fengforhire

[fengforhire]

Jac honestly hadn't been expecting much of a helpful answer, and she could guess by the derision in the man's voice that he wasn't a werewolf, but she steps back in surprise when he seems to recognize her. She looks up at him again, trying to place his face, and her eyebrows raise even higher when he invokes her roommate's name. She doesn't recognize him, and it throws her off balance a little, just how little she knows about Lara's life right now.

"Uh... yeah?" she replies hesitantly. "How do you know Lara?" If he recognizes her, it means that he's been to the apartment to have seen pictures, and while she had gotten used to a number of people coming through the apartment, she had thought that was over now that Birdie seemed more or less a permanent fixture.

She looks over her shoulder at the reminder that she was supposed to be doing something, and she turns when she actually sees the Alpha in question. "Actually, hold that thought. I have to figure out... this thing..." She guesses it's a little microphone and she has no idea if she needs to press something to turn it on but Jac decides that they should have specified better in their instructions. "Do you think you can make a small distraction?"

He hears somebody behind him and turns to find a girl, one that's so vaguely familiar and he can't really reason out why for a moment, which is one of the only reasons he entertains the question at first.

"Uh, yeah, over... by the other dogs," He says, gesturing, and it's about to just be that before it clicks as he sips his bourbon - he's seen pictures of this one, and it all veers back into perspective. It's crazy what a pair of glasses does; no wonder Clark Kent goes so unnoticed.

"Oh, shit." He says as he turns back around. "You're the roomie. Lara's I mean."

He looks her up and down for a second, and he's about to introduce himself when her question resurfaces in his mind. "Uh, why're you looking for the Berserker Alpha?"

[fengforhire]

She blushes as Everett bids her to look around, and he's very right. Compared to some of the Mariposa witches or the Kanoute vampires, Jac's dress is rather modest. It covers up the most important parts, and it doesn't seem like anyone is staring at her like she feels.

"I'm scared what you think of as too much," she says with a half-chuckle. "But I trust you to not make me look completely horrible." After all, it couldn't be worse than the argyle sweater vests right? But that train of thought quickly disappears when her friend brings up the mayor. "Wh-? Oh, yeah, uh, my sister works with him at City Hall," she shrugs with an expression on her face that says she knows about as much as he does. "He seems nice though. Not sure why he wanted to be here tonight when it feels like it could be dangerous."

Knock on wood that nothing like that would happen tonight.

“Jac this is not too much, look around the room,” he indicated a circle, at the lavishly dressed guests milling around, “Look at me.” He stretched his wings. “This is an excuse to dress up and you my friend have done a truly superb job.”

He then gave her a reassuring smile, “If you ever want to wear something that’s too much though, let me know, you know how much I love to design. Though I will say I dressed Sammy and he looks pretty good tonight.”

Everett was quite proud of Sammy's outfit aside from the panic attack he had had while creating it. “Speaking of which, have you seen him, I seem to have lost him while I was talking to a curator? Also…. Did you show up with the mayor?”

[fengforhire]

She can sense the other woman's vampiric nature, not in any visible way, but because she had spent the last several months running and being hunted by them. Something along her skin prickles like a warning, even though this one hasn't done anything to warrant it. The way she looks at Jac is a little unnerving, like she sees something that she isn't sure that she wants to reveal to a stranger.

Still, she doesn't turn away Jac's help, and the witch nods to herself, going to make herself useful by picking up some of the debris that was still scattered along the dock. Bits of wood and other trash that she starts to gather into a larger pile.

The work is soothing, grounding in a way that she has been craving since she woke up. No one is asking her questions or wondering how she is, just slow, methodical work that has a tangible result.

The winds have largely died down since the storm, though occasionally, a gust will appear off of the ocean as they are wont to do. One particularly strong one almost whips a piece of cardboard out of her hands and instinctively, she reaches out to calm it and the air stills almost instantly. Unnaturally.

