calamitcs

[calamitcs]

" oh, a guessing game, fun, " josie raises her hands to clap while a smug expression rests on their features. a game stefan would ultimately lose because surely your old history teacher and best friend/future wife's dark child, therefore stepchild, from the future was definitely not on the salvatore's radar ( or completely the truth ). " would love to see what you come up with. go for it ! " josie was sure there'd be some nod to katherine in whatever he came up with, and if not, they'd be interested to hear what else came to mind. maybe she'd just come out with the truth afterwards, just to see his brain break.

"that's not ominous or anything." he commented dryly, eyes narrowing at the young person before him. was it far too early for stefan to be tired of people making vague hints about his future, it hadn't occurred too many times but he was already tiring of the vagueness. "care to introduce yourself or should i start making guesses?" his arms crossed over his chest, it offered no reprieve to hide his mistrust. honestly give the purposeful way of presentation they were trying to elicit some kind of response from, if not stefan, then someone.

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hereditary, maybe artie's was too. not that they knew their biological family in the slightest. though if tragedy and trouble were gerard/mikaelson traits, they fight right on in. was this the time for an entire nature verse nurture debate ? probably not. " so family drama is an everyone kinda thing ? no one left unscathed ? " most of artie's life experience was gained in a world unlike this one. more than half their life was marred by the constant and undying need to survive even in an abyss. and what had they come out the other side to ? a new hellscape, one of the past. one of their family's own making.

oh , how they knew how that went ..... it made little difference who sought who in the end ----- the fates were equally unkind. and once they had a taste for you ?? a sigh. " hereditary , i fear. " though , did they not shoulder some burden ?? was there nothing they could have done to stop this ?? to have stopped them ?? but now they were ...... their little monsters unleashed on the world ----- and by gods if they hadn't torn it asunder. " -but my hands are no less stained with blood. "

[calamitcs]

" ain't that the truth, " she huffs out a forced laugh. the ghosts that didn't physically manifest were the worst of the bunch. the phantoms birthed from all the loss and devastation inside her. pj would prefer the supernatural kind, the ones attached to real souls, at least that she knew what to do with. " y'know, you look like you could use a drink and i'll be honest, i think i could to. any objections ? "

a sigh of relief. ghosts , spirits , whatever ...... he didn't play with that. " ain't the same. you can't eat no ghost. " dead things were supposed to say dead. vampires ?? at least those were real , something you could sink your teeth into ...... but ghosts ?? what was he supposed to do with that ?? call a priest ?? didn't sit right with him ..... " -you got somewhere else in mind ?? "

[calamitcs]

apologies were a sign of weakness, at least that's what he'd been told as a child. and when it came to his family, it was the truth. it wasn't exactly true to say he'd never apologized before, because he had. when it benefitted him. everything warren did was in service of himself, sometimes a sorry went a long way. the next statement uttered by the other, he could fully get behind. guilt and regret constantly evaded him, not that he was searching much. " life's too short for any of that shit, " he replies with a smile and dismissive wave of his hand. " enough bad stuff out there, don't need to turn it inward. "

❝  ⸻ Good . It's not in mine either . ❞ akasha always spoke bluntly in how she felt . Something he sister and mother told her it was good but not always . she never did anything by mistake . when she did or said something she meant it . ❝  it's a waste of time to live in regret or guilt . ❞

[calamitcs]

the words were somehow both comforting and gut wrenching. his true and blissful happiness was intrinsically tied to complete and utter destruction. it didn't mean he couldn't find bits and pieces here and there. and then one of those very pieces is in his arms again and he holds cordelia tightly against him. " and what if my happiness lies within the good in the world ? " he offers with a raised brow.

❝  ⸻ You fought for the good and the world ❞   Cordelia couldn't help herself and rushed to hug him . She missed him . ❝  not for your happiness ... I want you to fight for your happiness . do what you want to do and feel without holding back ... you deserve that much and more . ❞ she pulled away to look at him .  

[calamitcs]

" yeah, well. the josie you're looking for can't come to the phone right now. i'll make sure to lose the message. " even as they spoke as dismissively as possible, they could feel a stirring inside them that simply wouldn't do. this was why she had avoided the blonde in the first place. a clamoring inside to reach out to her mother. one that wouldn't exist had they not been too comfortable siphoning the curse when it was first placed. " have anything else to say ? i'd make it good because you probably won't be seeing either of us for a very long time. " more distance, that's what dark josie would create if it would save them from either banishment or whatever personality integration caroline was on about.

