#3starsquinn

[monstersfear]

fade into the dark // rio & emilio

TIMING: a few months ago PARTIES: @3starsquinn & @monstersfearr SUMMARY: rio comes to visit ari at work but meets her boss instead. CONTENT: none

Now that Orion also had a job, he realized he had to find something to do with his lunch. Eating was the obvious answer, for many reasons. But since running and grabbing food took no more than ten minutes of his time, Rio found himself suddenly free and with time to kill. He didn’t really want to go back and sit at his desk and play on his phone for almost an hour, and he definitely didn’t want to drive all the way back to the farm. He chose the best option, to drop in and see if Ari was working to see if she had some downtime to hang out before he needed to head back. Noon was like a universal lunch time, right? Maybe they’d sync up and grab lunch together before heading back to their respective jobs?

Rio had only stopped by the office a couple of times, and mostly in passing. He poked his head in, glancing around without seeing any initial sign of Ari. He pushed the rest of his way through the door and into the waiting area. Immediately, he could hear someone. The office wasn’t entirely empty, but he wasn’t convinced it was Ari either. His senses weren’t exactly world-class for a hunter, but he was confident enough that if there was anyone he could pick out, it was his best friend. “Uh, hello?” Rio called out, staying relatively quiet. If Ari was here, she’d hear him regardless. Rio could hear the noises, someone standing up and walking towards him. But when the figure made it there, it definitely wasn’t Ari. “Oh uh, hey Emilio. Ari isn’t here by chance, is she?” He had met Ari’s boss maybe once or twice, and admittedly found him pretty intimidating. But he had never given Rio any reason to actually be afraid around the man.

-

It had been a slow day, at least in comparison to how busy Axis had been lately. Missing persons cases were on the rise, but considering most of the missing people in question seemed to be returning on their own without any kind of outside influence, stories of time traveling adventures tucked firmly into their arsenal of weird White Crest shit, families were choosing to hold onto the hope that their loved ones would reappear rather than hiring private detectives to find them. That was all well and good for Emilio. Those first few weeks of time travel confusion had gotten him enough cases to leave a comfortable cushion in place for the slower pace of things now, and the less he had to talk to the people of White Crest, the more they liked him. 

He was confident enough that things would remain slow today that he’d let Ari head out early, waving off any arguments and sending her home. It was something he regretted when he heard the door open. Usually, it was Ari who was in charge of greeting customers. They’d learned it worked a lot better that way. But Emilio had dug his own grave here, and leaving a stranger in the front of his apartment with the hopes that they might give up and leave eventually probably wasn’t his best idea, so he made his way towards the front of the apartment with a quiet mutter to himself. When the person called out, he took note of the familiar voice and relaxed just a little. Ari’s friends didn’t always like him, but that meant they also had a tendency to disappear once they realized he was the only one around. He nodded to the kid — Rio, wasn’t it? He was trying to get better about remembering their names — as he stepped into the front of the apartment, glancing around instinctively. Just him. Good. “Hey, kid,” he greeted. “She went home. Slow day. I can, uh… Tell her you stopped by?”

-

Once Emilio stepped out, Rio was pretty positive that there was no one else in the building with him. As he had been constantly reminded by hunters - rangers in particular - Rio’s hearing wasn’t exactly up to par with other rangers. But he had started working on that with Kaden before leaving town, and had tried to keep up some schedule of training while he worked with the Scribe. He was getting better. All around, he had gotten better. His senses, his strength and even his combat skills. He wasn’t particularly proud of this though. He had spent so long refusing to fight and wishing that he could rid himself of the abilities that it felt wrong to embrace them in any way.

Rio gave the man a small wave as Emilio walked into the room right before the man explained to Rio that Ari had already left for the day. After a small sigh, Rio shrugged. “Figures. That’s what I get for not texting first.” Oh well, maybe he’d grab some dessert to take back to her tonight after work. He supposed he was pretty much done here, though just walking out seemed rude. Admittedly, so did leaving without at least an attempt at socializing. The idea made Rio anxious immediately. He had only met Emilio once or twice, and socializing wasn’t something Rio excelled at ever after befriending people. “You uh- keeping busy? Ari always seems really busy.” Yeah, that was a poor attempt. “I uh- just started working at a law firm not too far from here. So that’s why I just dropped by, for the record. I’m not like a stalker.” Even Rio recoiled at the sentence immediately. Why would he say that? When had Emilion even suggested that? Jesus, this was awful. “That was a weird thing to say. I acknowledge that. I get nervous sometimes, clearly.”

-

Small talk had never come naturally to Emilio. Hell, talk had never come naturally to him; of the two languages he spoke, he wasn’t particularly good at conversing in either. He was good at threats, skilled in arguments, but simple conversation? There was a reason he could count his friends on one hand. He was reminded of it now, with Maybe-Rio asking questions and going on in spite of the fact that the person he’d actually come here to see wasn’t present. The kid was being polite, Emilio knew, but politeness had never made a whole lot of sense to Emilio. That was probably why he needed Ari to sit between him and his clients.

“Busy enough,” he replied with a shrug. It didn’t seem like enough to say, so he added, “Cases have slowed down the last week or so. They’ll pick back up again soon. That’s how it goes, sometimes.” He squinted at the kid as he babbled on, trying to keep up with the rapid-fire nature of his words. “I know you’re not a stalker. She said you’re her friend. People aren’t friends with stalkers. You don’t — I mean, I’m not looking for you to explain yourself. You can come see your friend at work. Not any of my business.” Except for the fact that the actual business was his, but… Well, that wasn’t relevant. “You, uh… Doing okay?” God, he was shit at this.

-

Welp, clearly Rio and Emilio were not the town’s socialites. Both seemed to be stumbling over the idea of small talk, never quite circling back around to doing it successfully. Rio knew at some point the right answer was to simply cut if off and leave, but if he did it incorrectly this random man may end up hating Rio and Rio’s anxiety simply couldn’t handle that stress. Though the further into the whole he dug into this conversation the less chance Rio had of convincing the man to like him anyways. It felt very catch-22. “Right year. Definitely should not have ever suggested I was a stalker. Especially to a private investigator. Odd choice on my part.” Rio laughed nervously, scratching at the back of his neck awkwardly. “But thanks. For uh- letting me come and visit. I will not disturb productivity.” That felt like the right thing to say to someone’s boss. Brownie points, right? “Oh me? I’m doing alright. Just uh- settling back into working life. And also back into town. Things aren’t any less weird than they were before I left I see.” Another nervous laugh and failed attempt at humor before Rio pivoted, “Are you uh- from here? I grew up here. Never even left Maine until last year. So getting out for a bit was cool and uh- intimidating.”

-

At least Emilio wasn’t the only half of this conversation who sucked at making conversation. Things might have gone a little smoother if one of them knew how to make small talk, but Rio being just as bad at it as he was meant that Emilio didn’t have to feel alone in his awkwardness. “Not the weirdest thing someone in this town has said to a private investigator,” he offered. “Not like I’m a cop or anything, anyway. Most I can do is snap pictures.” And… eliminate threats, but Rio didn’t have to worry about Emilio doing that to him. Ari would be upset if he did. He snorted at the kid’s promise not to disturb productivity, shaking his head. “Don’t gotta worry about that.” Ari was already much more productive than Emilio was at work just by not showing up drunk. The bar wasn’t particularly high. “That’s good. Good to hear. Know Ari likes having you back.” She’d been happy when he’d shown back up, and it was good to see her happy, after everything. He shifted at the question, fingers tapping nervously against his thigh. “Uh, no. México. I’m from México. Came to the states a few years back, traveled around a while. Came here last year. Seemed like a good enough place to…” 

He trailed off as the clocktower chimed outside the window. He was about to make a comment about the time, because that was how goddamn desperate he was to end the awkwardness, but the moment the echo of the chime ended, the apartment into a deep, inky blackness. It was a strange sort of darkness; Emilio could tell that right away. He was a slayer. If it were just dark, he’d be able to see just fine. But even Emilio couldn’t see his damn hand in front of his face in this shit, and that was bad. He cleared his throat, eyes darting around uselessly. “Uh, kid? You still around?” 

-

Rio couldn’t possibly imagine how Emilio intended to end that sentence. What could White Crest possibly have that made it ‘good enough’ in any category? The only example Rio could think of were unique or mysterious ways to die. Rio was pretty sure that wasn’t what Emilio was trying to suggest. But the opportunity never came, with a loud chiming noise echoing out across town instead. The chimes were loud, enough to upset Rio’s sensitive hearing. He tried to play off the discomfort by pretending to rub at his ears as he tried to muffle the noise. If the volume had been the only thing weird about the chimes Rio could have let it go. But he felt a sense of dread creeping in as he heard the chimes going off around him. It felt haunting, like the bells were chanting their rhythm. Though the feat wasn’t exactly difficult, the sound made Rio uneasy. And that was all before everything went dark. 

Rio had never experienced darkness like this. The ranger's night vision had been a part of Rio’s life as long as he had retained memories. Seeing at night had never been a problem for him. But the darkness that overtook the walls of the office was something else entirely. There was nothing to see through. Any light available had all but disappeared, and Rio found himself staring into complete blackness with nothing there to look back at him. It was a terrifying sensation, realizing for the first time in his life that he was completely unable to see. “I uh- yeah. I’m here.” Rio tried to keep his voice as level as possible, but he knew he was failing. Panic was settling into his tone quickly and his breathing started to become more rapid as he found it harder to catch any actual air. He tried to remind himself that was a panic reaction rather than actual reality, but he was having a hard time convincing himself of that. “What is going on? I can’t see anything. Like… anything.”

-

There was a heaviness to the darkness, like someone had put a blanket on top of the damn world. It felt thick, tangible. For a moment, Emilio was reminded of the way things had been when he’d lost his powers to that broken promise to Regan — muffled and dull, with nothing working quite like it should. But his abilities were fine now. His hearing was the same as it had always been, his strength still present. It was just the night vision that was acting up now. If not for the way Rio’s heartbeat picked up pace as the darkness fell, Emilio might have panicked himself into thinking he’d gone blind, but that clearly wasn’t the case. 

He nodded when the kid reaffirmed that he was still there, though he realized belatedly that the motion would be lost in the inky blackness of the apartment. “Uh, all right. You’re good?” He wasn’t sure if it was supposed to be a question or not, because there was definitely a hint of panic to the kid’s voice. Emilio wanted to reassure him, but he’d never been good at that. He was worse at it with people he didn’t know well, and despite their shared friendship with Ari, Rio was a near stranger. Certainly not the sort of person Emilio would have picked to be stuffed in this sort of situation with. “It’s not just you. I can’t see either. And that’s… I usually can. When it’s dark.” He took a step forward as if to ensure he still could. He could navigate his apartment well enough blind — it wasn’t a particularly big space, and his paranoia ensured that he’d mapped it out in his head down to the smallest detail — but the nature of the darkness made him hesitant to try. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out his phone and tapped the button to unlock it before letting out a frustrated grunt. “Phone’s dead. Yours work?”

