no idea what.

And again, she really didn’t care. All she wanted was another drink and to be out of this uncomfortable atmosphere… But the drinks line was long. Far too long.

”There isn't another drinks stall is there?” Linqian eyed the queue with disdain. Surely there must be, in a festival this big. She'd give anything to avoid being in that crush of bodies. She still had two cans in her bag, but there were three of them here and then Edict who'd already put in his order with her. ”Or literally anywhere else we can buy drinks? I don't like the look of the queue, and Stormy clearly isn't inviting us along.”

---

Interactions: Sloane @Atrophy & Jack @Blizz
Cracker Island, Halloween Festival

---

"I have a feeling he only pretends to be so disgustingly stupid, and I'm well-versed in the art of lying to someone's face."

Jack

Anya found it almost funny how Jack thought she needed help with the lying part of the whole situation. That showed just how well she'd mastered 'the art of lying to someone's face.' It was so easy to keep a lie that people wanted to believe. Of course she was the unfortunate one in this situation, forced on a horrendous date where all she could do was grin and bear it. There had been no manipulation on her part, of course, or subtle nudges towards information. None at all.

Ah, it was so nice to make people believe that had control, or were superior, when they truly weren’t.

Her dark brown, carefully painted lips curved up into an agreeing smile. She didn't need them to see her talent for what it was. After all, the fact that they both truly believed her to be a good person proved just how well she was doing it.

And unlike Jack, she didn't idiotically brag about her lying ability (which really defeated the purpose of lying in the first place). She would keep up the facade until she passed, or it was no longer necessary.

”Thank you, Jack. You too, Sloane. I’m sure it’ll be fine. I don’t plan to meet him again unless we need more information, which is unlikely right now. I’m sure by then he’ll have forgotten about me, and you can take my place. I think Sloane is right, though, I think he is just that stupid.”

Anya’s eyebrows raised as Sloane mentioned her own dating life. It was one thing the two of them never discussed, like an unspoken agreement that it was something neither had an interest in sharing. Though now that Sloane had let it slip, albeit accidentally it seemed, she was curious. Anya allowed her to change the subject awkwardly, while making note of the information. With Sloane she knew pushing would only cause her to withdraw.

Though them finding her an actual date with someone deserving of her (which was no one) wasn’t an idea she was fond of. She watched Sloane who was acting strangely - refusing to make eye contact and brushing back her hair, when her hair was perfectly how out of her face.

”I don’t really have a type,” Anya replied honestly, deciding not to try and keep up a socially acceptable pretence around them when it came to dating. While very few - perhaps no - people were allowed to see the real Anya, these two were her friends. Well. Sloane was her friend, Jack had newly reentered her life, so that still wasn't definite in her eyes. She didn’t really do friends anyway. Sloane was a bit of an exception there. ”To be perfectly honest, I have no interest in dating, and that’s why I don’t talk about guys. If you want a physical type, I can give it, but that’s not what you’re looking for. I’m quite happy to be single, and plan to stay that way for the rest of my life. Romance doesn't appeal to me." It was more than that, but explaining a lack of romantic attraction whatsoever always lead to more questions. "It’s not like I haven’t been through a long list of eligible bachelors provided by my parents. I can’t say any of those dates, well, marriage meetings, were bad, but it made me realise it wasn’t something I wanted. My parent’s didn’t take to kindly to that.”

Anya laughed lightly, though her gaze turned colder. Her parents were, and always would be, a sore spot. Even if she’d brought them up herself, it made her mood unpleasant. She finished her third drink and glanced around for a server Sloane was so desperately trying to find. Where had they gone?

”I do appreciate the offer,” Anya smiled, coldness in her expression disappearing. Even if Sloane had only brought it up to awkwardly cover up mentioning her own dating experience. She’d hidden it so clumsily that it was near impossible for Anya to miss - but thankfully for Sloane, Anya thought through all her actions enough not to bring it up. ”But Jack… I don’t imagine you’ve had many options in the void? I’m sure we can find someone for you, between us. There’s plenty of handsome, gay men in my field of work if there aren’t any here.”

---

Lihn Phan

Interactions: Clancy @Zombiedude101, Shayton @Punished GN
The Halloween Festival, Kids Section

---

Lihn smiled when the kid took the cat ears. He looked a lot less… racist with them on top of the outfit. More ridiculous, but he was young, what did that matter?

Then he started acting odd again. He walked away from her without saying anything - no explanation. It wasn’t the normal running of an angry or scared pre-teen either.

Lihn followed him over to the colouring table out of concern. It was the same table that Tayla was colouring at - Clancy approaching a man that Tayla was conversing with. Lihn raised an eyebrow.

Tayla was quick to leave - which was a shame, Lihn had hoped to exchange numbers with the other mom before leaving. Or at the very least give her a business card so she could get in contact. St Portwell was large, but Lihn interacted with a large proportion of the magical scene. Hopefully she’d meet her again. She understood her leaving, however. She wouldn’t want her family time encroached on either.