She freezes before slowly putting down the cardboard. Don't acknowledge what she can deny, right?

Ha-Jeong is just finishing a patch job on a Harbor-20 as the girl approaches her. “You cannot apologize for the ocean.”

Ha-Jeong knew witches, could smell one when she stepped on her dock. But this witch’s face was lined with guilt. Oregon was not known for its hurricanes, rain storm yes. But Jeong had swum in this storm, knew its arcane nature. And now a witch had shown up on her doorstep with guilt.

“Don’t acknowledge what you can deny saessak” The girl was only going to het herself in trouble if she kept wandering around offering assistance for damage she was no obvious cause of. She was strong, not just arcanely but physically. Ha-Jeong could respect that strength.

“I would take your help, the docks will take a while to clean up. But don’t feel you need to stay out of guilt.” The storm had been rough, this girl obviously knew that. Was trying to atone for something she wouldn’t find on this pier. But tasks could be helpful, healing. She knew that better than most.

“Stay as long or as little as you want.”

[fengforhire]

She reels back like Birdie slapped her, and she feels static jump to her fingertips. It's an instinct that she forces away, and she's not even sure anyone would have even noticed it, but the shame of it stills her. Whether or not Birdie is at fault, she's right in that Jac hadn't been there, though a surly part of her thinks that she wouldn't have needed to be if the blonde had just left Lara alone.

Her words leave an uncomfortable weight in Jac's chest. "How many times are you going to walk in and out of her life whenever it's convenient for you?" she frowns. Honestly, she isn't even sure what stage they've reached while she was grappling with her own demons, but she acutely remembers watching her roommate try to cover up the wounds that Birdie left behind the first time.

She grits her teeth and looks directly at the vampire. "Do better. That's all I'm saying."

The finger boning its way into her chest makes her want to lash out, to slap the hand away, to tear it off of her ink-bit skin; she feels that skin prickle with alarm at being touched so sharply, so suddenly. It's instinctual, steeped in memories of men and women who thought she was just something to grab and use and threaten for fun, or to impel to into action. She feels her molars grinding together. She'd fucked up, for sure, but she's hear to apologize, not flagellate herself.

But, at the end of the day, Birdie's had a crash course in just what magic is, can do, and so she settles for letting the discomfort of it wrinkle into her features as she looks from Jac's fingers to her face - and she sees something there that's familiar to her- change, and not the pleasant kind, the exhaustion of unwanted growth, maybe. Misery, probably, hidden beneath something else. Why Jac hasn't been around, she doesn't know, but that's not her question to ask.

"I've been taking care of her for two months," she mutters. "Just say the word when you wanna come back to your apartment, and I'm out of your hair."

[fengforhire]

She feels slightly better at Nadia's reassurance, something about her steady calmness that soothes her nerves, even if the guilt doesn't fully go away. "If there's... anything you need," she offers. Jac honestly doesn't even know what she can give to someone right now, but it feels wrong to not at least try. So many people were struggling because of her, she could at least help however she could.

But when Nadia goes on, Jac inhales her latte a little too quickly and has to turn to the side quickly as the hot liquid hit the back of her throat and made her cough. "Sorry," she muttered, eyes watering slightly. "I wasn't... wow, that's... incredible," she says, eyes wide in earnestness. Her reaction was entirely born out of surprise, another reminder of the months she has missed while everyone else has lived their lives.

Her words settle on her a little more, and Jac sobers. She wanted to reach out, not as Nadia but as a coven leader. Was she upset about the storm? Did she want a formal apology or something? Not as a friend, but as someone responsible for other people in a way that Jac doesn't even know how to fathom. "I... um, what exactly did you want to talk about?"

Nadia orders a simple decaf black coffee, and sips it while she moves over to where Jac's situated herself. Her own fingers wrap around her mug, and she sighs softly. This coffee shop isn't exactly her favorite. There's a reason she's working at Brewed Awakening and not here, but it's serviceable for the time being.