-

Panicking wasn’t going to solve anything. The thought did little to ease the pressure that was building on Rio’s chest, but he kept reminding himself nonetheless. The mantra had to work eventually, right? When Emilio spoke he sounded perplexed by the situation, but not panicked. That was a plus at least, that one of them was staying calm. Rio used it as a sort of motivation to force himself to act calm as well. “I’m fine. Just uh- confused” It was definitely a lie, probably an obvious one at that, but he had kept his voice as steady as he could manage given the situation. That had to count for something. Emilio’s comment took Rio aback until he remembered running into Ari in the Common the day he had gotten back to town. Ari had said that she worked with a slayer. Rio wasn’t sure whether to be relieved or more concerned. The tensing muscles and shiver that shot through his body was about what he expected at the reminder that he was here with a hunter. But Rio reminded himself that this was one Ari seemed to trust. That definitely counted for something. 

Rio didn’t agree with the man, even if he probably should have. It had been the perfect opportunity to lay it on the table, maybe find some common ground with the stranger that he had found himself in this odd situation with. If anybody was going to understand the inherit fear that came with complete darkness, it was going to be another hunter who had never probably never experienced it before either. But telling a hunter that he shared their ability was basically the same as admitting that Rio was a hunter himself. Rio didn’t want to say that no matter how true it was. “Oh. Phone. Good idea.” Rio loved the opportunity to stop dwelling on the hunter predicament and dug into his pocket for his phone. He pulled it free, turning on the flashlight and attempting to illuminate the room. But even with the light, it did little more than give a few feet of clarity to Rio. Emilio was finally back into view, but there wasn’t much visible beyond that. Whatever was happening right now had practically taken away all the light that there was outside. He took a few steps towards Emilio in case the phone light was lost, “Those chimes. Those were different than usual, yeah? And this… whatever it is happened right after it. That can’t be a coincidence.”

-

All right, so the kid was definitely panicking. It was fair enough, really; Emilio wanted to panic a little, too. His tendency towards paranoia put him on edge on a good day, and he hadn’t had a whole lot of good days lately. But he did better when he had someone to look out for. He did a lot better when the person in question was a kid. If he’d been alone for this, he might’ve made stupider decisions, might’ve run for the door or tried for the window and broken his damn neck in the process. “Confused,” Emilio repeated with a nod. “Yeah. You and me both. Power goes out all the time over here, but…” They still should have been able to see something. The streetlights should have offered some reprieve, or the emergency lights in the hallway, or the goddamn moon. But it was like every source of light in the Bend had just… disappeared entirely. For all the weird shit he’d seen in White Crest, Emilio had never seen this before. And he was certain he didn’t like it.

Luckily, the kid was a lot better at remembering to keep his phone charged than Emilio was. The light that came from the phone’s flashlight was dim, and it didn’t make too much of a difference in the grand scheme of things, but Emilio could see the kid’s face and make out enough of what was around them to confirm that they were still in his apartment. It was weird that he felt that needed confirmation, but… a few weeks ago he’d been transported back to the goddamn 1800s while out on a walk. Anything was possible in this hellhole. “The chimes,” he repeated thoughtfully, thinking back to the clock ringing in the hour. Rio was right — it had sounded a little off. “Yeah. Yeah, it must be related. Christ. Goddamn clock knocking out the lights. This fucking town.” He sighed, moving forward and putting a gentle hand on Rio’s elbow to lead him to the couch. If they were going to be stuck in the dark, they might as well have the option of sitting down. “All right, so, the clock chimed and the lights went out. So, what do you think? Wait it out until it chimes again, hope they come back on? Wouldn’t recommend trying to walk home with the streetlights out.”

-

A million theories were running through Rio’s head right now, but having Emilion hear was surprisingly helpful in keeping his brain quiet. Even if Emilio was a stranger, it was someone that Ari trusted. That counted for more than Rio was able to explain. It was more than enough to override Rio’s own opinions on hunters. Plus, Rio could hear that Emilio was genuinely trying to help out right now. 

Rio wasn’t sure if the phone light illuminating some of the darkness helped his anxiety, or the fact that the phone light wasn’t doing nearly enough was making things worse. The indecision caused an even bigger spike in Rio’s heart rate. He jumped when he felt the hand, gentle as it was, tapping on Rio’s elbow. “Sorry” Rio answered immediately, feeling bad for the slight recoil his body had done on instinct, “That’s uh- that’s just like my constant state. Not caused by you. Or the blackout for that matter.” His natural reaction to nerve wracking situations like this was to completely spill his guts and talk until he had literally run out of breath. But Rio was trying to keep grounded by reminding himself that Emilio definitely didn’t want to know about his upbringing or his issues with intimacy and physical touch.

“Yeah. This town.” Rio agreed lightly, following Emilio’s lead to the couch and sinking down into it. He set his phone down on the cushion face down so that his light could continue to give them a little visibility. Rio could dig through Scribe text for weeks and probably find nothing to explain why or how this was happening. But maybe he could at least find an account of someone discussing the weird chimes. “It chimed right on the hour. I mean, it could just be a coincidence. But logically speaking- maybe it will chime again in…” Rio drug that last word out to grab his phone and peak at the time, the flashlight scattering around the room as he did so, “57 minutes.” Emilio was right, they should both stay still. Walking around town with no vision would be incredibly dangerous. It made him worry for all the other people in town that may have gotten caught out there in the dark. They didn’t even have the other enhanced senses to give them an upper hand. “So we uh- have some time to kill now.”

-

Comfort wasn’t something Emilio was particularly good at. Most people who knew him could attest to as much. The Cortezes never had much use for it, made it clear that such things were better off being avoided when possible, and Emilio fell in line without a fuss. He’d never thought much of it because he’d never known people who needed much comforting. Even Jaime, barely six when he’d died, had been pretty easygoing. Rio was different. Rio was jumpy and uncertain in a way Emilio didn’t quite know how to deal with. And it was his default state, evidently. Emilio cleared his throat, uncertain in a different sort of way. “Right,” he nodded. “No problem. Just, uh… Let me know if there’s anything I can do to… help.” God, the fact that he really was trying his best here probably made it sadder, didn’t it?

At least they had some idea of what was going on, even if it wasn’t an idea that made a whole lot of sense. It made White Crest sense, he figured. In any other town, it would be insane to consider. In this one, it was probably just about right. 

The idea of sitting around for fifty-seven minutes wasn’t one Emilio liked. He wasn’t good at sitting still, and was worse at it when there was something strange going on, but… There didn’t seem to be a lot of options available to them here. It was one of those awful situations where there was nothing to fight. Those had always been the slayer’s least favorite kind. “Uh, what do you want to do?” Rio might have a better idea than anything Emilio would come up with.

-

Emilio was barely visible through the darkness, something that Rio was still unaccustomed to. He hated this. The lack of vision made him feel helpless. And feeling helpless made him feel like the same scared kid he had been his entire life. He didn’t want to be like that anymore. He couldn’t be like that anymore. It was the whole reason Ari almost ended their friendship in the first place. “Uh- thank you” Rio responded, trying to get a gauge on Emilio’s attempt at comforting him. It was too easy to read the man as sarcastic. Another hunter looking down on someone weaker than him. But Rio didn’t get that vibe. Rio was pretty sure that Emilio was being genuine. He could tell the attempt wasn’t something that Emilio was well practiced in, but Rio appreciated the offer regardless. “I’m okay though. Hard to believe but I’m tougher than I look.”

There was no clear and present danger here right now for Rio to prove that. He certainly wasn’t asking for it, no matter how awkward an hour of silence and no vision would be. Rio had been beaten and bruised enough since getting back to White Crest. It would welcome a break in any form that it came in. As long as the lights came back on after the hour was over at least. “Umm… great question.” Rio shrugged, though he wasn’t sure if the motion was even visible to Emilio. He realized he should probably text his new boss, shooting off a quick message and hoping that it went through. “I’m not sure sitting around and chatting about life is something you’re eager to do. Or me for that matter.” Rio sighed. He still had issues opening up to actual friends sometimes, let alone trying to pass the time with someone who was essentially a stranger. “But uh- have you ever seen anything like this before? I’ve been trying to dig into White Crest’s history. Try to find some other mention of all the weird time stuff that’s been going on but… well it hasn’t been very fruitful yet.”

-

Rio seemed to accept the words of comfort for what they were, even if the attempt still felt flat. Emilio bit back the urge to tell the kid not to thank him, not to thank anyone, because he figured the kid knew that. If he was friends with Ari, he knew that. Ari, given her own experiences, wouldn’t let someone she loved fall into a fae bind, and she loved Rio. That much was incredibly clear from the first time she’d mentioned him. Shifting, he only nodded his head, the motion a terrible way to communicate in a room so pitch dark that the light of Rio’s phone was the only thing that allowed them to see one another at all. For Emilio, who had always communicated better nonverbally than he had with words, it was pretty much the worst situation to be stuck in with a near stranger. The only thing that made it passable was the fact that he was on his home turf, in his apartment, and the fact that he knew Rio was generally trustworthy thanks to Ari’s judgment. “Good. It’s good to be tough.” It struck him that it was the kind of thing Ari always said when he was worried about her, too. There was something to that, he figured, something to be said for kids rubbing off on one another.

“Not much of a chatter,” he agreed with another useless nod. “I don’t, uh… I mean, I’m not even great at the… sitting around.” He’d much prefer it if the chiming of the clock had sent a swarm of rabid beasts through the apartment window; that was the kind of trouble Emilio could deal with. That was the kind of thing he understood intimately, completely. This was so foreign by comparison that it felt akin to having been dropped in the middle of a country he’d never set food in with a map written out in a language he didn’t speak. Rio’s question, at least, was enough to take his mind off things for a moment. “Oh. I, uh… Haven’t lived in White Crest long. Less than a year. Can’t speak much for the history of it.” He paused, considering. “Have experienced the time stuff, though. Got pulled back into some cowboy bullshit in the middle of a date. Wasn’t too bad, all things considered.”

-

“Me neither. Not anymore at least.” Rio agreed. It wasn’t hard to tell that Emilio wasn’t much for small talk or sitting around. That didn’t come as a surprise at all. While chatting had never been Rio’s forte, sitting around was something he had always excelled at. Sure, it usually did it with multiple books piled around him, but he used to be able to spend hours sitting in the welcome darkness of the abandoned scribrary and read until he was nodding off at the desk. He found himself a lot more restless now, even though he didn’t want to admit it. It was a quality usually reserved for his sister. And he was very passionate about not sharing any traits in common with Athena aside from DNA.

“Ah. Right. That makes sense.” Rio should have known better. He had just hoped maybe Emilio had come to town for some reason. It was probably a bit of a stretch to think that may have anything to do with what was going on right now. “Yeah well, history is supposed to be like my shtick. The history of White Crest and the… weird things going on is like the only thing I’m useful at.” Rio sighed, “And I’m not feeling particularly useful right now.” No matter how late Rio stayed up or how many books he thumbed through he just kept coming up empty. It was driving him insane. “Cowboy? It threw you that far back? Holy crap.” He hadn’t even considered that it could go that far, considering it only took him back to the nineties. “It took my to the nineties I think. And my dad tried to kill me.” That wasn’t necessarily true, more like physically maim him so that his dad could kill a leshy. But it was close enough. “There has to be some sort of connection. I just can’t figure out what it is.”