Lihn glanced over at her own daughter. Story time was wrapping up, but she had accosted the story teller himself and was bombarding him with questions. She’d have another few minutes before she came running over.

“Are you his Uncle?” Lihn asked Shayton, raising an eyebrow. Seeing Shayton made her even more confused about how Clancy had left the house dressed like that. “You should keep a closer eye on your nephew. This may be the kids' area, but there’s plenty of dangers for someone so young. Don’t let him lose you again.”

Lihn then looked over at Clancy with a smile. The energy between the two was… off, but it wasn’t her place to question it when the child himself had approached him. The calming emotional aura she’d been putting out momentarily brushed up against Shayton’s emotional field before immediately retracting as she stopped doing it. “I’m glad you found your… family member. I’ll leave you two alone now.”

---

Bianca Manalo

Interactions: Lynn @NoriWasHere, Linqian
The Halloween Festival

---

"Oh there's one guy that'd have you beat when it comes to HR cases," Bianca laughed, pointing to the red power ranger. "Pretty sure HR is sick of his face by now, dudes in there every few days. It's badddddd."

Bianca sipped on the second beer, pocketing her ten bucks. She wouldn't say no to the free drinks... Though unfortunately she couldn't just down another. She was technically on duty, and while two beers wouldn't even get her tipsy it was best to take it a bit slower. So she could drink throughout the night, of course.

"Hey, I get it, that wasn't cool," Bianca held up her hands again, with a smile that said she really wasn't bothered by Lynn bringing it up. She'd already had the conversation with Linqian anyway. "We're not normally like that. Meifeng- my boss- really doesn't like when we get hurt. Eve punched me a couple of times over nothing and it just escalated. Can't take it back, but I'm sorry that shit happened. Shouldn’t happen again. We’re here to protect people against the paranormal, honest."

She went to answer how she'd been doing, but Lynn took a quick trip to the future - and Bianca kept an eye on her drink just like she'd asked to, as if anyone wanting to spike it could get through them. When Lynn came back Bianca grinned and gave her a thumbs up.

"Well, there's plenty of drinks to be had," Bianca glanced over at Britney, then back to Lynn. "Glad you're doing well... And hey, being a fed isn't really that bad nowadays, you should've seen who I used to work for!" Bianca laughed, seemingly joking. Though she wasn't. Her last boss had been a Nazi. "What's new with me, well... It's been ten years, so a lot. I work for the government now, been all around the place with it. Came back to St Portwell two years ago. It's been nice, even if there's a lot different. Not many people still around, and my job doesn't exactly give me the free time to see them anyway."

Stormy seemed to be taking off, gesturing for everyone to follow them. Bianca raised an eyebrow, tilting her head towards Lynn. "Are you planning to follow them?"

Bianca was quite happy to stay here, finishing the beers - she'd followed her colleagues to the drink line for that, after all. She was also happy to follow. As she was waiting she felt a chilly gaze on her, hair at the back of her neck standing on end. She turned her head to the side and spotted Linqian staring at her. She was dressed up as red riding hood - if a slightly damp, tired looking one. It was cute. Bianca grinned and waved at her cheerfully.

As expected, Linqian turned around and completely ignored it. Ah, how difficult it was keeping up a friendship with an ex (who perhaps didn’t even want it). Bianca took another sip of her drink and glanced at Lynn, joking, “she’s so gonna block me again. Surprised she keeps unblocking me to be honest.”

---

Trisha Vanburen

Interactions: Adora @Punished GN, Leon & Casey @AtomicEmperor
The Halloween Festival

---

Suddenly, Adora was pulled off her - and someone else was pulling her up too. The bees automatically split into two groups and swarmed up Casey’s hands too. Trisha didn’t recognise him, but the voice was familiar. She squinted at Leon through blurry eyes and quickly realised who it was. The enforcer himself! No wonder he was stepping in.

Having recognised him, though she had no idea who the other guy was, she silently told her bees to withdraw. Most of them flew back to her, crawling back inside her onesie. Three rested in her hair like guards in case anyone tried something else, and two flew circles around Adora while buzzing threateningly.

“Leon!” Trisha cried, immediately groaning and doubling over. Leon probably wouldn’t recognise her because he face was fucked up beyond recognition, but he’d probably recognise her voice (she’d yelled at him a lot back in the Stygian Snake days). Plus there weren’t many who had a whole swarm of bees they could control (though it was only a small amount of her actual hive). “She just started hitting me!”

She was an absolute sight. Blood flooded down her face from a broken nose, coating the top of her bee onesie until the yellow turned red. Bruises already bloomed all across her face. Her red rimmed eyes squinted up at the two men - she had difficulty opening them, and her vision was incredibly blurry. Her head ached, she could feel blood sluggishly dripping down from where it had hit the stall she’d been thrown into.