"I'm okay." She says with a hint of smile. "My home made it out okay, and Juniper's excellent at making sure we're taken care of. If I need to, I'll make sure to find part time elsewhere, but I don't think the shop will be out of commission for too long." Nadia's words sound like a certainty, but it's more of her 'fake it til you make it' style.

She takes a sip of her coffee, drums her fingers, and clears her throat. "I was going to reach out soon. Not as.. me. But - as a leader. Of Augury." A light blush dusts her features. "I don't think I was able to tell you that. It happened while you were.. out, I think."

[fengforhire]

Jac sucked in her own breath. She had vaguely caught up on the things that had happened while she was fighting her own battle, but the gravity of this event finally pressed on her. "Oh, Ev... I'm sorry," she murmurs. It's easier to express sympathy to someone who deserves it than to turn it inwards for herself.

Loss painted them both in a way, but Everett had a briightness to him, like he had found a part of himself while he was away at school. Another thing they had in common now, only Jac isn't sure if she likes the part of her she has discovered.

She doesn't want him to worry though, knows that there are plenty of other people who are hovering and want to make sure she doesn't set off another apocalyptic storm or hurt anyone else. It doesn't feel as raw with him though, the magic that swirls perpetually underneath her skin feels a little more distant with him. It's easier to focus on his smile than trying to rein in the chaos that wants to explode outward.

"Let me help you shoulder."

Jac hesitates, afraid that if she gives in, she is just dooming another person to get hurt, but she is so tired. Everett has always been safe, someone who never minded her awkwardness or inability to be who her family wanted. So she leans in for another hug, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck and squeezing. "I... I don't know where to start. Everything is so much all the time, but if I let go, I don't know what will happen, and I tired of being scared."

Her words are muffled into his neck slightly as she spills out the fear that keeps her rooted to the spot. One of many that give her no peace. "I don't want to let my family down again."

He had released her just enough from his bear grip that he could see her. And in seeing her, he could see the struggle. The struggle to find words, the struggle to find a meaning.

Words had never been easy for him. He had found a way to live without them most of the time. So he rolled back onto his shins and waited. Waited for her to find her language.

When words started trickling out, he answered. Jac had always been one of his safest places. Her and Sammy had constructed his support system for years as everything had done nothing but jolt beneath his feet. He had all the time, and all the words, for them he could muster.

“I got back a few months ago, after Brennan.” He swelled, he wouldn’t think about Brennan when Jac was here, awake and whole, “I’ll admit I don’t know what happened to your coven.”

He felt so much guilt. He had gone to her house only to be caught by Jen when he had tried to climb through Jac’s window. He had wanted to see her, but she had been dealing with so much.

He guess he had too.

He was so glad to see her.

“Tell me anything Jac. Let me help you shoulder.” He bumped the mentioned body part with her own. She looked strong despite having previously been in a coma. But he would always try to help his ‘coven’.

When Jameson had left him with Caitlin, he had told Everett that covens were comprised of the people you cared about most. Everett knew he was of Garnett, would die for Garnett.

But Caitlin, Jameson, his sibling, Jac, and Sammy.

That was his Coven, as he understood it.

“Let me help you shoulder Jac.” A conspiratorial smile touched his lips.

[fengforhire]

She did. Jac tries not to react to those words, but the truth is as inescapable as the air they breathe. The remnants of the hurricane are still scattered throughout the city, reminding her with every step of the destruction that she is capable of.

There's a part of her that cracks under the acknowledgment, at being seen so clearly. It's uncomfortable, despite this being what she has wanted for so long. There's no more safety in being able to hide from scrutiny, and Jac is still getting used to meeting it head on.

Who does she want to hurt? The question makes her pause as she realizes what she herself had said. "N-no one," she stutters out quickly. She doesn't, not really. "But if someone comes after me or my family. Again," she adds with a note of steel in her voice. "I want to make them think twice about it."