-

He wondered what it meant, that not anymore. It felt like there was something behind the words, and part of Emilio wanted to ask because as much as he hated small talk, he hated feeling like he’d been left in the dark just a little bit more. It was why the detective shit worked for him. He got his answers, and he wasn’t bad at it. But… pushing people, asking questions, it tended to lead to trouble. And while the trouble was excusable when it was strangers he was causing it for, it would be less so with someone Ari loved as much as she loved Rio. Plus, he was pretty sure he’d promised her he’d be nice to her friends. He probably ought to stick to that as much as he could.

“Yeah,” he agreed belatedly, tapping a hand against his thigh absently. He glanced over as Rio continued, lamenting that history was the only thing he was useful at. It was a familiar kind of mantra. Emilio didn’t know shit about history, but he was only good for one thing. This situation was proof of it. With nothing around to fight, with nothing to kill, Emilio was little more than a wall decoration. He was just there, with no purpose behind him. He’d said as much before to Teddy, to Ari, and even if they verbally disagreed, he got the feeling it was the kind of thing everyone knew. But with Rio… “Probably not the only thing.” The words were cautious, uncertain. He didn’t know the kid well enough to put any certainty behind them, but he seemed all right. He seemed like the sort of kid who was good at shit, even if he didn’t think he was. 

“Yeah. Cowboys. It was shit, mostly, but I think my boyfriend had fun. Wants to take up line dancing now.” There was a hint of fondness to the tone, a quiet smile in the words, but the amusement faded as Rio continued. His dad tried to kill him. Christ. Emilio tried not to think of his own father, who’d been tough in a necessary kind of way. “Sorry,” he offered, the word feeling clunky and unnatural even if the sentiment was genuine. “About your dad. Sucks.” Yeah. He could be better at this. “I’d offer to help you figure it out, but I’m not much… I mean, between you and me, I know I’m not the smartest guy around. I can do the detective shit, but this goes a little deeper than that. Not the kind of thing you can figure out by tailing people or turning over stones, I think.”

-

Emilio knew nothing about Rio to back up the gesture, but Rio appreciated it nonetheless. It was nice to think that other people around town actually found some value or worth in Rio. It wasn’t something he had been used to growing up. Most of the time he was just reminded that his twin held all the talent and future of the family. “Thanks. But whenever I try to help with anything outside of research I usually just end up getting myself hurt. I’m pretty clumsy.” A lot less so than he used to be, admittedly. As it turned out, when Rio actually focused on training instead of trying to ignore it he actually learned a thing or two. It hadn’t worked miracles, but he was a lot quicker on his feet than he used to be. 

“That’s adorable. Not the cowboy time travel thing, obviously, but the line dancing.” Rio was immediately enamored. It was a welcome distraction from the dreariness of the situation the two had found themselves in. “Please tell me that you’re going to take him. And can Ari and I come?” The idea of dancing in front of other people was actually terrifying, but if he could force himself to do it with anyone it would be Ari. She hadn’t cracked Rio’s shell as much as she had jackhammered it. “Oh it’s fine. I mean clearly it’s not fine, but it didn’t exactly come as a surprise.” After getting over the initial shock of seeing his dad in his twenties, being attacked by him was about the most natural thing in the world. “I was never super close with my family.” Understatement of the year. “Don’t worry about it. Finding historical text on this town has never been easy” Rio tried to wave the offer off, but it bugged him that Emilio was so quick to tear himself down. Ironic, coming from Rio, but still. “I think detective work in this town is a lot less simple than you want to give yourself credit for.” 

-

“Plenty of ways to help people that don’t need you to research or be quick on your feet.” Though Emilio struggled with anything outside the latter. Ari insisted that he helped people here at Axis, with the detective gig, but… More often than not, in this town, the detective gig was just a process of delivering bad news. Emilio wasn’t sure how much that helped, in the grand scheme of things. “But, uh… Nothing wrong with being clumsy, you know.” He thought of Silas, as he often did when faced with kids like Rio who weren’t fighters but were survivors all the same. And, just as it always did, that thought brought a stab of guilt along with it. For Rio’s sake, it was probably better if Emilio distanced himself here. He knew that.

But it was still easier said than done. It always was, with kids. Rosa would have teased the hell out of him for it, would have pointed out how terrified he’d been back when she’d first handed him his nephew, when Jaime was so small that he felt like the most fragile glass sculpture cradled in the hunter’s arms. He hadn’t thought much of kids until he tried being an uncle on for size. Now he had that treacherous soft spot for them, and all he ever did with it was get them killed.

Clearing his throat, he forced the thought from his mind. “Oh, yeah, I’m gonna take him. Not really my thing, but he’ll have fun.” And when Teddy had fun, Emilio did, too. He knew he ought to tell Rio no to coming along, but… How much trouble could he really get the kids into while line dancing? “Sure. But it’s on you to keep Ari from making fun of me too much. Counting on you, kid.” He was a little grateful for the dark, in that moment. Like a damn coward, he was grateful for the way it hid his expression, grateful for the way it saved him from having to study Rio’s. The kid’s dad tried to kill him, and it hadn’t come as a surprise. Emilio didn’t know what to say to that. He didn’t like the way it felt familiar. “Heard people say the family you make is the important one, anyway,” he offered, though he wasn’t sure he believed it. He wasn’t sure he could, given his own family history. Emilio had been isolated from the world outside his family until they’d been gone, had never had a chance to see them from a distance without grief coloring the lenses. He thought he might be lucky for that. He snorted lightly at Rio’s attempt to defend his intelligence, shrugging a shoulder. “Hardest part half the time is turning ‘your husband got eaten by a tree’ into something people will actually believe.” It was light, humor clear in his tone. He was tired of the heavy stuff. He’d never been much good at it.

-

Not that Rio had particularly high expectations, but this conversation seemed to be going better than he had expected it to. The bar wasn’t very high, but despite both of their apprehension the two seemed to be able to carry on the conversation. Whether it was awkward or not was an entirely different story, but given the fact that the two hardly had anything better to do right now, things seemed to be going well enough. For a hunter, the man seemed to be especially understanding of Rio’s lack of physical finesse. Granted, it was a lot easier to give the benefit of the doubt to some random kid. Maybe Emilio’s feelings about Rio’s gracefulness would be different if the man knew the truth about what he was. That the two had more in common than either one probably wanted to admit. “Thanks” Rio said, against his better judgment. “I guess I’m still learning that. Or unlearning a lot of other things, I guess.” Being clumsy had never been acceptable growing up, which had only made Rio play into it more. 

“You’re putting a lot of faith in me. As if anyone could stop Ari from saying whatever is on her mind.” Rio laughed, happy to think about something positive for a change. He wasn’t sure what had happened in his life to make him think the idea of square dancing with strangers was positive. “But I’ll try my best. No promises though.” From the way that Emilio said it, Rio had to wonder if the man had his own family issues. It wouldn’t surprise Rio, but he wasn’t willing to pry right now. “I think that’s true, honestly. I’m closer with Ari than my own sister.” He counted pretty much any of his friends as being closer than his real family. 

Listening to the man talk about his business, Rio couldn’t help but laugh. The story he had used was just ridiculous enough that Rio honestly couldn’t tell if it was real or made up entirely. In this town, the latter seemed more likely. Which just proved Rio’s point. “Jesus. The saddest part is I can’t even tell if that’s actually a case you’ve had or not.” He could only imagine what Emilio had to come up with. Rio had been guilty of the same growing up, but at least had the excuse of being anti-social and a recluse. Athena usually did most of the talking for both of them. “At this point, I think people in this town will accept just about anything if it means continuing to think there’s nothing wrong. I can already imagine what the news is going to say about this tomorrow,” Rio started, gesturing his arms around vaguely, “spontaneous solar eclipse or something, probably.”

-

Unlearning. Before White Crest, Emilio hadn’t even known there was such a thing. But since setting up shop in this town… he’d done an awful lot of it. Almost all of that unlearning was tied to the people he’d met here. Unlearning preconceived notions about the undead thanks to Silas (and Metzli, though he might not admit to that one as readily). Unlearning other things he’d believed about supernatural creatures in general thanks to people like Ari and Teddy. Unlearning a hell of a lot of things he’d believed about himself. Life in White Crest, he’d come to realize, was a never ending goddamn cycle of unlearning. It was kind of exhausting. “Guess I can understand that.” Better than he might have wanted to, really.

He huffed a laugh, offering a small nod of agreement because the kid made a damn good point there. There were very few things that could keep Ari from doing whatever it was she wanted to do, and making fun of Emilio tended to rank pretty high on that list more often than not. He’d never minded it half as much as he’d pretended to. His familial situation had never been normal. His siblings had never picked at one another the way he knew some did. In the Cortez family, sibling rivalry had tended to involve more knives than petty teasing, but… He liked to think Ari gave him a taste of what it might have been like had he grown up a little differently. And he liked that, even if it was another thing he’d never admit to. “No promises is a good policy. But I think you can handle it. She’ll probably listen to you better than she does me.” Not that that was saying much. Ari didn’t tend to listen to Emilio at all, really, unless what he was saying lined up with what she wanted to hear. 

“Technically, I guess the tree didn’t eat him,” Emilio replied dryly, tone not making it any easier to tell whether the story was true or not. His face, too, gave little away, a blank mask with a spark of amusement in his eyes that you’d have to know him well to really spot. “Usually, I go with animal attack. People accept that one easy enough, and it’s simpler. You go with something else, the police get involved. And… Closure’s harder.” If someone thought there was a person out there somewhere who’d killed their loved one, a person the police couldn’t find or wouldn’t arrest, it consumed them. Emilio would know. You could never quite settle after a thing like that, never find peace. He wouldn’t force it on anyone else. Not ever. “I’m sure they’ll come up with some excuse for it. Probably explain the power blackout with something like a bird in the powerline or a bear taking out a transformer. Who fucking knows, with this town.”

-

Talking with Emilio helped keep Rio mostly at peace despite the anxiety that crept around every dark corner, waiting to infiltrate Rio’s brain. On instinct, he pulled his legs up onto the couch, wrapping his arms around his knees and entering a fetal position. The move brought more comfort than it probably should have, though he supposed it mostly had to do with comfort than anything else. He had often assumed this exact position growing up, trying to make himself as small as possible. As if the action could make him disappear entirely. That might just be wishful thinking. “I think I’m the best chance you have at not being mocked by her. I’m sure I can do my best to keep her distracted. I mean, who couldn’t enjoy a square dance, right?” The question sounded mostly sarcastic, partially because it was clearly not something that would usually sound fun to Rio, but something that Ari could easily make him enjoy. 

This explanation didn’t clear much of anything up, and now Rio wasn’t sure he actually wanted to know whether this was a true story or not. Why make himself afraid of trees for the rest of time if he didn’t have to? “Well thank god he didn’t technically eat him.” Rio finally settled on, stuffing that idea into the deep recesses of his mind. “Animal attack is a classic. Can’t really go wrong with it.” And there was an argument to be made for the idea of closure. How could someone ever move on from losing a loved one if they couldn’t even understand or comprehend the true cause of death? Sometimes lies were easier. Kinder, even. “Let’s just hope the sun does come back. Not that they couldn’t think up an excuse if the sun never rose again, but it’d be a lot more complicated.”