She was already sobbing from all the pain she was in, ugly tears streaming down her bloodied face. That wasn’t fake, even as she lied about whose fault it was. But Adora had taken it too far! Unable to take a few fucking words...

Her face was in agony - she was fairly certain more than her nose was broken! She was going to look awful for days! That bitch!

“I was just trying to have a nice chat with an old friend, bringing up other older friends, when out of nowhere she punched me. She just wouldn't stop, look at what she did.” Trisha gestured to her face clumsily, because she was incredibly dizzy and couldn't really feel her limbs. She hiccuped, tears still streaming down her face uncontrollably. "She... she... she ruined my face..."

Recollections: Under The Sycamore Tree Part. 1

---

Trisha Vanburen

Interactions: Adora @Punished GN
The Halloween Festival

---

“What the fuck?!” Trisha barely had time to yell before Adora decked her. She knew she was unstable, she knew she was fucking insane, but she hadn’t expected Adora her to punch her here. In public.

“YOU FUCKING BITCH! LET GO-” Trisha screamed, cut off by a fist to the stomach as the air was literally punched out of her lungs. The bees underneath her outfit buzzed louder and louder. Not yet, she could take a punch-

She really couldn’t take a punch. Trisha struggled to get free of Adora’s grip, only to be shoved into a stand. Blood flooded down her face, she could barely breathe, and her weak flailing back did nothing. Barely able to hold a thought together, Trisha directed the bees to attack. They swarmed out of her onesie, down her arms and legs and up Adora’s. With loud buzzes they stung all over her legs, her arms, a few reaching her face. Dimly, Trisha directed to her arms. Anything to stop the constant pounding, the pain so intense she could barely think at all.

All thirty bees swarmed Adora’s arms, stinging her again and again, growing more desperate the longer she punched Trisha.

---

Interactions: Stormy @Blizz, Jasper/Lila @NoriWasHere
The Halloween Festival

---

”Thanks Jasper, you’re the best.” Luca took the pill bottle and shook one out into his mouth. Dry swallowing it wasn’t particularly fun, but he didn’t want to wait. It would take a while to kick in anyway and pain this bad was difficult to deal with. He handed back the pill bottle and grimaced at the uncomfortable feeling in his throat. Soon as his legs would support him he was getting up.

"So, I take it the situation is under control?

Meifeng

”Yeah, it’s all good now, all under control,” Luca croaked. He twisted his head to look at Meifeng- and froze when he spotted the woman that had bottle fed him dressed as a maid. Holy shit that wasn’t an image he was going to be able to forget. He instantly looked away, cheeks heating up… out of embarrassment. He’d hoped to never see her again. Now Jasper would start teasing him about it.

Luca finally let go of Jasper’s hand, shifting to lean heavily against him now that Stormy had moved away. He awkwardly wrapped an arm around Jasper to keep himself propped up, shooting him a smile as his cheeks heated up even more. Phew, must be the warm weather. Definitely not because of how handsome Jasper was up close, or how they’d just been holding hands, or how he was resting against his chest or-

Nope! Jasper was his friend, his very straight best friend, and now wasn’t the time to think like this. Wait, was Jasper’s face red too? Oh, it really must be warm.

”Sorry, I can’t support myself yet,” Luca explained, even though he knew Jasper wouldn’t mind. Of course he wouldn’t. He knew that Jasper would stick with him until he was alright enough to stand by himself. ”Mind helping me stand up?”

He sounded a bit awkward, but he put it down to the mental exhaustion of pushing out the rot. It had taken a lot out of him, physically and mentally. The physical damage was more obvious but he could tell he’d lost a bit of… himself today. But right now he didn’t want to worry about that. This was his time to enjoy with friends. He turned his head to look at Lila, shooting her a smile. If he could walk himself right now he’d be going over to her, making sure she was okay… Which he would, later. They needed to talk. They really needed to talk after that.

”I’ll take a drink!” Luca called out when Stormy offered, lips curving up into a devious little smile. ”I’m going to absolutely drink through your wallet Stormy, you’ll regret offering. I’ll take your most expensive… water.”

He was beginning to feel better. The painkillers were slowly kicking in, and he was able to put a bit more weight on his legs. He’d get some water, then finally the four of them could hang out - and everyone else, of course. They’d have loads of fun! The night was easily salvageable, together-

Luca’s positive thinking ground to a halt as a very tall, very obvious life ruiner barged in.

Normally, Luca would be able to retain his optimism even when facing Britney. He’d moved on from the harsher feelings he once had towards her, after all. But after what had happened - after everything Emily had said, and nearly losing control of himself to the rot - some of those feelings had come back. He was still recovering from what he’d gone through. It was too soon, too fast for him to have gotten back to his normal self enough to handle her presence. Resentment swirled in his tight chest. His thoughts, clouded with pain, went to darker places. Why was she fine, when he was dying? How was that fair? He shouldn’t think these thoughts, he’d accepted it, they’d been young but- he was so tired.