She is not a weapon, and she doesn't mean to become one. She is her own person, wielding her own power, and that means the responsibility of her actions lays on her shoulders. "I know what it feels like to kill," she says abruptly, wondering if that will circumvent whatever misgivings Miyazaki might have about her.

Her hands tremble as she looks down at them. "How to suck out the oxygen from around a creature's head, how to use a bolt of lightning to turn a vampire to ash. The look of surprise when they crumple to nothing. None of those monsters were real, at least she hopes, but they felt it. "I've hurt people, killed them, trying to save myself. Some of it intentional, some of it accidents. I don't ever want it to be an accident again."

"You did." There is no question of the fact. A praise, almost. Whether her intent had been to send it so brazenly across the city, she had. Potential in its eruption, from a Feng crawling to a long banished beast. A dragon flew seamlessly through the storm, riding it like a surf; carving his mark into the walls of its oblivion.

At his door, another kind of new-age mythic appears unsuspecting. Some of the greatest practitioners of the arts were meek but deadly in their craft. Jacqueline appears different, a mask that slicks over her uncertainty. Perhaps if she wears it long enough, she herself might believe it too.

The confession falls like iron at his feet. He turns back toward her, hands looped behind his back. Miyazaki has been training patience, curating it like a newly made ally. It had been shafted this long, perhaps he make some peace with knowing its discipline will always been a work in progress.

"Intent." An ingredient she lacks, but at least she recognises that. Power is only as potent as its intention. Her storm had been a fraction of its potential. "Who do you desire to hurt, Jacqueline Feng?"

Miyazaki does not hold Feng-Lindon in the most highest esteem ant longer, but he knows that the coven has its sprawling roots this side of the ocean. Maybe Feng, here, will erase that cycle of neutered witches. Not afraid to see that a hurricane is merely a scratch at the surface.

[fengforhire]

She is grateful that Jen doesn't push, even if she doesn't believe Jac's lie. It is not that different from how their family has always operated, hiding away the vulnerabilities in order to avoid a difficult or uncomfortable conversation. But also, they're of a new generation, one ensconced in the self-knowledge of emotional regulation and other therapeutic techniques. They know that talking things out is better than bottling it up, so when Jen opens up the space, Jac doesn't flinch away.

The witch sits in the discomfort of not knowing what to say. How to give voice to the grief and guilt and terror that rolls through her at any given moment. How to explain the way she can hear the snarls of wolves and feel the crumbling ash of a vampire on her hands, even when she's tucked away in bed.

"I'm sorry," is all she offers in the end. An apology that she's already given countless times before yet it never seems like it's enough. "I don't..." Another wave threatens to crush her. "I'm sorry I wasn't there for you... with Iris..."

Jen reaches out - slow-like, so she's not a surprise, and lets her fingers wrap around Jac, rubbing at her cousin's shoulder and the top of her back when she seems to choke or sputter or seize up. She's not sure she believes the idea that it's just hot, but she doesn't press, just tries to soothe a bit.

The question bubbles up. "Just you know, the regular. Checking in, mostly."

It's a quiet return on the question, and Jen takes her hand back, cups her own bowl, takes a bite. "I know it's all pretty dark still, Jac - you don't have to talk, we can just sit and eat if you want. You can cry, you can yell, if you want. It's all fine." She's not going to say she understands, because she doesn't. She's lost a wife before, and here she's lost an aunt, not a mother, and while grief is grief, it also isn't.

Her spoon sweeps idly through her own bowl. "If you want to do something, we can. If you just want to lay in bed, same. Like I said. If you need to just hurt, you can. I won't take it personally, cuz."

[fengforhire]

The last time they had talked, the topic had been much more somber, although Jac cherishes every moment of that conversation. It had helped, not feeling so alone in the yawning depths of her grief. She knew on a practical level that she wasn't. Her coven had rallied around her, providing support when they should have let her fall, and part of that was worse. She had made a mistake and they loved her through it, and the guilt was never-ending.