-

The kid shifted beside him, and while Emilio couldn’t see the position he was situating himself into, he could feel enough to know that Rio was curled up in a way that sent a surge of something through him. It was the same kind of thing he felt towards Ari, towards Silas, towards Jaime. More often than not, it was the kind of thing that landed him in situations he’d be a lot better off avoiding. Unfortunately, it was also the kind of thing that made him feel something worth feeling. “Appreciate you having my back,” he replied dryly, pushing the feeling aside for now. “I’m sure your sacrifice’ll be worth it for me to have a few minutes of peace and quiet. And for making my guy happy. That’s probably the big one.” The more important one, in any case. Rio and Teddy would probably get along well, Emilio thought, though the thought was a little downplayed by the fact that he figured Teddy would get along with just about anyone and Rio seemed much the same. 

He huffed a laugh at Rio’s response to the story, deciding to spare the kid the nightmares by refusing to elaborate any further. Murderous trees weren’t really as much of a problem anymore, anyway, so it wasn’t anything the kid really needed to worry about. “People tend to accept it easily enough.” Most people, he’d learned, wanted an easy answer. They wanted something concrete, something solid. Grief was easier when you had that. “If the sun doesn’t come back up, that’s it for me. I’m going back to México. Don’t want to imagine how fucking cold it’d get in Maine without a damn sun to warm things up.”

-

“The sacrifice is definitely worth it.” Rio shook his head vigorously before remembering that vision was a bit of a problem now and stopped himself. “I don’t know your guy” Rio stopped himself from adding on ‘I barely know you’, “but I am very dedicated to making sure that the two of you have a great night.” He was close with Ari after all. Plus, this whole bonding session in the dark had to count for something. The two probably wouldn’t be gossiping anytime soon, but he could count Emilio as a friend now right?

“Even the people that believe in the supernatural want to believe in the easy stuff every now and again.” Rio sure knew that he did. Trying to find a logical answer to something was always at the top of his list growing up. That had unfortunately died off the older he had gotten. He had finally just thrown out the supernatural word. The two hadn’t necessarily been dancing around the phrase, but it still felt weird to say it to someone that Rio had never experienced the supernatural with before. The lack of sun probably counted towards that, though. “Smart choice. I’d love to travel anywhere south of here and get away. But it’s definitely going to come back.” Rio sighed, clancing at his phone again and perking up, “Look our hour is even almost up. If we’re lucky, daylight will be back in the next fifteen or so minutes.” If they were lucky.

-

“You’d like him,” Emilio offered with a shrug. Even though he didn’t know Rio well, he figured it was true. Maybe this night of dancing would have to happen after all, if only to allow both Rio and Teddy the opportunity to make more friends. Emilio wasn’t sure if that was the sort of thing he’d care about under normal circumstances, but… Between Ari’s clear fondness of him and the time they’d spent here in this apartment, filling the silence together, he’d already developed something of a soft spot for the kid. 

He grunted in quiet agreement, nodding his head. “Shit like that’s hard enough without tacking a mystery on to it. Most people, even if they know about this shit, know more about how an animal attack works than a vampire draining someone dry. They don’t know if it’s more or less painful. Makes it harder to think about.” Emilio, of course, knew better than most the level of pain most supernatural encounters carried along with them. He’d like to say it made things easier, but… Knowing what his family had felt when they’d died was worse, somehow. “Never been big on the cold,” he admitted. “Makes Maine a poor choice for me, probably.” He peered over at Rio’s phone, making note of the time. “You think it’ll come back all at once, or slow?”

-

Rio had always thought that mysteries were for solving. He enjoyed them. The ones in books and the ones in real life. He liked knowing that the Scribrary was there when he ran into a creature he didn’t know or something in town was happening that there didn’t seem to be an explanation for. He always found comfort in knowing that if he did enough digging he could probably figure out what was going on. But things in town were getting too complicated. Nothing was simple or black and white. Rio was tired of having to hunt down the answer for everything. And he was frustrated that nothing seemed to have any answer anymore anyways. In that way, Ro enjoyed the simplicity of a private detective breaking the news to someone easily. “Good point. If something like that happened, I wish I had the option of thinking it was something simpler.”

“Yeah, definitely an odd choice,” Rio giggled. Rio had never been super bothered by the cold, though part of that had to do with his very intentional clothing choices. When he spent all year wearing baggy hoodies and long pants he actually started to enjoy the colder weather to give him a break from the heat, “But I’m sure you get plenty of business here. So maybe not the worst choice career wise.” Rio could guess that his hunter heritage had something to do with what brought Emilio to White Crest. Rio wondered how much time Emilio spent regretting that decision. “If I had to guess? I’d say it’ll flip back on like a light switch. And hurt all of our eyes. But who knows.”

-

Simpler was easier for most people. Grief was an inherently complex things, full of emotions too big to be fully understood and questions too heavy to be answered entirely. Every tragedy doubled as a mystery, in its way, even the mundane ones. There was always going to be a part of you that wondered about the things no one would ever be able to tell you. What had the last thought been before the person you loved faded away? What had they felt? Where had they gone? It was a mystery, every time. Adding to that only ever made it hurt more. So Emilio provided simple answers, even when those answers were lies. The truth was important, too, sure — everyone deserved for someone to know the truth behind what happened to them — but not for everyone involved. Not if it was only going to make a hard thing harder. He could carry the weight of that truth so the victims’ families didn’t have to. He was pretty good at it. 

Rio’s voice pulled him from his thoughts, and he huffed a short laugh at the kid’s response. “Got me bundled up like a goddamn Christmas present,” he complained good naturedly, shaking his head. He did have a habit of bitching and moaning when the weather turned cold, but that was hardly the worst thing about this town. And Rio was right — business in White Crest was good. “Keeps me busy,” he agreed with a nod. “Plenty of shit to do. And I guess running for my goddamn life is a pretty good way to keep warm.” There was a slight lilt to his voice, a quiet humor. Emilio’s jokes weren’t often funny to anyone but him, but he still told them. He opened his mouth to add something else, to talk about how their eyes would probably be the least of their problems, but the sudden tolling of the clocktower outside interrupted him. Before the echo of the bell had died down, the world lit up again. Just like Rio predicted, it happened all at once; complete darkness one moment, bright lights the next. The relative silence of the apartment was replaced by the ambient noise of appliances coming back on, the quiet hum of the lights. Emilio squinted against the sudden brightness, making a face. “Guess you were right about the eyes. Christ.” 

-

Rio found himself laughing at the man’s joke. Though the boy wasn’t particularly good at it himself, he always appreciated the people that could turn dark, life endangering moments into something humorous. Rio never really had that school. When the going got tough he tended to get panicking. But he definitely gave props to those that could make light of the situation. “Way to look at the positive,” Rio lamented. There weren’t many positive things that Rio could claim about running for his life. He had done it more than enough times to be familiar with the concept. So the next time he found himself doing it he’d definitely remember Emilio’s words. 

Things shifted so quickly, Rio barely had any time to prepare for it. One moment the two continued in darkness when the next the sky was suddenly lit up again as if the whole town hadn’t been plunged into darkness seconds before. “Jesus” Rio moaned, quickly moving his arm up and covering his eyes with the sleeve of his jacket. Just in the few seconds they were exposed they had stung and begun watering. This must have been what it was like to actually adjust to no light. Rio couldn’t say he was a fan. “Not a huge fan of the results, but thank god the lights came back on.” Rio exclaimed, still covering his eyes. He wasn’t quite ready to start the process of slowly letting light back in. “Which means I’m finally safe to get back to my job.” He wondered how Portia had dealt with the hour of darkness. “Thanks for keeping me company during… whatever that was.”

-

“That’s me. An optimist.” It was the kind of thing that was so laughably untrue that it would likely make anyone who knew Emilio roll their eyes, though he wasn’t sure the humor of it would work on someone who he’d only just met. Maybe it’d serve just as well; he certainly didn’t have the demeanor of an optimist, and even his gloomy apartment was brightened only by the additions other people had contributed. Milo’s posters on the wall, Teddy’s decor around the room, Silas’s plants in the corner by the window, Ari’s colorful desk decorations. The brightest parts of Emilio had always come from the people around him rather than Emilio himself. He wondered if Rio could sense as much.

Huffing a small laugh, Emilio nodded in agreement. “Could have eased us into it,” he agreed, as if whatever had made the lights go off might be listening and taking suggestions for the next time something like this went down. “But this is definitely an improvement. Guess I should get back to my job, too.” There wasn’t a ton to do at the moment, but he had a few cases he could start looking into now that he could see well enough to do it. “Sure. I’d say let’s do it again sometime, but might be better if that kind of thing is a one-time occurrence. Still. Nice meeting you, kid.”

[wickedsrest-rp-archive]

Welcome to the Future || POTW with Alan, Nora, Orion, & Regan

TIMING: Current PARTIES: @alan-dixon @fearfordinner @3starsquinn @kadavernagh SUMMARY: An unlikely group finds themselves lost in what one would call a pretty desolate future. What was once White Crest is no more and looks exceptionally bleak.

As the road shifted into an expansive desert, Regan slammed on the breaks that weren’t there. The car wasn’t there, either. She stumbled and fell into the sand. Of course. She lay there with her eyes closed, feeling the coarse grains between her fingers, and death pulsing around her. What utter bull feces was this? Couldn’t she be done? The coyote was gone. Let that be the end of this wretched nonsense. But she knew better. Even before the wings and the screaming, she’d learned that White Crest was never done.

 Regan collected her sanity and craned her neck up, forehead meeting the harsh sunlight. This was definitely not the road, she was definitely not in her car, and there was definitely a lot of death in whatever endless Sahara this was. It beckoned her like the shimmering heat on the featureless horizon, tugging at her senses. Slowly, she rose, squinting into the distance to see if anything or anyone might be here with her. “How did I even get here?” She asked aloud, then silently reprimanded herself for asking a question to which there would be no logical answer. At least not yet. She brushed the sand off her shirt and pants, and realized it wasn’t the fine, tan sand of nice beaches. It was peppery, with bits of various metals and materials within, as if an entire parking garage had been pulverized, including the cars and upholstery. 

 Regan exhaled deeply from within her lungs, a high-pitched whistle of a screech riding her frustration. Then she spotted it. Them. Not one person, but two. She visored her eyes with a hand to try and see better – she couldn’t tell much, other than that they seemed to be coming her way. For a moment, she expected the coyote to warn her. They wanted to steal the skull, the one that no longer existed. They were a threat. But that warning never came, and its absence left her as uneasy and confused as its presence would have. She would decide for herself. “Hello?” Regan called out, “I don’t recognize this beach.”

 Claiming that things had been strange since Rio got back to town felt unnecessary considering nothing about this town or Rio’s life had ever been normal. But he didn’t feel like he was crazy in his assessment that things seemed even more on edge and more off the wall than they had been before he had left. Walking through the common, Rio found himself taking more careful steps, looking around the place as if he was searching for something and jumping at every dog bark or car horn. Clearly, that careful footing wasn’t helping him. It only took a small mound of dirt, misplaced and making the ground uneven for Rio to twist his ankle and fall face first into the innocent person walking by him. His only hope was to grab out at the person’s arm to try to stop himself from crashing entirely into them.