❝  ⸻ I want ALL of my daughter back . Not just some alter ego version of her , The part that she wanted to lock up and NEVER accepted about herself. which she should . ❞ Caroline just wanted her kids to be safe after all . and having just a version of her daughter going about calling herself DARK JOSIE , was something she wanted to end . ❝  I don't want to talk to DARK JOSIE or light josie or whatever you want to call this . just Josie . My daughter . ❞

[calamitcs]

" why are we doing this ? " she questions with narrowed eyes. " i know how to fight. i know how to hit. " the girl had been in plenty of scrapes over the years and had managed to get out the other side, magical and otherwise. not unharmed of course. cuts, bruises, broken bones, whatever it was, she survived. " that a promise ? " brow raised, now her interest was piqued. all she wanted was to be alone. as painful as it was, it still somehow hurt less than being in the presence of chris, wyatt, hope, or any one else melinda desperately wanted to be close to. " one good punch and you're off ? "

"i'm not made of brick." hope is exasperated. exhausted. anything else in the extremes that could describe her might just apply. "you're not going to hit me hard enough to break anything." were this anyone else, anyone but chris and wyatt's little sister, hope would have walked away and let melinda be satisfied with what she could do now. "take this seriously and i'll leave you alone." they won't but it's an easy enough lie to tell.

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the longer she stayed there in that moment with piper, melinda could feel the ice shrouding her heart beginning to melt. slightly. as much as she wanted to put distance between the pair to sooth the ache that she felt looking at piper, she couldn't. it had been so so long. " eh, the dentist is nothing. i kinda liked the little fluoride mouth guard as a kid. they had a good bubble gum flavor. " reminiscing about her childhood, where piper existed. while a small smile was present on melinda's face, there was something melancholic about it. well, melinda had only three charges in her entire career. one, had slipped through her fingers. another death haunting her. something she didn't ever want to admit to anyone. " sounds like the world is lucky to have you. " it was and why was she suddenly jealous of that world that had her mother where she didn't.

it wasn't exactly that she didn't trust doctors, but rather she had spent far too much time in hospitals and couldn't give answers to the looming questions. how'd you get this burn? how'd you get this sick? how come you're suddenly fine after dying? now a days it looms on the miracle baby that caused her to burst flowers instead of demons. the last halliwell pregnancy almost killed a doctor. she figured she'd avoid that. "don't get me started on dentists." piper laughed. it was only a low distaste -- not really a fear, but it could be. "i like that. mentorship." it seemed to resignate with her in a way she couldn't explain. "we help people mostly. i can't tell you how many babies we've found over the years. i wouldn't call it mentorship. maybe the thing that comes after, if it's needed."

[calamitcs]

" right, you said hit me, and i did. you didn't say how hard, " melinda counters easily. the girl knew well enough how to fight, how hard she needed to hit when the time called for it. this moment wasn't one of them. " not trying to break my knuckles. "

@calamitcs | melinda & hope.

"you're pulling your punches. i said hit me."

[calamitcs]

" thank you, kind lady, " he replies in a clearly fake southern accent and tipping is very non-existent hat. laughing at himself easily, a grin rested on his face. while this place felt just as much on a precipice as the year he left. even after all of this, he still didn't feel much. maybe because he didn't know how to feel or maybe because he lacked it. the burning sensation of lowest shelf liquor would allow him to feel something.

another laugh at the inquiry. " can definitely ask. and if i tell you i'm from the future where the world completely falls to shit and my only choice of survival was walking through a magical hole in time to the year 2012, would you believe me ? " words dripping with sarcasm as if it wasn't his reality. this time he replies with a slightly more serious tone, " family stuff. it's always family stuff isn't it ? " but was it ?

his hand lifts in time to catch the glass pushed in his direction. giving it a proper look, warren brings it up to his lips and downs the contents. the burn slid down his throat bringing a scrunch of his features. " you've earned my vote for employee of the month. "

Eyes widened almost immediately, admittedly the judgement kicking in slightly. Mostly, just because it completely caught her off guard. Although, the blonde should know better than to judge a book by it's cover, so she quickly shook off the notion, and nodded in response, shuffling behind the bar as she took note of his request. "Strongest we've got, coming your way." Cami confirmed, smirking slightly, unable to contain the slight amusement at his specific request for something that will 'really burn'.

"Do you want me to play typical bartender here, and ask what's brought this on, or would you rather we skip passed it?" She was always more than happy to play therapist. In fact, she took great pride in offering an ear and any advice and insight she could muster.