But tonight, she tried to let it go, tried to feel her mother's steady presence through the bracelet on her wrist and she met Riven's eyes evenly, narrowed as though she is trying to decipher a new puzzle. His words land, and her nose wrinkles.

"Okay, I didn't mean it like that," she rolls her eyes. "I'm 23, not twelve, what you do in your private time is not my business." Fuck, she sounded just like her mom. Shaking off that thought, she barrels forward. "I mean." She looks around carefully and leans in, even though she knows that there are layers of protection safeguarding their secrets.

"What does he actually know about stuff?" The last time she had come across the writer, he still seemed stuck in the gray boundaries between reality and fiction, but if he's here with Riven tonight, then probably something has changed. "Does he know about... you know, you?" About magic and covens and the complexities of it all?

@tomaspriestley @rivenvictors

He was somewhat glad that the two of them had, at least for tonight, found a better topic than parental death and grief. A legacy left behind that neither of them knew quite how to carry on shaky hands. Still, he couldn’t help but believe Jac was handling it better than he had when the news of his own mother’s death reached him. But then again, he’d been younger then. Foolish, naive—

Jac was sensible, smarter than he’d been, and tougher by miles. The gala, he told himself, was good for her. A chance to get out of her own head, to lose herself in the bright lights and meaningless chatter of a room full of people who couldn’t imagine the weight she carried. "The guy who what?" Her fingers on his elbow caught him off guard; a small hand tugging at him like a kitten pawing at something twice its size.

Moonshifters.

He blinked at her, then let out a quiet breath of a laugh through his nose. The sorcerer had spent enough late nights watching Tomás ruin draft after draft with frantic notes, scribbling with tireless, doomed vigor. His coffee intake flirting with the lethal limit by the end of the night, where sleep hung heavy in his eyes until Riven kissed it away. He’d spent enough early mornings himself, combing through those half-scribbled pages after Tomás finally passed out; face smashed against the floorboards, still clutching his pen, in a little pool of his own drool.

"What do you think I’m doing here with him, Feng?" dry humour and playful eyes, all aimed at her.

Riven let the words hang there, as though he were perfectly happy to watch her flounder and figure the rest out on her own.

@fengforhire @tomaspriestley

[fengforhire]

She's not entirely sure at all how she had gotten wrapped up in this. The Zhongshan wolves had been circling her all night, their eyes golden and feral as they take in her and her coven. Two of them approach, twins apparently, and they each take up a position on either of Jac's side, murmuring in Mandarin in her ear.

"Little sister, won't you help us? We've heard that Kiera Rees has a secret, but her wolves are being notoriously tight-lipped around us. They might not expect you. We should be working together to solve this mystery, lest one of our own is next." Jac swallows hard at the thought of it being Dani's body that is found next, and she shudders at the thought of losing someone else so soon. The Berserker wolves look like they could all rip Jac into pieces even without turning into a wolf, and she's not sure if she's really the right person for this task. But already, the two are moving away, leaving behind a small box in her hands, with an electronic bug nestled inside.

"Wait, but how..." she trails off as they disappear into the crowd. "How does this even work?" she mutters, looking down at the box in her hand and wondering where she can even hide it on her dress. "Hey um... have you seen the Alpha um... Rees?" / @dannyriv

[fengforhire]

Jac's smile falters a little as Ashlyn brushes it off. It's uncomfortable being on this side of the reaction, but it's one that she knows she gives to others all of the time. There is far more that she sees in her fellow witch than she might see in herself, but that does seem to be the case more often than not. "Never say never," she shrugs. "Most things happen when we're least expecting it or planning it." Like accidentally setting off a freak storm that affected the entire city.

The look on her face is chagrined when Ash brings it up on her own, not that she blames her. While the official story remains that it was a meteorological anomaly driven by climate change, Jac can guess that most people who knew that she had been in a coma and who knew that what their magic was like, would be able to put two and two together.