 “Oh god- I’m so sorry I didn’t mean to-” Rio froze as he pulled away from the stranger, his attention now entirely lost on them and instead focused on the desert surrounding them. This place looked like it was straight out of a Mad Max film. And it definitely wasn’t the Common. Glancing around, he couldn’t see anything besides sand and skyline, both engulfed in blowing dust. “What the-?” Rio began to question, only to be cut off immediately by an ear piercing scream. Rio gasped in pain immediately, shoving his palms against his ears in an attempt to muffle the sound. He looked around for a source but could see nothing at first. Whatever that was, it wasn’t close by. And if his hunter senses were picking that up it must have been loud. “I uh- sorry. You have any idea where we are?” Rio asked the stranger with him, hoping they might have some clue as to what the hell was going on. 

 A woman’s voice came soon after, one that Rio hadn’t heard in a while but was pretty sure he recognized. He turned towards the voice, watching a figure slowly come into view. “Doctor Kavanagh?”

 Nora was walking. She was very good at walking. If walking was a profession she probably would be in a high paying tier for it. Not that she needed a profession. Thus were the perks of being rich. The other perk of being rich was the innate knowledge that you didn’t need to pay attention at all times because if you broke something you could buy it. Which was why Nora got to be lost in thought at the current moment. Walking down the street. Enjoying the day. Being toppled to the ground as someone landed on top of her. Falling on sand instead of pavement. Falling on sand instead of pavement? 

 That caught Nora’s attention. “Wow…. How did you know I’ve always wanted to be kidnapped by a stranger and whisked away to an unknown location where survival would be in question?” Nora peered at the boy who had knocked her down, ready to keep the interrogation going. That was ended by a scream. A loud scream. A scream so loud it hurt her poor innocent ears that had never done anything wrong and were infact featured on many websites as the world’s cutest ears. (The last bit was only in her bear form but it was still a bragable achievement). Was there a metal concert here? Were they at burning man? Nora staggered to her feet, swirling around for any sign of the giant man who she wanted to incinerate herself. 

 Her kidnapper seemed to be doing a very bad job at this. He also had no clue where they were. However, he turned to his accomplice. Dr. Kavanagh. “You.” Nora’s voice, a normal monotone, was practically a growl in this moment. “I know you. You broke my best friends heart. And now you’re kidnapping me? How evil can one person be?” Plus Nora had long suspected she was a serial killer online, but the proof wasn’t in the pudding yet so she kept it to herself. 

 One moment, Alan was filling up his thermos with coffee and picking up a pastry from the break room (he shouldn't have, he had been putting on weight ever since he turned 40 and his doctor told him that he just had to deal with this being absolutely normal), the next, he was stepping into the scorching hot heat of a desert instead of enjoying the AC of his office.

 Feeling as though he'd been teleported back to Afghanistan, the startled estate agent turned around, expecting to find himself completely alone in this big and empty land. To his surprise, Alan found 3 figures in his horizon. He gave his watch a look, then gave one to the sun.

He could have been dreaming, he could have been dead too. Or maybe this fucking town was playing with his nerves again. Taking off his navy blue jacket, the werewolf, pastry in one hand, coffee cup in the other, took a couple of strides toward the trio, waving his hand at them, and hoping (but not too much) that they wouldn't be hostile. "Hello," he tried, "Are you from White Crest too?!"

 Walking in the sand with brogues was proving to be extremely tedious, and he could already feel it slipping between his sock and his sole. “Mother fucking sand, always getting…” Cutting himself off, Alan narrowed his eyes and found that he recognised at least one person out of the three. She’d been trespassing on his building sites. And she wore clothes now. 

 Regan braced herself for anything as the pair came closer – and as they did, she realized one of them looked quite familiar. The other simply looked quite goth. And before they could even get closer, she spotted a third figure, this one alone and glancing around as if confused. Well, at least they had that in common. And wasn’t he hot in that suit? Regan exhaled another deep breath at hearing her own name. A name. The name she so rarely heard these days outside of the ME’s office. “Yes,” she confirmed, glancing hard at the young man. It had been so long since she’d laid eyes on him. He looked… “Malnourished as ever, I see. I might have some sustenance in my purse. Perhaps a protein bar.” She was looking down at the tendons in Orion’s lanky ankles as she dug into her bag. 

 The second person stopped her. “Excuse me,” Regan said, looking up, a hint of irritation in her voice. “I break hearts on a daily basis, technically, if you consider the autopsy of them and removal of tissue for histology to be “breaking”. My condolences for your best friend.” Her fingers brushed up against the bar she was looking for, and she presented it to the starving child. “Who might you be?” she asked the goth, remaining expressionless at the proclamation that she was evil. “And you, for that matter,” she gestured toward the besuited man who looked as though he’d been dropped here straight from Wall Street. This was confusing. But one thing was comfortingly clear. It pressed against her from all sides, a reminder that this place could never be truly alien. “I am delighted to inform you all that wherever we are, we are surrounded by the dead.”

 Rio had been so wrapped up in trying to make sense of their new surroundings that he had barely registered what the stranger that had been teleported with him had been accusing him of. But as the world slowly registered in his brain he scoffed at the idea and turned back towards the “I did not kidnap you. I don’t even know where we are. I would be a terrible kidnapper.” He stopped just short of exclaiming just look at me. But that would only add more fuel to the very offensive fire that the doctor led with as soon as they ran into each other. For the first time in over a year, Rio noted. “Ah. Always a pleasure, doctor. I missed you too.” Rio mumbled, feeling completely defeated. Not only because it wasn’t the warmest welcome after what felt like a long time of not seeing her (especially full sized and not fairy sized), but also because Rio was pretty sure he was the healthiest he had ever looked. Props to Ari for forcing him to eat her real food. 

 Surprisingly, the oddest part about this scenario wasn’t even the weird desert, but the company apparently. Stuck between a stranger that just called him a kidnapper and a medical examiner who was taking the phrase heartbreaker way, way too literally. “I really don’t think that’s what this person meant…” Rio began, but gave up halfway through the sentence. A fourth person was coming to join the group, and if Rio was lucky at all this person may actually focus on the situation at hand. Considering he was in full suit, Rio didn’t have the highest hopes.

 “Hi!” We are from White Crest! Or at least I am.” Rio explained, hoping to be a welcome face for the stranger. As long as this stranger wasn’t a murderer. But as the man got closer, Rio could feel the hair on his neck rising, and goosebumps break out across his skin. Okay, so definitely a werewolf. That’s a start at least. A protein bar was placed into his open palm, distracting Rio temporarily so he could look at Regan and bring a small smile to his face, “Uh, thank you?” Rio gave her a thumbs up and decided against trying to refuse the treat. “I’m uh- Rio. Nice to meet… two of you. Any idea where we are?”

 A doctor, a scrawny kid, a werewolf and the bear woman : that was certainly not the perfect line up to get out of a desert. Sure enough, Alan used to work in less than ideal conditions back in the days, but he would have happily switched his current work clothes for the 68 pounds of equipment they used to make them carry. At least he’d have been prepared for this crap. What was he supposed to do in an Armani suit? 

 “Alan.” A pause, “Dixon,” he glanced at the doctor, then at the two others, then down at the protein bar in the kid’s hand. Poor boy definitely looked like he could use a snack. Holding out the pastry in his hand, the werewolf smiled, a kind, worried frown on his forehead :  “You want a piece of my Danish?” It was not like Alan needed it anyway… 

 Instinctively, the man turned his attention toward the doctor, assuming she would be the most responsible of these three. Her declaration that they were surrounded by death, however, deterred him immediately. “Come again?” Once again he gave his watch a look, tapping at the dial. Glancing up at the sun, he pursed his lips. “We’re still in our time zone,” Alan hummed, rubbing at the back of his head. “Any idea of where we could be in our longitude?” 

 “You are a terrible kidnapper.” Nora agreed, “You didn’t even take my cell phone. Kaden is going to hear all about this.” Nora pulled out her cellphone to start typing out a message about how his ex girl friend and her little kale goblin kidnapped her to a secondary location and that Alan was here for some reason but she hadn’t gotten around to asking. It didn’t send. She tired three times while the others were talking amongst themselves. “Does anyone have service?” Nora asked, holding her phone up to the sky. 

 Something clicked in Nora’s mind. Something important. They didn’t have service. In a desert. With out cards. Which means she was going to run out of ham eventually. Nora’s hands started roaming up and down her jacket as she started taking inventory of her pocket ham. How long would it have to last? She wouldn’t be able to order more… She eyed the others in the group. They’d probably need pocket ham too. It looked like the doctor had pocket food too. While Nora thought that was very smart of her, as everyone should have pocket food, she also didn’t trust the doctor to not poison them and maybe eat their bodies. 

 Did bears eat people? They did right? Nora eyed them. Nah. She wasn’t that kind of bear. Also why was no one talking about the scream? The ear shattering scream? “What was that loud noise we heard? Is that what brought us here?” What if that was some kind of light speed shattering noise? And that’s how they got here so fast. Sick. She’d love to be able to do stuff like that. No wait, Nora reign it in, she told herself, she was getting off topic again. 

 Regan couldn’t help but think that, even stranded wherever they were, she would have been better off alone. The famished adolescent was clearly lacking in survival instincts, considering he’d thanked her. At least it seemed like a question. Maybe it didn’t count. And then there was the man in the suit – he seemed like he just wanted to get back to whatever important meeting he was pulled from. And… “Kaden?” Regan’s nose wrinkled. “How do you know – my boyfriend hardly matters right now.” Neither did what she just said, once she’d realized she’d said it. Ugh. “I would hardly call that one ear shattering, but unless any of you plan on dying within the next – oh, I don’t even know, maybe a few days – then that doesn’t matter right now either.” Regan brushed her pants off again as if some sand still stuck to her, but her busy hands told her it was nerves more than anything else. Unacceptable. She needed to take charge if no one else would. She scanned the horizon, not really expecting to see anything. It just looked like an endless wasteland. And, to boot, The Goth was right. Her hardy flip phone had no signal.

 “Yes, death, it’s really quite impressive how much there is here,” Regan said offhandedly to the Suit Man, now Dixon. Then continued in the same breath. “I was driving past the Common when I ended up here. My car – I don’t know where it went. Who loses their car while they’re inside of it?” Regan shook her head. “Anyone spot some kind of a landmark somewhere? Surely we’re by the beach, given all of this sand. So where’s the water?” But what she smelled on the air was only pungent metals and harsh chemical scents – no ocean breeze and salt. And then there was the death, refusing to guide her in any particular direction, because it surrounded them from all sides. “Or just pick a way. You,” Regan said, looking at Dixon, who seemed least likely to immediately perish, “You appear to have more muscle mass; glowing, healthy skin; and more danishes than the rest of us. Where should we go?” Was it misplaced confidence to think he might have survival skills, or might’ve seen anything while walking over here that could guide them? Probably. But she had no clue, Orion most probably had a severe iron deficiency and could faceplant in the sand at any moment, and the Goth was… well, Regan bristled again at the mention of Kaden. 