He did something he normally wouldn’t do. Instead of just staying quiet, staying positive and out of the situation, he pushed himself into it.

The Rot wasn’t even there to goad him on. Maybe it was right. Maybe he truly was rotten inside.

”Lila, are you alright?” Luca called out, completely ignoring Britney. As if she wasn’t even there. He still leaned heavily on Jasper, rotten wounds scattered across his arms and expression tight with discomfort. For once he didn’t hide it with a smile. Part of him, the part he normally pretended didn’t exist, wanted her to feel guilty. ”I didn’t hurt you did I? When the Rot… y’know. I’m really sorry if I did!”

---

Interactions: Sloane @Atrophy & Jack @Blizz
Cracker Island, Halloween Festival

---

The resort was nicer than the rest of the festival, if still filled with people Anya had no interest in being around. At least the decor was more tasteful and there was a distinct lack of teenagers. It was more tolerable. Not somewhere Anya would generally choose to spend a night, but nor were many places outside of her own home.

”Cheers to that,” Anya smiled, raising her own glass - an Espresso Martini. She was normally a wine drinker, but sometimes it was nice to mix things up a little. May as well make the most of the cocktail makers here, and go for something a little stronger too. She took a sip. It was quite nice, and the caffeine helped push away the tiredness from a poor night's sleep.

She agreed with Sloane’s suggestion they don’t talk about that stuff tonight with a nod. Even people as brilliant as them needed a break sometimes. A night just to relax and not think too much.

But what did normal friends talk about? Anya was almost as stumped as Sloane. Occasionally they would talk about non consequential stuff - the weather, how Anya’s siblings were doing, how work had been the day before. But they rarely just meant up to chat. There was always something to do, even as simple as discussing dreams Anya had visited. Well there was one thing that friends tended to talk about - no, gossip about, if the television shows her sister had forced her to watch was anything to go by.

Boys.

Anya finished her first drink, and promptly ordered a second. She'd need it for the topic she was about to bring up. "Why don't we talk about... My date."

.
.
.
One Week Ago.

The Far Harbour

---

Anya couldn't believe she was actually here.

The Far Harbour was… far from the normal establishment she'd go to. In fact, she rarely went out at all, especially not to bars. She cycled between her place, Sloane's place and the occasional fancy restaurant. It wasn't too bad and seemed to have a nice atmosphere, but she would much rather be at home. She would much rather be anywhere but here, with the prospect of having to see that agent in person looming over her.

But it was fine. This was merely an information gathering meeting. She had both Jack and Sloane on speed dial in case anything went wrong.

She'd already gone in and gotten a table, close enough to the door so that she could watch it but enough out of the way that they wouldn't be constantly disturbed. She, unwillingly, sent Trevor a text with very to the point instructions of where she sat, and of what she was wearing. She'd changed into a nice, light blue blouse and a dark, knee length skirt. Her hair was tied back into a low bun. It was nice enough to appear like she was making an effort, while actually being one of her more casual outfits. She nursed a glass of red wine, seriously considering downing it to deal with this, before deciding against it so she could be clear headed enough to get the information she wanted.

“... I’m coming my darling!”

Trevor announced himself from halfway across the room as he barreled over to her table and almost tripped over someone’s chair. He stumbled forward, and caught himself on the table… he hissed in pain as his hands were freshly bandaged.

“... Ouch,”

He used his forearms to pull the chair back, and sat down and said, “Oh, sorry, I was, uh, a little bit…” He raised his bandaged hands up to his bowtie and said, “... Tied up.”

He gave her a wide smile.

Anya could feel her will to live slipping away from the moment Trevor appeared. This had been a mistake. A terrible mistake… But one she would force herself to see through.

”Don’t worry about it,” she forced a polite smile and laugh, pretending she’d found it even vaguely funny rather than just soul destroying. What did she say? Start with polite small talk, before moving onto the things she wanted to know. ”I hope your hands aren’t too badly damaged. Luca’s abstraction can be rather nasty.”

“Oh, these!” Trevor raised his hands. “This is nothing! You know I lost these completely, but my sister fixed me right up!”
Anya forced sympathy into her gaze, taking a sip of her wine. ”What do you want to drink? I can get it for you seeing as you’re… tied up.”

“OH! Agent Liao told me I’m not allowed to drink even off duty because of that time I got reeeeeeeeal drunk. Then I got Maximilian real drunk! Then I got Fiona real drunk. Then I got Leon real drunk. Then I got Sonya real drunk! Then we drove around in my pickup and until I crashed into a tree! Then she was like ‘who’s fuckin’ idea was it’ and they all pointed at me, and I was like ‘It wasn’t my fault, did the fuckin’ booze mind control them?’ Then she slapped me and was like ‘Watch who you’re talking to, boy,’ and I thought that was kinda cute you know…”

”Right.” Anya had no idea what to say to that. Minutes in and she was already speechless. She was rarely speechless. He’d found his boss cute when she slapped him? She committed the crime of drunken driving and then openly admitted it to her? Actually, that was something she could use. She mentally noted it down in the section of her memory that wasn’t going to discard immediately after this meeting. ”No alcohol for you, then, I’d rather not end up on the other end of your boss’ wrath again.”