"I... yeah. Things have been... a lot," she says finally. Probably the least helpful way to describe it but somehow fitting for the guilt that threatens to crush her whenever she lets herself have a quiet moment. "Your coursework actually sounds preferable honestly," she jokes, though it's not entirely a lie. "How's your mom?"

Her cheeks flushed at the thought of the romance aspect of it all. She curls in on herself slightly, giving off pulses at the thought to feel less seen as she thinks over the idea. "No, that would never happen. I think everyone here just wants to show off their gifts tonight." She says shyly before smiling softly at Jac.

"When you let yourself blossom, you're a great conversationalist." She points out, fingers playing along the flute in her hands. Jac does really look nice tonight, like she fits in even if she doesn't feel it herself, she can feel the magic that Jac gives off stronger than ever now. It's a bit like a hazy barrier to her, pushing against her own, keeping the emotions it can cause at bay.

"Even if I ever leave Port Leiry, I'd definitely come back to visit. This city will always be my home." She takes a drink and lets her eyes wander again, sighing softly. "I've been alright, just dealing with a lot of coursework building. But other than that, nothing interesting has been going on that I could report. I know the same can't be said for you."

[fengforhire]

After, meaning he only caught a glimpse of the devastation. She tries to see if there is any judgment or irritation in his eyes, the kind that she keeps expecting from Dani or the rest of her siblings, but there is none. Jac has made a thorough mess of everything, and somehow it feels worse that no one seems to be angry with her for it. Not that she wants them to be, but she hopes they aren't trying to hold back just for her sake.

"Adjusting, yeah," she says with a tired smile. "Sorry it's all," she makes a faint waving gesture with her hands. "I'm sure it's probably not what you or Charlotte wanted coming back into the city." They probably wanted stability and the power that the Feng-Lindon name granted them, a power that her mother had solidified. "So um, you're around now? For good?"

"Doing better than expected, yeah." He says, adjusting the sleeves and cuff links on his shirt, hoping his doesn't look like a full on doucher as he does so. Jac Feng was one of those people that he always wanted to try and get to know a little better - outside of the whole potential marriage thing - but the distance meant it kept a lot of the bonding to a minimum. Usually at weddings or funerals.

He lets out a low whistle, and a soft laugh. "Just after the hurricane. It wasn't - I was supposed to come here anyways, but it just so happened that I matched here and the timing matched up. So - things been okay over there? Adjusting, I mean?"

[fengforhire]

She apologizes, and at least that's a start. Jac hadn't been certain that she wouldn't have to try and threaten one out of her, and a part of her is relieved that she doesn't have to. The regret hangs around her like a dismal cloud, and Jac can see that she means it. Whatever had happened was something Birdie didn't want, and at least Jac can understand that. But her frown deepens when she seems to think that's all that is needed.

"There is something beyond that if you plan on staying in our apartment and hanging out with Lara," Jac shoots back. Our, like Jac has spent any amount of time there in months, but it is still hers more than it is Birdie's. "Like what you're going to do now. How you're going to take care of her. How you're going to make sure something like this doesn't happen again." She jabs a finger into Birdie's chest. "If you're going to be around, then you better work to deserve her."

As a vampire etering this city, she'd had a single-minded focus; One man, one kill. She didn't know or care about the existence of witches or werewolves.

She still, honestly, doesn't - not beyond the implications that affect any other vampire.

Jac isn't just any witch though - this girl - who she's met twice, mind - is Lara's friend, Lara's friend who'd told her not to hurt her, and while Birdie is slowly coming around to the idea that Lara's right, that it's not squarely on her what happened, it's not something she'll ever feel fully absolved of.

"I uh, I got nothing but sorry," she says. It's short but it's genuine; she's no writer, diplomat, much to Nsilo's chagrin as it may be. "I got nothing beyond that— there is nothing beyond that; not five minutes of talking worth."