 While the two women argued about who he assumed to be a common acquaintance, Alan took out his phone, pointing it up to get any sort of signal. "Well that's not promising," and it seemed like Nora wasn't getting any more luck than he was. It would have made things a lot simpler, but this didn't mean that they were lost.

 "Is it something to do with... ghosts? Can you see ghosts around us?" He knew for a fact that such people and abilities existed, and figured this could be what she meant by those cryptic words. "If we're by the shore, where are the birds? We'd see at least one sea gull," Alan shook his head. A course of action had to be figured out, and soon. In this heat, they couldn't just sit still and wait for help. He was about to suggest that when the doctor gave him quite the complimentary description and forced a thin smile out of him. "We'll get along," he noted, glancing back up at the sky. "Alright, so north this way," he pointed toward the scrawny kid and Nora. "And since we're still in the same longitude, the sea's gonna be East. I suggest we head this way." Truth be told, he didn’t know either where they were exactly, or why they were here. “I was in my office. It’s right by the Common,” perhaps it was something to do with the location, but this didn’t really look like home… “What about you two?” Folding his jacket over his arm, he led the way, hoping that wherever they were headed toward, they’d find support. 

 The mention of Kaden made Rio perk up, but Regan beat him to the punch by questioning the name drop. “Boyfriend? I’m so glad you two are still together. I always thought you two were cute together.” They had made a good if not odd and unexpected pair. “Actually that’s hardly important. And neither is you thinking I kidnapped you- which I didn’t, just to re-emphasize. And once we have cell service again you can ask Kaden that. Trust me he probably won’t even think I’m capable of kidnapping someone.” Which he totally was, for the record. If he wanted to kidnap someone he could do it so fast and so well. Not that he planned on kidnapping anyone. “I have no service either.” he confirmed, locking his phone again and shoving it in his pocket. For now, the thing was nothing more than a glorified paper weight. Maybe a flashlight or a notepad depending on how long they were stuck here. The werewolf, Alan, was then offering him a piece of his danish. Rio exhaled a long sigh and shook his head, mostly in defeat. “No - I’m okay. Thanks though. I’m really not even hungry. The protein bar is like… sort of a bit between us.” Only neither of them found it humorous.

 “Impressive? Not sure I’ve ever used that word when talking about death before.” Rio sighed. The doctor had always been a bit eccentric, so hearing her sound impressed by a certain amount of death didn’t concern Rio as much as it just perplexed him. In his own way, he had spent his whole life around death. But he could never see it the way she was able to. “I uh- don’t hear any water. Or smell the ocean for that matter. I don’t think we are near water.” He wanted to stay vague, even if the supernatural and impossible was impossible to ignore by this point. The last time Rio saw Regan he was pretty sure she didn’t even believe that he could be a hunter. Or that hunters existed. And who knew how Alan would react to the knowledge? The final stranger was a bit more of a wild card, getting a read on her didn’t seem possible. 

 Well, Alan was just putting cards on the table, clearly. “I uh- can’t see ghosts” Rio hesitated with his response, unsure how the others would take the same question. But the man seemed to take Regan’s advice to lead the group, and considering Rio had no better ideas he figured the smarter choice would be to stick together. “I was walking through the Common. Heading to the campus. I lost my balance and fell into them-” Rio paused and pointed towards Nora, “Sorry again, by the way. I closed my eyes for like- a few seconds max and all of a sudden we were both here.”

 If Nora was going to rank all the times she’d been kidnapped, this one was going on the bottom. It was severely unorganized. None of them had working cellphones for ransom money and they hadn’t even tired to tie her hands together. Free hands. She could do so much. Plus the kid was scrawny and malnourished as everyone kept saying. And she already knew she could take Doctor lady over there in a fight. Well, she wasn’t sure, but she was on the edge of sure. “I don’t think Kaden knows he’s your boyfriend still.” For whatever reason, Nora had decided the sub conversation of Kaden and Regan was more important than the main conversation they were trying to push.

 “If this had been a better organized kidnapping, you guys would know where we are.” Nora turned to Alan. “Are you kidnapped too, or did you miss me and hire them to kidnap me?” Nora really just wasn’t sure how Alan fit into this scenario. Unless they were so unorganized that they picked up a stray. Really. They should be way more thoughtful in their kidnappings. Nora turned to the kid who had been identified as Rio. “You shouldn’t apologize for kidnapping someone before you get your randsom.” She admonished him. 

 “I was walking in the commons.” Nora added as they shared what they had been doing. “I was on my way to break into townhall.” Nora had just watched National Treasure for the first and thought it looked fun. Eyeing the three others Nora stared to wonder if they worked for town all. After all, everything that happened in White Crest directly revolved around her. “I don’t see any ghosts. What I do see is a cool bug.” Nora dropped to her knees and crawled forward in the dirt. She picked something up an examined it. It wasn’t a bug. Just a piece of metal. She dropped the piece in disappointment. 

 “Ghosts?” Regan looked sharply at Dixon, still finding the word to be distasteful, even after her recent experience with a talking coyote being in her head. “No. Not whatever you’re actually referring to. I mean death. Pure, simple death. It’s underneath us. Everywhere.” Wait a second. It was underneath them. Why? Was it the sand? She scooped some up and let it filter between her fingers, but it didn’t feel like the cemetery of sorts that must have been further down. She shook her head. It was a detail that would matter to her and no one else, considering their lack of enthusiasm over a deathly discovery waiting to be found. At least Dixon was doing what she’d hoped, and picking a direction. They trailed toward the direction he’d pointed in. Regan always found walking on the beach with shoes to be an irritation, and this was no different; the sand felt like it could suck her in with each step. At least she’d be closer to whatever she was feeling. 

 Orion and the Goth quickly made her wish she would be sucked in. “Stop talking about me and Kaden.” Regan hissed, and a high-pitched screech escaped from between her teeth. Maybe enough to make their ears itch, but not much else. She wouldn’t apologize for that. “Go play with your cool bugs and your danishes and your nonfunctional cell phones instead.” Regan kicked up an arc of sand, in a display of emotion that she knew Deirdre would have given her weeks of admonishment for. But– what was that? Something metallic poked through where she’d kicked, black and shiny. Regan squinted and bent down, hoping the others would pause their walking and take a look. “What is this?” She glanced quickly at the Goth, anticipating ridiculousness. “It’s not a bug.” Regan pulled a packet of nitrile gloves from her pocket – always with her – and stretched one over a hand. Carefully, she reached out and traced a finger along the curved black metal. There was more attached to it, ratty wooden planks. The sand was easy enough to dig out of the way to get a better picture of what the object was. And it was beginning to look a lot like the corner of a park bench. Like the ones in the Common. 

 “Well that sounds like good news,” Alan would have rather this had been a normal day for him. Then, he could have pretended that the lady had lost her mind, but this was another one of those days, wasn’t it? Loosening the knot of his tie, he led the way, glancing behind him every now and then to make sure no one was struggling or getting left behind. And he was doing exactly that when the doctor shrieked about her boyfriend, causing the werewolf to cover both his ears and glare at her in barely concealed offense as she proceeded to throw what he would have called a tantrum had this been a child. “Wow, she really roasted us all here,” taking a sip from his coffee mug, he found the beverage managed to make him feel a bit cooler. Enough, at least, to stop in his train of thoughts and pay attention to that piece of metal in the sand instead. “That’s… could be from a… plane,” he tried, figuring that was the only thing that would make sense in the middle of this deserted hell. Glancing at the other two, Alan motioned them to get closer and help the doctor and him as they tried to dig that thing out. Sure enough, he didn’t have plastic gloves in his pocket (like a normal person), but if something had been buried in the sand, he doubted that would matter at all. Setting down his coffee mug, and placing his danish on top, the businessman took a hold of what looked like one end of the object. “Maybe we can try to pull it out, what do you think?” He glanced at Nora, then at the kid. Neither looked exactly strong enough to help, but it would be better than trying on his own. 

 Breathing a sigh of defeat, Rio accepted his fate as the kidnapper. “Thanks for the advice” he admitted toward Nora, taking special note to withhold any apologies in the future until he acquired the ransom. Technically speaking, it probably wasn’t terrible advice, though he wasn’t sure the amount of apologies given to the victim really changed the situation much. He also wasn’t sure why he was so hung up on the kidnapping thing considering they still had no clue where they were.

 Regan’s brief screech made Rio wince and tried to play it off by pretending he was scratching at his ear rather than an attempt to muffle the noise. Regan served as a constant reminder that banshee and hunter hearing did not mix well. If it had been an actual scream Rio wasn’t even sure he would have kept consciousness. Kaden had been Rio’s expert on hearing, and his expertise wasn’t exactly fae. Although in a way, he was probably the best source to ask about Regan’s screams in particular. Not that he wanted to question Regan about Kaden right now. He had thought they were still together, but Nora’s comment combined with Regan’s general anger implied otherwise. 

 The discovery of something under the sand was exactly what Rio needed to get his mind off of other distractions. He joined the group in trying to unearth the object, pulling his sleeves over his hands to help shovel it out of the way. “I got the other end” Rio agreed with Alan, partially to try to be helpful but mostly with something to prove. He was sure that they’d still call him scrawny and feeble after a display of strength too, but at least it might show that he’s not completely useless. He found the other edge of the object and grabbed at it. “I’m good. Go ahead.” He nodded towards Alan, putting some extra strength into effort but failing to pull it free. “I think it’s bolted down or something.” Rio suggested, slowly realizing what this thing looked like, but trying to ignore the implication. Plenty of parks probably had benches that looked like this one, bolted down just like those in the Common. He didn’t want to entertain the idea that this could be the Common, but in this hypothetical scenario, it at least gave him an idea. “If this is a park bench-” Rio paused, wondering if he made himself sound crazy by suggesting the idea at all, “Maybe we should head that way.” He pointed off towards the center of where the Common would be located. He couldn’t think of a good excuse to justify why he was suggesting this at all, so settled on a poor lie, “Maybe the bench was uh- facing something?”

 Nora watched as they digged wondering why Alan was digging with his human hands instead of wolf paws. As they talked about where to go in the commons, Nora was steadily stripping off her clothes and stacking it in a pile next to her. When Rio suggested the bench was facing something, Nora made a dramatic show of her transformation and started digging. Her bear paws were much bigger than her tiny little human hands which meant she made some good progress as she tossed sand around her. 

 This was kind of fun, Nora decided to herself. Fun in a 'I hope I find a body down here with a ghost so we can talk about sand' kind of way. Nora did hit something. It was a square piece of metal attached to a little stand that she easily ripped off and threw behind her in her digging frenzy. She was not to be stopped by anything. Eventually she met with pavement stopping her from digging more. She climbed out and switched back into a naked human covered in sand. "Nothing there."

 As the sand was slowly cleared by combined digging efforts, Regan only watched with narrowed eyes as more of the bench was revealed. And it was a bench. They all seemed to be thinking the same thing. But was it a familiar bench? And did that matter? Regan wanted to chalk this whole experience up to a bad dream, but the feeling of death all around plucked at her skin in a way that could only be real. She didn’t have any better ideas than what Orion suggested, so she gave him a curt nod. It didn’t take long for them to stop once more and dig around again, looking for something in this endless expanse. 