She smiled. ”A soft drink, then?”

“A coke! Extra ice!” Trevor excitedly said before he leaned forward, placing an elbow on the table and giving Anya a flirtatious smile. “Sooo… tell me about yourself, beautiful?”

Anya waved someone over and ordered the drink, giving her a moment before she had to reply to him. She almost gagged. Was suffering through this really worth it? Yes, it could be.

”There’s not much to say. I work as a dream interpreter, I suppose, and it’s my main passion.” Perfect, just give a little bit of information about herself, before moving onto him. ”What about you? I assume you’re not from St Portwell… Did you move here with the- with work recently?”

“Nope! I’m from Alabama, but I usually bounce from place to place because the PRA don’t got a whole lotta’ of fancy tech guys like me!” Trevor said as he jammed a thumb into his chest. “But, I’ve been stationed here for a while, and thankfully I survived the lil’ purge that took place last year.”

Trevor awkwardly tugged at his collar.

Anya’s smile widened almost imperceptibly. Now this could be interesting, if she could get something out of him. ”Of course, you really seemed knowledgeable about technology on the phone. I’m sure you’re invaluable to them.”

Anya, unfortunately, didn’t know much about technology beyond the normal, so she couldn’t actually compliment him much more about that. Likely a good thing, because just that small amount had her wanting to throw up. She continued, acting concerned rather than like someone wanting blackmail material out of him. ”There was a PRA purge? I take it you weren’t involved in… whatever it was. I’m not sure I can stay if you were, even a little bit.”

“Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeell…” Trevor looked off to the side, before he focused his vision on Anya. “... Before Agent Liao, another guy was in charge of the PRA in St. Portwell. Porter Johnson! I mean, he seemed cool at first but as it turned out…”

Trevor awkwardly laughed.

“You know, uh, well, heard of, uh, one of the little cults in St. Portwell? Das Sonnenrad…?” He laughed again.

”He was part of Das Sonnenrad?” Anya’s eyes widened, though internally she smiled. Bingo. This was information she could use. ”Of course I’ve heard of them. Anyone involved in the magical scene here has.”

She shook her head, acting shocked, even though she didn’t really care about the fact that the last leader was a Nazi. Anya hated Nazi’s as much as the next person, but she wasn’t all that surprised that someone in power had ended up being one. ”If you’re still with the PRA, I assume you didn’t know at the time? That must’ve been a terrible shock.”

“I mean, I always suspected it… dude didn’t make it subtle he was a lil’ lopsided against the, uh, how do I say this?” Trevor awkwardly laughed. “... But, them crazy 8th Street gals’ outed him and Director Alcott did a huuuuuuge sweep. Which is why a majority of the Agents you see here ain’t even from St. Portwell but pulled in from other places.”

Then Trevor shrugged.

“Heard they removed Porter Johnson, but he strangely, mysteriously,” Trevor threw his arms up in a dramatic display, “Fell out of a window. It’s crazy how often that happens.”

”Oh, so most of the agents were removed, with a couple of exceptions? I’m glad to know Bianca, who’s my former coven mate, wasn’t part of that group.” Anya smiled, even though she couldn’t care less about whether Bianca kept her job or ended up in jail. But the information was incredibly interesting. ”And you, of course… It is crazy how easy it is to fall out of a window.”

She laughed lightly, taking another sip of her wine. ”Here I thought they’d pulled in so many agents because of the Stygian Snake. I suppose it wouldn’t make sense to suddenly increase the number of agents after ten years of it being sealed, right?”

“Well… yes and no,” Trevor chuckled. “We kiiiinda lost a few - well, not a few but a lot of Agents during a little shitshow. But, Director Alcott made sure that only the best Agents were in St. Portwell to handle the Stiggy Snake. Like Samson, Sonya, Maximilian - OH! Maximilian. Yeah, he’s going to handle the Stygian Snake if it gets out!”

”Only the best? I suppose that includes you too?” Anya's smile didn't waver even as she internally gagged. But punctuating what she said with a few compliments would make him think that this was actually a date, and she was only asking out of curiosity about his job! Hopefully. Though she couldn't believe he was counted among their best. ”How's he going to handle it? There were hundreds in our coven- Sycamore Tree- when it was defeated. This one man… Maximilian, can handle it himself?”

“Yuuuuup! He’s like super strong, y’know,” Trevor chuckled. “He has sooomething, I dunno what, but nobody can beat him! During, uh, a little something that took place a lil’ while ago we call the Lighthouse Incident, the last all hands on deck incident - well, nobody likes to talk about it, but I think it’s hilarious when people freak out when I bring it up - there was like this big monster like Godzilla.”