[fengforhire]

Jac knows to expect the effusive praise, but it doesn't stop her cheeks for turning red as Avi teases her. It's true that she had shot his suggestions down in the past, but a lot had been different then. She still feels a little off-kilter without her glasses, and there are times that she feels unsteady on her feet, not because of the heels but because she's not used to the changes that her body has undergone over the past several months.

"I'm sorry I doubted you," she replies solemnly, though her eyes sparkle ever so slightly. She'll never know whether Avi had been lying, though she likes to think that he wouldn't, but either way, there's a warmth in her chest because he was one of the few to believe in her before everything happened. "It was just Dani and Jen," Jac shrugs. She trusted them not to steer her wrong, and based on everyone's reactions so far, it had worked out.

She takes a bite of her own cookie then, idly noting the various spices and notes that she can pick out in the dough. Chewing gives her time to think, and finally she holds out her hand, lifting one finger. "Did a stupid spell." A second finger. "Got stuck in my own head, both literally and figuratively." A third finger. "I set off a magical hurricane that killed my mom." She gives him a lopsided shrug and a tired smile. "I think that about covers it. What have you been up to?"

Grieving sucks ass. Avi knows this as fact. People hover, people pull away, people start speaking in soft tones like you’re glass. The vibes? The vibes turn rancid. Avi refuses to contribute towards that.

So when he heard about the Feng matriarch, Avi kept his distance. A simple text, an offering. Imagine his surprise when Jac appears with a cookie. Avi tries not to look too excited, but the fact is: he is, and his eyes light up a little anyway.

He breaks a piece off, pops it into his mouth with an appreciative little hum.

"What's it been, months? And look at you, look at the goddamn glow up." He gestures loosely. "I'd like to take this opportunity to remind you that I did say you can be hot. You doubted me." Playful but still accusatory. He talks to her as if they're close friends, like she's not just one of the poor unfortunate souls Avi has adopted into his orbit: first as a project, now as...well, he isn't sure yet. But he does know he missed her in all this time. "So first, I expect an apology. Two, someone had to help you with the fit. It wasn't me, wasn't Jamie, so who? And third, catch me up." He leaves the door open, no pressure.

[fengforhire]

Jac flinches when she hears her name, still overwhelmed at times at hearing words addressed at her again. Still, when her eyes fall on Everett, her shoulders relax and she matches his smile. All at once, she is transported back in time, when things seemed a lot easier, and he was winding his way through a party to make sure she wasn't being a complete loner. There's something comforting in its familiarity.

"Thanks, Everett," she looks down at her dress and spins awkwardly at his behest. She's not as graceless as she might have once been, but she certainly doesn't feel at home in the slight heels that she is wearing. "You don't think it's a little... much?" she asks. It was the first thought she'd had when she found the dress. She admits that now, her body fills it out far better than it would have before everything happened, but there's something both gratifying and uncomfortable about that. There are people milling about with much more daring outfits than hers, but Jac still feels a bit like she sticks out like a sore thumb.

"I love these sleeves," she touches the fabric gently with her fingers. "Is this you coming out of your cocoon?"

Closed Started for @fengforhire

Where: The Conclave

Everett was only a little drunk. Not drunk enough to be a problem, but he had had just enough champagne that his head felt slightly fuzzy and skipping sounded far more fun than it did embarrassing.

As he surveyed the room, arms on his hips, because social awkwardness was definitely not something he ever had to deal with, the sight of a short buff girl caught his eye.

“JAC!” His friend (and probably himself) looked considerably more bathed and less worse for wear than when he had run into her after the Hurricane.

‘Stupid Stupid hurricane’ Everett thought. He was glad to see her out, especially after everything. She deserved a bit of fun, and what better place than a party. When they had been teenagers he had had to annoy Jac into many a social engagement. But this one she was just at and Everett couldn’t help but beam as he strode over.