 And then there was a bear. Nora had just been there a moment ago. She– yes, she was definitely in that very spot. Regan doubled backward, a scream climbing up her throat, but she locked it inside of her along with her fear. Most of it, anyway. “There is a bear,” she pointed out, looking emphatically toward the other two, “a bear.” At least the bear seemed to have no interest in causing them harm, and started pawing around in the sand. It made fast work of the hole it dug, and Regan wondered if they ought to throw sand over it and try and trap it down there. 

 A piece of metal was hurled into the air from out of the pit, and it seemed to break into a second piece in the air. Regan turned and watched one piece land soundlessly in the sand behind them. Did she dare completely turn her back to the bear? She sucked a breath in through her teeth and marched back, carefully pulling the object from the sand. It was old and worn, a thick layer of rust covering the engraved letters. Down the center, the object had undergone sufficient trauma for it to tear in two. Regan held the metal up to the sunlight. A plaque. This was a plaque of some kind. She heard Nora’s voice and felt a shiver of relief, but this had her full attention. The death even quieted against her senses, as if it wanted her to focus on reading. After reading it, she could partially understand why.

 She called out to the group. “I think the bear dug this up. And it… come here.” Did this even deserve the importance she was giving it? Her fingers, as they brushed against the letters, said it did.  “It broke in half,” she pointed out, “but it’s legible. I don’t…” She held the plaque up for them to read. “In remembrance of

1770”

 “In remembrance of who?” Regan asked, knowing her companions were unlikely to know any more than she did. Perhaps even less. “1770. This must be commemorating someone around the founding of the town.”

 Nora made it clear that she didn’t care much for hiding her true identity, and Alan did his best to pretend he didn’t see her bear form or that he didn’t feel a mix of worry and terror anytime he glanced her way. Better this than trying to explain anything to anyone. “What do you mean there’s a bear?” Turning to look at Regan in confusion, Alan watched as a piece of metal was hurled up in the air by Nora and sent away. 

 While Regan fetched that piece, Alan turned back to the two others to take a look at what they’d dug out. “Well that’s odd,” he gave the plaque a puzzled look, brushing sand off of its surface with the back of his hand. His brows furrowed at the text engraved in the metal. “Doctor, would you mind coming over here?” Taking a seat in the sand, Alan gave a glance up at the sky, squinting as his eyes met the Sun. “This doesn’t make any sense,” he muttered, reaching in his pocket to check once again for signal, but his Maps app wouldn’t load and his screen stubbornly remained white. “So, what does it say?” 

 There was a bear. Seemingly out of nowhere. Rio would have been freaked out if he hadn’t been able to connect the dots so quickly. He had learned about bugbears growing up, and had read about them at the Scribrary, but he had never seen one in person. He knew that the correct reaction was to be disgusted as a hunter. He also knew that the appropriate reaction for him should have been fear. But his eyes widened in adoration instead as he watched Nora in fascination and mumbled a not-so-subtle “Woah. So cool.”

 That brief moment of awe was disrupted by the flying piece of metal that made Rio cringe in fear and try to use his arms as cover as he tried to spot them mid air. The pieces split at the end, with Regan and Alan both going to fetch the separate pieces. He heard Regan’s first, nodding in agreement once she read it off. The town had been founded in the later half of 1770. It had to be significant to that. “Maybe just the founders? I don’t remember any books about White Crest ever naming any families specifically.” Though he couldn’t remember any sort of plaque in the Common that had paid tribute to the specific year of founding. The thought gave him chills. And found himself wandering with Alan to take a look at the second piece. He read it to himself at first, feeling his blood run cold as he tried to think of an explanation. “Um… this doesn’t make any sense.” Rio stressed, nerves inching into his voice as he prepared to read it out loud.

 “of White Crest, ME

 - 2022”

 The connection was clear as day, though Rio hardly wanted to admit to it. But eventually he just had to say it. “It says ‘In remembrance of White Crest, ME. 1770-2022’”.

[letsbenditlikebennett]

State of Grace || Ari & Rio

TIMING: After Ari sees Kaden at the hospital PARTIES: @3starsquinn & @letsbenditlikebennett SUMMARY: Ari comes home from the hospital feeling worried about her hunter friends and has a chat with Rio. CONTENT: Sibling death (mentioned), parental death

With the sun setting in the sky, the breeze that encompassed Ari had a chill to it that fit perfectly with the sinking feeling that had lived in her stomach the past few days. She’d only just started to pick herself back up after the exorcism and this town yet again took it as a chance to remind her just how fucking fragile everything was. She’d been so torn between staying by Kaden’s side and getting as far away from him as she possibly could. He didn’t explain what happened, but all he had to say was Silver Bullet and she could piece it together as she remembered the disgust his uncle had looked at her with. Kaden chose her and he paid the price for it. Not with as much finality as Celeste had. This time. But he chose her, he gave up any other family he had for her. She couldn’t just leave him and she didn’t want to. 

 Part of her knew she’d never be able to leave Rio either, but Ari knew it was different. Long before Rio ever knew Ari, he knew hunting wasn’t his call. There wasn’t a killing bone in his body and he’d always be rejected by the more fanatical hunters even if he were to never be seen with her. It didn’t change the fact that people who got close to her had a habit of dying and she wasn’t sure she could ever handle it being Rio’s lifeless face that haunted her dreams. 

 Ari took a deep breath and looked up at the farm, bracing herself for the conversation she had to try and have. The slight quiver in her lip and shake in her breath betrayed the sense of calm she tried to convey as she entered the house. It seemed Rio was the only one home as the house was silent outside of the occasional page turn in his room or the patter of animal paws on the wood flooring. Heavy feet carried her to the room Rio was sleeping in and she lightly tapped on the door. “Rio,” she called out quietly, “Can I come in?”

 Something was wrong. Rio knew it immediately from the tone in Ari’s voice. With the state of White Crest combined with vague news that Kaden was in the hospital, Rio’s brain had been pinballing worst case scenarios. He had been so caught up in his own spiral that he never even heard Ari get home or approach the door until the knock came, followed quickly by her calling out to him. Both were as gentle as could be, but it still made Rio jump. He had been lying in darkness, unable to sleep but unable to motivate himself to do anything productive either. He was reading a book, though he wasn’t sure how much of the information he was actually absorbing. He turned the page every so often, but couldn’t remember a single word from the page before.

 Rio didn’t move from the bed. Part of him wondered just how long he could delay the bad news until Ari would take matters into her own hand and own the door herself. But he couldn’t avoid the inevitable forever. “Yeah. Come on in.” Rio finally yelled, still staring at the ceiling in the darkness. He waited until the door was open before he finally set up, readjusting so that he was sitting in a pretzel position on his mattress. “Hey” Rio spoke weakly, trying to get a read on Ari’s expression. Abandoning the book, Rio’s full attention was on his friend. His best friend. Waiting for whatever was weighing on her mind to be spoken aloud. “Is Kaden okay?”

 Guilt immediately flooded Ari. Of course Rio was concerned about Kaden’s well-being. After piecing together what had happened, she had been in far too distraught a state to text him and let him know that Kaden would in fact be alright. Almost immediately, her hands shot up and she shook her head, “Sorry, shit, Kaden’s gonna be fine. Didn’t mean to come in all gloom and doom.” Part of her wanted to reach out to Rio, grab onto her friend for some sense of comfort, but it contradicted everything she needed to do to protect him. It’d be selfish and Rio deserved more than that. So much more than that. She plopped down on the edge of the bed, eyes still tired and sullen. “Physically, he’ll be okay. Think he may be a little shaken up… which brings me to why I need to talk to you.” 

 Ari glanced down at her hands that clasped together in her lap, fidgeting as she tried to sort through her own thoughts for the best thing to say. She wasn’t sure there was anything that could make this easier. She wasn’t sure Rio would even let her walk away from their friendship even if it would be better for him, but she had to try to do right by him. She let out a deep breath and finally whispered, “I don’t think you should be my friend anymore.” The crack in her voice betrayed the certainty she needed to convey for this to work and she had to will away the tears that threatened to spill. “It’s not safe. I need you to be safe.”  

 The first thing Rio did was breathe a sigh of relief. “Thank god” He really wasn’t sure he could handle the idea of losing Kaden. No matter how long it had been since the two had seen each other. Or how different their opinions were. For better or worse, he cared about the hunter. And losing him wasn’t something Rio was sure he could handle.

 The comfort was short lived though, as Rio realised that if Kaden was fine, Ari’s ominous entrance had to be related to something else instead. His brow furrowed as he continued to study her. She looked different. Sadder, probably. But he was sure that she had been different since he had gotten back into town, even before that probably. When he had met her, she had been so carefree and kind. This town had beaten that innocence out of her, just as it did to so many others. Rio supposed they should consider themselves lucky that they were still alive to even have this conversation. “Ominous but uh- okay. Go ahead.”

 Of all the things that Rio was mentally preparing for Ari to say (and the list was extensive, Rio’s brain was particularly skilled at brainstorming doomsday scenarios), the absolute last thing that he expected was for her to try to drop him as a friend. “Wait- what?” Rio’s posture straightened immediately, tilting his head questioningly as he stared even harder at Ari. Where the heck was this coming from? She couldn’t be serious, right? “No. Absolutely not. Why would you even suggest that?” Rio found himself defensive immediately, his heart beginning to pound rapidly against his sternum. Had he done something? He had to have, or she never would even entertain this in the first place. “Nothing about White Crest is ever safe. We stay safe because we stick together. We have each other’s backs.” Rio really didn’t want to cry. If he did then Ari’s tears would probably follow soon after. That would only make things worse. “Please tell me this is some tiktok prank, yeah? You have your phone propped up on my bookshelf or something?” Rio suggested, glancing over at the shelf in a vain attempt to spot her phone.

 The look on Rio’s face was almost enough to break her resolve. One of the last things Ari ever wanted to do was hurt Rio, but the memory of how battered and bruised Kaden looked under harsh fluorescent lights reminded her why she was doing this. If something ever happened to Rio because of her, she wasn’t sure she could ever forgive herself. It was hard enough grappling with what happened to Kaden and it was already too late. But Rio, he could distance himself from her and the other wolves, take any potential target off his back. Her eyes fluttered shut and she took a deep breath. “Rio, I,” she paused as her voice threatened to crack, “All I’m doing is painting a big target on your back for all the other hunters in town. I can’t–”

 Ari wasn’t even sure how to finish the thought. She’d practiced what’d she say over and over again the whole walk home, but not it seemed so far from her. In the face of his questions and the raw hurt in his voice, it was hard to think of anything but just reaching out to hug him. To tell him how he was the best friend she’d ever had and how he was one of the bravest people she’d ever known. No matter how true it was, it’d be selfish. She knew if she broke, he’d stay by her side forever. She shook her head. “It’s not a TikTok prank,” she said softly, as if she was afraid of her own voice, “It’s… Other hunters did that to Kaden, Rio. Because he chose to protect me.”