To the best of his ability, Trevor hobbled forward, making his best Godzilla impression.

“It fuckin’... we hit it with bullets, grenades, rockets, and everything, but nothing worked! Then he flew over and cold clocked it, and it fell over.”

Anya knew of Godzilla but had never seen the movie - and Trevor's awful impression did little to help her picture how much of a threat that had been. She would have to look it up later. But if he could take out something that even rockets couldn't touch… interesting. ”If he was able to easily beat something no one else could, I suppose he stands a chance with the Stygian Snake.”

Pretending to feel relieved, letting her expression relax, Anya raised a hand to push a straight bit of hair behind her ear. ”I feel safer already knowing someone like that's in the city. I can see why the PRA would feel comfortable with trying to find where the Snake is sealed. Hopefully he can easily 'cold clock' it if it escapes.”

“Yeah, the whole plan if the Snake gets out is for him to fist it to death like yeah!” Trevor accented the last point with a thrusting motion in the air with a balled fist. He did this several times and definitely didn’t catch a few glances.

Anya chose the wrong time to take a sip of her wine, almost choking on it. She wasn’t able to hide her look of shock, recoiling before she could stop herself. The motion was just too much. Perhaps she’d misheard? ”Excuse me? He’s going to do what to the Snake?”

“... You heard me, fist it!” He did the motion again.

Anya was speechless. This was too much. The PRA’s grand plan to stop the Stygian Snake was to have one of their agents fist it. A sexual act. Something generally not done to defeat apparitions. Something she’d had to witness Trevor motion out multiple times. Her confidence in the PRA dropped even further. What a terrible organisation.

She subtly slipped a hand into her coat pocket, tapping the bottom right corner to send a text she’d pre-prepared. Almost instantly her phone started to buzz with an incoming call. Anya was once again thankful for how efficient Sloane was.

Mouthing sorry to Trevor, Anya pulled out her phone and took the call. ”Hello? What?” A pause, some mumbling on the other end of the phone. ”She was hospitalised? I’ll be right there…” More mumbling. ”My date? That’s not important, he’ll understand. Okay, see you soon.”

Anya hung up, instantly standing and smiling apologetically at Trevor. ”My mum’s been hospitalised, so I have to go. I’m so sorry. I’ll contact you again later.”

She definitely wouldn’t unless absolutely necessary. She didn’t even wait for Trevor’s response before walking out of the place as quickly as she could.

.
.
.
The Present.

"Not the serious parts, of course, though I did get plenty of information out of him. We can discuss that another time. Tonight I just want to complain about it." Anya grimaced. Where did she even start with that? While it had been more fruitful than she expected it to be, there was also so much to complain about. So much that she wished she could bleach from her brain. Perhaps she should contact Greyson and see if he still knew that memory wipe spell of his. ”He turned up in a suit. A suit. As if dressing well could cover up his disturbing personality.”

Her second drink arrived, and she immediately drank half of it. It leant her a pleasant buzz, enough to continue talking about the harrowing experience. ”He tripped the moment he arrived then told me an absolutely inane story about the last time he got drunk. It only went downhill from there. Everything that came out of his mouth made me lose a little more of my will to live… and I very much enjoy living. It was far worse in person than that phone call.”

She paused, gaze going slightly vacant. She quickly snapped out of it and continued.

”And then... this is difficult to say, it's what pushed me to my breaking point. It was the worst thing I had to hear that night.” Anya shook her head. (). Her voice lowered to a hushed whisper, leaning in to make sure that only Jack and Sloane could hear. ”He said their best agent was going to fist the Snake. He even made a gesture to go along with it... I can't replicate it, I refuse to. I thought maybe I'd misheard him, or it was a mistake, but when I asked again he said the same thing. That he's going to fist the snake. They- he- he plans to perform a sexual act on the Stygian Snake.”

Looking absolutely dead after regaling them with a tale of her night a week ago, leaving out all of the boring but actually useful details they could discuss on another non Halloween day, Anya finished her second drink.

”I don't understand how no one has beaten some sense into him. I don't normally advocate for violence, but in this case... it may be desperately needed. ”

Anya sighed, regaining a bit more of herself when she waved someone over to order a third drink.

"As far as 'dates' go, it was the worst I’ve ever been on. It reminded me of why I haven't been dating for the last few years." Well, there was more to it than just bad dates. For Anya dating had just been a means to an end and something she felt she should be doing. A way to follow the status quo and keep up appearances. ”I don’t think I’ll be going on another anytime soon”

Recollections: Under The Sycamore Tree Part. 1

Tbf everyone who isn't an asshole should hate Trisha

Recollections: Under The Sycamore Tree Part. 1

Interactions: Edict @AtomicEmperor, Britney @Punished GN, Layla @Estylwen
The Halloween Festival

---

Linqian realised she’d made a very big mistake getting herself involved.