“This outfit is stunning! Cream suits you and this bracelet.” He took her hand in an offer to spin her around. “You look amazing, Jac.”

[fengforhire]

Jac gives her a responsive grin at her teasing, a light blush creeping up the back of her neck. "Good, then you can make up for my horrible skills," she replies back. She tries to imagine the picture that Ashlyn paints in her mind's eye, and she thinks of the random movies and TV shows she has watched over the years in an attempt to understand people her age. But what her friend suggests isn't quite something that Jac is all that interested in. These visiting witches look at her like something to be possessed or owned, not desired. An unexpected effect of her magic becoming known to the world.

"Is that what you're looking for?" she turns the topic back onto her friend, which feels safer than thinking about the futility of her own lack of relationships. "Someone to come whisk you away to a far off land? You have to make sure to come back and visit."

Once, Jac had thought seriously about leaving Port Leiry, leaving the Feng name behind and reinventing herself entirely in another city. It was nothing more than a fantasy though. Jac was self-aware enough to know she would never have found the courage to do such a thing or a way to get past the guilt of abandoning her family. Now, the very thought of leaving sounds painful. "How have you been?"

She's here for support to her coven, wanting to show how strongly she stands by Nadia's side. Her mother doesn't know she is here and that is fine by her. Covens brought danger the older woman tells her and Ashlyn nods and agrees she'll stay clear. What mother doesn't know won't hurt her. She needs this, the community. The stability in not feeling othered in a town of supernaturals. And The Augury has been good to her so far, even if some of it's members make her beyond nervous, not from fear, but a worry that they'd rather not be seen with her. But she'll try her best while doing her best to keep her actual gift a secret. Better to seem just simple. Just plain.

Fingers gracefully hold a flute of champagne as butterflies made of glimmering wisps float about her, her eyes alight in wonder at the crafting of magic being displayed from the visiting coven member, Mariposa, what a beautiful display. She tells him as much, doing her best to keep up with his plays on words as their conversation dances along. He keeps looking at her, fingers dance along her free hand as he shows off all his tricks. It's sweet and she only declines his offer to dance out of respect of not leading him on. He seems disappointed but gives a last flash of a smile and a bow before going to find another member of his circle.

She's leaning against the wall when she hears a familiar voice and glances over to see Jac. Her friend looks as gorgeous as ever, but something seems…different. "I've been told I'm a great conversationalist even when I'm not pretending." She says as a slight tease, shifting so that she is facing her. "You don't look like you're having much fun. Think of this as some dashingly fantastical adventure. A gala, the possibility of being swept off your feet by a visiting witch, with quick fingers and a deep-rooted history in magic so far from your own."

[fengforhire]

Jace Lindon. On paper, he was quite literally everything her mother could have wanted in a match. A Lindon with the ability to wield fire, and a doctor to boot. She supposes that in the long run, she could have ended up with someone a lot worse than Jace, but there is still a palpable relief as he approaches, and she can only hope that he reciprocates it.

She manages an apologetic smile to the Wyrmwood witch that had been asking increasingly invasive questions about the recent passing of her mother and she tries not to look to grateful as she steps away with the other elemental witch. "Hey," she says finally, giving him a tiny but sincere smile. "You look like you're doing good," she offers awkwardly. "When did you get back?" Before or after Jac fucked up the coven?

This meeting Jace finds that he is a little more apprehensive about. Air and fire, they're not supposed to mix, but the Fengs and the Lindons want them to. It's never been a question of if either of them wanted it, but rather when it would happen. Somehow, they've found a way out of it. He's grateful, not because he doesn't like Jac, but because he'd rather make his own way in the world.

He wonders, often, if Jac feels the same now.

When he catches her, he gently touches her elbow to get her attention to pull her from getting entrenched in another conversation with one of the older members of the that Wyrmwood coven. He's sure they're interesting, but -

"Hey, you got a minute?" Dark eyes meet, and he's tries for apologetic. "Been a while." / @fengforhire