Filling the shot glass to the brim, the very mortal blonde slid it across with ease, before making a final remark. "If this doesn't make you feel like your insides are on fire, I'm doing my job wrong." Not a job she particularly held in high regard, but this was Cami, she took pride in whatever she did, it was her strong sense of ambition, probably.

[calamitcs]

eighteen years since they'd seen him. eighteen years artie spent in quor'toth fighting tooth and nail to get back to him and rebekah. only for their return to be met with the complete and utter end of the world. no parent greeted them. " my dad, " the words blurt from them before artie could stop them. an uncomfortable laugh rushes out afterwards. a hand comes up to their forehead, feeling for a fever. why the hell did they just say that ? " sorry, " another anxious laugh. whatever hardened version of them that came out of that other dimension wasn't here right now. " it's been a long night. " try a long life.

still they don't move from their spot. artie takes a moment to try and remember who marcel even was in this time. was this the anti-witch era ? they were ten years old the last time he'd even spoken to them, timing was all fuzzy. no matter how hard they'd tried to remember every little thing both he and rebekah had ever told them, the harshness of they world they had been left to tried to take every last bit of their parents away from their memory.

" no, just visiting. i hope. " they had a world they desperately wanted back. " you been in the city long ? " artie knew the answer, they just didn't want this conversation to end. didn't want to walk away from him.

There was an intense sensation washing over him, as though eyes were burning into him from afar, the vampire immediately using his heightened sense to lock that down. Seconds later, he sped over to an unfamiliar face, once who seemed far too comfortable in his presence, so she definitely wasn't a local. There was no way anyone in this city felt as though they could approach him in such a casual fashion, unless they were one of his vampires, of course. "Yeah?" He began, eyebrows furrowing slightly, before he pressed further. "And who's that?"

He'd been around hundreds of years at this point, but he was usually pretty good at putting a face to a name, so it was unlikely somebody from his past with whom he'd forgotten, he felt confident in that sentiment. "You're not from around here, I know that much."

[calamitcs]

" guess that's what eighteen years in a hell hole will do to ya, " they muse with a small shrug. " unless you're also talking about before that. but hey, abandonment at two, gaining a family, and then abandonment again at ten. what chance did i have ? " while there is a slight bite to their words, they didn't really feel it. any anger or animosity artie held for the way their life had shaped up was reserved squarely for the universe. not hope. even after all these years, after all they'd endured in quor'toth, artie still saw them as family.

@calamitcs | artie & hope.

"'all right’ is not a term anyone would use to describe you."

[calamitcs]

pj couldn't help the soft laugh that puffed out of her with prue's words. " i was speaking abstractly. more like just simple temperature change. all science, i swear, " her hands lift slightly in defense. lowering her voice and leaning in a little, she continues, " plus, freezing isn't really my thing. "

well, the other before her wasn't wrong. but that didn't stop the elder witch from looking around to make sure no one else was around to hear the conversation. ❝ ok hi, yeah- lets not let the entirety of new orleans hear about magic. but theoretically, you aren't wrong.❞

[calamitcs]

pj was nothing if not incessant. especially where her family was concerned, her sisters beared the brunt. guilt was something that had burrowed itself deep inside of her the second her mother was no longer living. a feeling of responsibility over parker and peyton had always existed, but that deepened. the guilt started spreading uncontrollably as pj watched peyton slip through her fingers. unable to shield her sister from whatever pain she experienced. so of course after not seeing the other for a bit, pj used that pesky sensing of hers and beamed right in. she'd swallow any vitriol that came her way. the cupid-witch could feel the anger emanate from whatever it was trapped in that tank while doing everything in her power not to feel anything from peyton. pj's empathetic ability was on the fritz, but her sister deserved privacy. nell. she knew the name, remembered the face. " is he a demon ? " pj's chin tilts in the tank's direction.

@calamitcs with pj

she was tired to say the least. it's not the fact that she's been partying with the darkside of new orleans for the last few weeks or the fact that she felt mentally drained. it's the fact that despite doing her best to avoid the people who could bring her back from the brink, there stood pj in her private abode as if this was always how it was supposed to be. somehow, they kept crashing into each other in one way or another. "i don't want to hear it," she said nonchalantly before moving to a tank set up for an apparent amphibian BUT the sound that follows isn't a croak or hiss but rather a squeaky, "fuck you bitch!" because of course, of course, there's a tiny young-ish man shrunk down to what appeared to be a barbie sized creature. "he killed nell." nell? oh, pj had only met her a couple of times but peyton never told her just how much she cared for the witch who'd held the key to her heart. "so i'm gonna kill him again. eventually."