Her cold touch was doing nothing to Vashti. Not nothing- she was just ignoring it. Ignoring it and preparing to strike. She froze. Maybe if she went for the pistol in her bag she could-

That momentary hesitation would have cost Linqian her life, losing her the time needed to back away from a deadly slice to her throat. She flinched as Vashti’s fingers patted her cheek instead. It seemed taunting. Telling her how easily she could have killed her, then and there. She’d made the mistake of getting so close to a beast much stronger than her.

”Fooling around?” Linqian whispered, gaze not leaving Vashti. In case she decided to come back and finish the job. But she made no move to do anything more, and nor did Linqian. Fuck that. This wasn’t her fucking fight in the first place.

Her normal, go to fuck off in response to the rest of what Vashti said died on her lips as soon as it formed. There was no point.

If Britney's friend - Sabrina Vanburen (and there was a surname that reminded her of another bitch she hated) - hadn't stepped in she would be dead. Fuck.

One hand went to her throat, touching where Vashti had originally aimed. She almost expected there to be blood on her fingers as they came away. Instead there was only the dampness of melting snow. She raised her body temperature to normal and then a bit above it, causing the rain to evaporate as it hit her. She shoved trembling hands underneath her sodden cloak. Linqian had been in plenty of situations where she almost died. When her dad was enthralled, fighting against the Stygian Snake, the final battle, when her- no. She wasn’t going to think about that one either. She'd survived them all.

But this was the first time her life had been in danger when Jinhai wasn’t around.

Sloane’s words echoed in her ears. ”Will you take responsibility for your brother having nobody left?”

Linqian didn’t have any plans in place for that eventuality. Between Father Wolf and people like Vashti, who left with threatening words. She was probably- no, definitely- on her shit list now. Next time there wouldn’t necessarily be someone to stop it. Fuck. Maybe she should learn to use a gun, and not give Edict’s back to him. She needed to remember that it was just the two of them now. There was no fallback for if she died, no one to look after him in her place. No smarter, more capable brother that she'd always assumed would outlive her. She needed to try to stay alive, and to figure out a plan for if she didn't manage that.

Now wasn’t the time to think about it. There was nothing she could do tonight. Linqian took a deep breath, hands clenching into fists and she pushed away the remaining tendrils of panic stuck in her chest.

”What a fucking bitch,” Linqian complained to no one in particular. It just helped her calm down. Pushed away the quietly panicked state she'd been in after almost getting her throat ripped out. It still lingered in her shaking limbs, but she pushed all the emotions that came with it down. No way was she showing fucking weakness in front of people, even after that. It was easy to pretend to be fine, like nothing had happened. Ignore it, snap out of it, and have a good night. ”Starts a fight and then pretends its a joke- fuck. At least she backed down, but fuck. Could've stopped the rain at least!”

Shaking her head, Linqian looked at Britney, then Layla. Her eyes narrowed as she noticed something… or more the lack of something. No Void. Good riddance, in her opinion. But that reminded her that she had learned something that could be useful, and money making, this week. It had completely slipped her mind after Jack first told her it because it didn't seem like useful information at all. The void heart was being sealed, end of. But Edict was clearly still into Britney. Maybe he'd pay for it since it involved her? And if it didn't, whatever. Best to tell him it now before someone else let it slip in case it did pay.

Linqian moved back over to Edict, settling beside him at the opposite side to his guitar case. She still wasn’t sure what was in it, so best not to be next to it. She dropped her temperature down to slightly warm to offset the rain chill. She glanced over at the others... Possibly close enough to hear anything she said. Possibly not. Better to be safe.

Turning to face him side on and getting close enough her chest practically pressed against his arm, Linqian pushed up onto her tiptoes. It was a pain to close the gap in their height and her legs were still feeling a little weak after almost dying. Her hands moved up to rest on his shoulder for stability, still slightly trembling fingers curling around it and gripping enough that he couldn't easily shake her off. She leaned right in so that her lips almost touched Edict's ear, lowering her voice to a whisper. "I just remembered, Britney and Stormy sealed Alizee's parasitic ball along with Leon’s cult- the Temple last week. That’s why he’s not with Layla anymore. Jack told me... I can give you more details later, if you want. Oh, and your gun back. I assume you don’t want me to pull it out here?”

She lowered her heels back to the ground but didn't move any further away, lips curved up into a smirk and her eyebrows raised. If it was useful, he could pay her then too.

”I’m guessing you want to tag along with them?” Linqian then asked him in a more normal volume, nodding towards the other three… well primarily Britney. The main person she assumed he'd want to stick around it. She didn’t care either way. She liked Britney enough that it made up for the annoyance that was Layla, and her other option was finding Sully which would require at least a phone call. If he was sober enough to pick up. Too much effort for now. She then looked at Layla, raising her voice to make sure she'd hear. ”Though going to a haunted house at our age is fucking lame without getting absolutely wasted first.”

---

Lihn Phan

Interactions: Clancy @Zombiedude101
The Halloween Festival, Kids Section

---

The kid didn’t run away, which Lihn saw as a victory - but also perhaps another indication for how terrible his parents were. She tried to get a read on his emotions, but it was slightly… strange. She kept up her calming aura but retracted any emotion reading. She shouldn’t, anyway.

“Right, Pinnochio,” Lihn laughed lightly, entirely unbothered by the slight sarcasm in his tone. Her daughter had been going through that stage recently - being sarcastic about everything. It didn’t phase her one bit.

But how did she explain it to him? She hadn’t dealt with this before with her own daughter… It would probably be best to just tell the truth. Children could often tell when you were beating around the bush.

“Unfortunately, your costume looks… very similar to what a hate group wore,” Lihn rubbed the back of her neck. “You’re a kid, so no one will think you’re part of it, but it can be very triggering for some people. The group was incredibly violent and racist. White supremacists, if you’ve heard of them before.”

She gave an awkward smile. Hopefully he’d understand what she was talking about. It was a sensitive subject, but she wouldn’t want him to get in trouble with some people who took it the wrong way. He was just a child, after all.

“I have a spare pair of cat ears, if you want those, so you still have a costume?” she offered, gesturing to her bag. She wanted to ask more about what he was doing alone and what was wrong, but she knew not to push too hard. “Then maybe I can help you get to wherever you’re heading?”

---

Trisha Vanburen

Interactions: Adora @Punished GN
The Halloween Festival

---

Trisha’s sneer quickly turned into a frown when Adora brought up her father. Ten years on, and she was still incredibly resentful about her family situation. Fucking bitch. The bees clinging to her started to grow more agitated, buzzing increasing. One crawled up her neck, sitting just below her chin. They sensed her irritation and wanted to attack the source, but she stopped them. As nice as it would be to swarm someone with bees, it would be difficult to explain.

She really didn’t want Ezra threatening to cut her off (again). Not that the blame could get back to her when it was the bees but ugh… she needed the family money now more than ever.

“The costume’s cute, shame about who’s wearing it. I’ve got no interest in seeing your nasty ass. Gross” Trisha pretended to gag. Disgusting. As if she’d fall as low as going for someone like Adora when there were plenty of others. “Maybe I just wanted to greet an old friend… Ah! You must not know what it’s like to have friends anymore! After all, you got your last one killed, I bet you haven’t had any since! Must suck to be so sad and lonely you’re flashing to someone you haven’t seen in years, hoping they’ll enjoy it. What would Lisa think? She'd be disgusted, I bet… Ah, but we’ll never know, thanks to you.”

---

Bianca Manalo

Interactions: Lynn @NoriWasHere, Meifeng @Punished GN
The Halloween Festival

---

Bianca had tagged along with the power rangers and maids going to get drinks - almost pissed was how the festival was best enjoyed, after all. A couple of shots would let her properly enjoy the night. Then she’d decide whether to strike out on her own or stick with the power rangers. With so many back in town, she was sure her ex-covenmates would be out in droves-

Like at the drink line, performing some kind of budget exorcism of the Rot. Phew. Bianca was glad that Stormy seemed to have the situation under control because she really didn’t want to have to deal with the paperwork for that, and she totally would have to help since she knew their abstractions. But it was all good. She gave Stormy a cheerful wave and smile.

"Heh," Bianca side-eyed Lynn, sliding up to her. She grabbed one of the free beers and raised it to Lynn, before knocking it back. She then pulled out a ten dollar bill, because she wasn't a thief, and slid it over. It was a bit of a pain with the long, werewolf fake nails she was wearing but hey. Not gonna steal drinks. "I get it. Me too. Absolutely nothing better than women... And that? Yeah, very hot." She coughed. "Don't tell 'em I said that, they're my superiors."

She grinned at Lynn, seemingly completely cool in her attitude towards her.

Of course, Bianca had witnessed what had gone down after the raid. What Lynn had said to Linqian was not cool, but Bianca could understand emotions were running high after they were all raided. And that was between them. Her and Linqian hadn't been together for a long time... Though even with a long period of no contact, Bianca still cared for the incredibly temperamental woman. If Linqian ever let her, she'd like to be friends again. There was a lot they knew about each other that meant Bianca could actually be a support for Linqian... Something she knew was desperately needed. Especially after she'd slapped Lynn like that.

But hey, it wasn't her place.

"How you been doing, Lynn? It's been a while..." She then held her hands up in a half apologetic gesture. "I'm off duty, no need to worry."

Not technically true, but they'd only be on duty if something actually happened. The situation here seemed to be under control now that Emily had fled. Seeing who was on the Sycamore Tree side, Bianca was inclined to believe it was her fault... But she was a neutral party, of course.

She then turned her head back to Meifeng with a laugh. “I think it’s cause of what you’re wearing, boss. They’re blown away.”

Recollections: Under The Sycamore Tree Part. 1

Lihns gonna do her best to prevent a child getting beaten up...