[calamitcs]

how was it that new orleans had already held too many unhappy reunions ? that sunnydale and los angeles had followed him east ? it truly shouldn't be a surprise. his failings had a nasty habit of rearing their ugly heads often. a curse of his own doing. a spell he casted himself through his actions. actually separating himself from angelus proved to be an impossible. that reminder was right before him now. " i can make a call, see if a dumpster can be here in an hour or so. does that timeframe work ? "

@calamitcs with angel

he has without a doubt resigned himself to be alone. not in the sense that he would ever leave buffy, dawn or the other scoobies behind but rather he'd never ever let anyone else in the way he had jenny. the reason? the very reason came drifting in, in the form of angel, who now stood in front of him as if he or his other half hadn't killed her. "garbage day is wednsday. you're a few days late."

[calamitcs]

" more like it finds me, but hey, same thing i guess. " they raise their shoulders in a shrug. artie hadn't asked for any of the trauma, trouble they'd been thrown into since birth. did anyone ? none of the other children tossed into quor'toth had either. " did you make this trouble yourself ? " artie inquires with a quirked brow.

a brow raised. pouty , petulant children phased them little ---- they had a hand in raising five of them. " no. " a pause. " i trust you can make your own trouble well enough , yes ?? you needn't be pulled into mine. "

[calamitcs]

a nagging voice in his head chittered away about how this was some delusion concocted by the albatross of despair hung around his neck. still though, after a few blinks wesley stood before him. his body rigid, arms crossed over his chest, angel felt at a loss for what to do or say. he’d mourned wesley ( as much as he could, a bit of avoiding never hurt anyone). mourned cordelia, fred, and wesley. people who’s lives might have continued had they not collided so detrimentally with his. ❛ wesley. ❜ the name felt foreign on his tongue after the time that had passed, time with him gone as angel carried on devastatingly.

how long had he been back ? has it been a while and distance was created on purpose ? the shock written on the other’s face gave the impression that angel was not someone wesley wanted to see. to say that would be a bit of a blow would be an understatement. the relationship between the pair of them had been rocky to say the least, angel would not deny that, but wesley had been a big part of his life. even if it was only a small fraction of his own, an imprint was made, that was true. could he blame him though ? if wesley had kept himself away from angel ?

he had done that. pulled himself away from anyone left who knew him too intimately, walked alone once more. if happiness were to never be in his cards ( and it certainly wasn’t ), why surround himself with any bit of it ? especially when he left destruction in his wake, angelus or not. ❛ and what variation would that be ? ❜ he inquires, unsure if wesley would indulge, clearly he didn’t answer to angel.

X @calamitcs // wesley & angel

this wasn't how it was supposed to go. it was a line wesley had told himself like a mantra. he'd told himself the same excuse so many times they didn't even feel like words anymore. just sounds that fixed nothing, excused nothing. for all the scrolls about prophecy, fate and destiny, nothing was truly aligned. they made their own choices, their own ruin, in the end. the only man who knew perhaps even better then wesley was the man who stood before him. "angel." it felt like whiplash. he'd known angel was out there, something that was heavy on his mind since he'd come back from the dead as a monster. but seeing the other man for the first time brought about the gravity of what he'd done. what he hadn't done.

"i..." how did he even start? i'm a different version of a monster now? a DARKLIGHTER, someone dragged out of hell and surviving at the cost of other souls, living amongst the shadows bathed in in blood and death, never contacting his loved ones, telling them that he was back. wesley, in moments of skin deep loathing, assured himself that keeping away was the best for them. he had been the source of so many bad decisions, so much death, so many roads leading to nowhere but torment and hell itself more then not. the biggest mistake of all was, perhaps, not accepting the well deserved fate in hell.

even in this moment, the thought to let angel believe he only just came back from the dead, flashed through his mind with temptation. for all the lies he was happy to live in in the past, wesley couldn't bring himself to utilize this one. he and angel had a long history after all, complicated as it was. more then once wesley pondered if angel had even mourned him.. perhaps the man had felt relief. he still wasn't certain if that thought was fear, paranoia or a logical conclusion. "it is me, angel. i'm not a vampire." a soft pause before continueing. "i am still dead, however." because that was probably the best place to start. "just... a different variation."