 The lump in her throat was going and Ari found herself fidgeting with the sleeves of her jacket, afraid to look up to see the pain in Rio’s eyes. She swallowed back the growing pressure in her chest and explained, “He didn’t say as much. You know how he is. But his uncle stopped by unexpectedly when I was there and… Rio, I’m so proud of you, you know that, right? I love you so much. I can’t be the reason someone would do something like that to you. He looked so–” The sob she’d been holding back finally made her voice crack and the tears followed. Choosing nonviolence almost got him killed once and he didn’t have Athena around anymore to watch over him. Nonviolence was one thing, being her friend, being associated with a werewolf was another. “It was bad, Rio. If that– Athena’s not here. If one of them tries to hurt you or worse, she’s not here to stop it again.” 

 Of course this was some attempt by Ari to keep Rio safe. He should have known from the start. He had never wanted to be a fighter. He had been trying to avoid it his entire life, even when refusing to fight caused him more pain. He was so sure that he wasn’t that person, could never be that person. Now, he was just exhausted that everybody thought he was that weak, fragile shell of a person moments away from shattering into a million pieces. The irony wasn’t lost on Rio, but it wasn’t exactly appreciated either. “I don’t care about any of that. You know I don’t.” He urged against Ari’s words. She knew him well enough to know that he had begun this battle long before he had met her. Hunters were never going to like Rio. They may even actively attempt to get rid of him. But that was the path he had chosen. “It’s never been a huge secret that I wasn’t cut out for that life. My parents tried to hide it as long as they could but..” Rio trailed off trying to search for the right thing to say. Ari came in here with her mind made up, and she was stubborn. If he was going to change her mind he had to pick and choose his words carefully. “If a hunter was going to come after me it wouldn’t be because of you. I haven’t been incredibly subtle about where I stand.”

 This couldn’t be happening. Rio felt like he was fighting a losing battle, and the thought of losing the person he was closest to was sending his anxiety through the roof. He buried his face in his hands, dragging his palms across it to rub at his eyes. For the first time since his parents, Rio genuinely wanted someone dead again. Every single hunter that had gone after Kaden. He wanted to make them pay. To make them feel the pain that they kept causing. The brief stint of anger faded quickly as Ari kept talking. “I love you too. So much” Rio agreed, nodding a bit too enthusiastically and trying to latch onto that mutual love. It had taken so long for him to find people to care about this deeply. He couldn’t lose her. “Ari please. I can’t make it in this town without you. What hunters do has nothing to do with you. You’re not responsible for them, but-” Rio cut himself off once he processed the other’s statement. Athena’s not here. She’s not here to stop it again. Confusion swept over Rio as he considered this statement. Had Athena told Ari about their birthday training? The werewolf or the fae? How Athena had to step in to make sure Rio didn’t let himself be killed? That wasn’t directly by a hunter’s hand. “What? What are you talking about?”

 The selfish part of her wanted to latch onto the idea that whether or not Rio stood by her didn’t make a difference on where he stood with other hunters. More than anything, Ari just wanted to fall back into the pillows and lay there up all night, talking about any and everything. She was too tired to fight, too tired to push away the one person she knew she could always count on for support. Her shoulders slumped and she sighed as she looked up to Rio. “I know you haven’t ever been what they want you to be. That it hasn’t exactly been a secret. It’s just,” she looked back down at her lap, “I keep losing people. Kaden could have… You, Kaden, Athena– I don’t think I could keep doing this if it was one of you. I’m so tired, Rio.” 

 Any resolve she had was fading too quickly. Ari should have known she would never be able to do this in person. When he was right there, she just wanted to hug her best friend and never let go. Never let anyone that would dare to hurt him within arm’s reach of him. The pleading tone in his voice was too much. It was chipping away at any walls or armors she’d tried to place around herself in preparation for this conversation. “Then maybe you shouldn’t,” she shook her head, “Fuck, I don’t know. What about Connecticut?” 

 The question caught her off guard and Ari felt her jaw drop. Shit. She wasn’t supposed to mention what happened that night to anyone. She had all but promised Athena she’d never speak of it, but Rio was there. He knew what happened. It wasn’t like she was spilling a secret. Maybe it would drive the point home that he’d be so much safer with his sister. And maybe she’d be alone, but at least he’d be alive for her to miss. She looked up to him earnestly and answered, “I know what happened on your birthday.” Her features softened and she reached her hand out to grab his. “I know your parents tried to kill you and Athena stopped them. I know she killed your parents. After that was when she came to stay with me, started living there.” Her heart ached remembering how shaken up the warden had been that night. How small Athena had looked, how vulnerable. How she’d held Athena that night and every night that followed until she didn’t. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have brought that up.” 

 Rio understood where Ari was coming from. He had never thought he deserved friends, especially supernatural ones. He was a danger to them. He would put their lives at risk whether he wanted it or not. So he never tried. It hadn’t been until friendship had practically been forced upon him that he finally began to let that guard down. Even then he was convinced that he didn’t deserve them. But he would protect them with his life, and he would rather put his own life at risk than ever risk losing Ari. “I know. And I’m so sorry that it has to be like this. But this isn’t the answer, okay? You and me? We are stronger together. My life is not any less dangerous without you. It’s just a lot lonelier.”

 Wiping at tears now, Rio had given up trying to stop himself from crying. The only thing he could do was sniffle as quietly as possible to avoid coming off as too pathetic. But he didn’t care how desperate he sounded. He was desperate. He would do anything to keep Ari’s friendship. “You know I’m not going anywhere without you now, right? I tried it once already. Didn’t really work out.” Rio tried laughing through the tears, hoping that some stupid attempt at humor might lighten the mood. Even if it was only by a tiny bit. But Ari’s suggestion only made Rio laugh even harder, “Wow. I’m sure you picked Connecticut completely at random, yeah? No ulterior motive there.” Definitely not that Ari’s ex and Rio’s twin sister was currently in medical school there.

 Any chance of breaking the tension the two had was washed away immediately as Ari began describing Rio and Athena’s 21st birthday. It felt like a weight had dropped through his stomach and he couldn’t say anything as Ari described the night in… incredibly inaccurate detail. Rio had always known that Ari was going to be Athena’s alibi. At that time he had been so desperate to get away from her that he never gave much thought to what she might tell Ari about the night. But it only made sense that Athena had taken the blame for both murders just as Rio had when he told Winston. Athena had spent her entire life trying to protect Rio. Even while under their parent’s thumb. Even when she actually believed everything they had told the twins. Even if her methods of doing so had been sick and twisted. “Jesus.” Rio finally said, letting out a breath he had been holding for far too long. “Ari I-” he paused, considering how to move forward. Rio was supposed to be the innocent one. It had always been that way. People were always trying to protect him, so sure that he had no chance of taking care of himself. What if Ari didn’t like what she was about to hear? What if she thought Rio was a monster just like his parents, and it only helped convince her that she was making the right decision? But of all the people Rio knew, Ari deserved the truth more than anyone else. “Don’t be sorry. That night… Listen, Athena told you what she did to protect me. My parents did try to kill me. And my sister tried to stand up for me. There was a struggle in the kitchen and my mom was going to hurt Athena so I grabbed the cutting board and just… swung. And that made my dad really angry. He got a hold of me and I couldn’t get free until Athena cut him with the knife and then-” Rio paused again, the memories of that night rushing back to him. At the time, it had all been a blur. Now, Rio felt like the night was playing in slow motion in his head, every single detail in high definition. “I knew we only had one option. So I took the knife from Athena and I stabbed him. It was me. When my mom woke up- Athena did what she had to do. But I started it. Our parents are dead because of me.”

 Something in the air had shifted between the two of them and Ari could feel herself quickly losing resolve. The desperation that was once there in Rio’s voice shifted into something else, something that made her want to reach out to him, place a supportive hand on his shoulder, and let him know that it was going to be okay. Instead, she listened quietly, letting Rio say his piece and found herself growing more surprised by the minute. It was hard to envision, Rio being the one to deliver a killing blow, but she understood it. After everything their parents had done, Ari never once blamed Athena for doing what she had to do and she wouldn’t blame Rio either. The Quinns had hardly been parents, but that became glaringly obvious when they wanted to kill their own son. “Rio,” she said softly, reaching out for his hand and giving it a gentle squeeze, “Your parents aren’t dead because of you. They’re dead because of their own shitty actions.” 

 Even if Ari preferred to avoid options that resulted in death, it was the elder Quinns who took that choice away the moment they tried to kill their own children. She would never fault the twins for protecting both themselves and each other, especially when it meant they were still here. Still alive and mostly well. But it did shake her resolve a bit. Rio could defend himself, even if he didn’t want to have to. He’d burned his bridges in the hunting world long before she came along, he was right about that. And he’d said Athena was glad Ari was looking out for her brother which was another thing that tugged at her heartstrings. “Okay,” she nodded, not letting go of his hand, “I get it. You were not welcomed in the hunter community before me. You can take care of yourself if you really need to.” 

 Ari gripped his hand tighter and choked out between tears that she finally let fall. “I just wish you didn’t have to,” she whispered, “This is all so–” She let his hand fall and stood up, her hands itching to break something, anything. “It’s fucked,” she grumbled a little louder, “I just can’t you lose you, Rio. I keep…” She knew the way that sentence was supposed to end went without saying. They’d both had their fair share of loss, but the idea of it being Rio hit so much harder, cut so much deeper. “If it was you, I can’t even think about it. I just need you to be okay, Rio. Even if you stick by me, I need you to be okay.” 

 There was a weight lifted off of Rio’s shoulder as he waited for Ari to respond. He knew what she would say. And what she would think. No matter how much his anxiety and fear tried to convince him otherwise, Ari would understand. She would accept Rio’s explanation and tell him that everything was alright because that was who Ari was. The best kind of person. The best kind of friend. But no matter how much Rio knew that logically, it still came as the best kind of relief to hear her say it herself. “Thanks. I just- I don’t know what else to say.” He laughed again, because as inappropriate as it was, that was the only thing his body allowed him to do. “Just thank you.”

 Rio could feel the shift in the room. Maybe Ari wasn’t completely convinced, but she was starting to come around. Hopefully she was starting to realise that Rio wasn’t completely defenceless. That he could and would fight back if he needed to. His parents hadn’t been the first hunters that Rio had gone up against, but they had been the first that Rio had killed. Could Rio do that again? Could he take the life of someone he didn’t know and loathe as personally as he had his parents? If it meant protecting Ari, there was no question in Rio’s mind. He wouldn’t hesitate. 

 All that was left was ending this conversation. Convincing her that the two were safer together than apart. That there was nothing that could happen to Rio that would ever be her fault. It was easier said than done. It was a dangerous town, and the last thing Rio wanted to do was lie to Ari. She deserved so much better than that. He pulled his knees up to his chest, settling in a fetal position, his chin resting on his knees so that he could keep looking at Ari. “I wish I could tell you that nothing will happen. But we both know that’s a promise I can’t keep. Plus- I’ve sort of sworn off promising. For obvious reasons.” he sighed, “All I can say is that I know you and I are safer when we’re together. Because I know you have my back. Just like I have yours.”

 “Of course,” Ari said, reaching out to grab his hand and give it a squeeze, “I know this conversation kinda implies otherwise, but there’s nothing you could do that would make me love you less.” The thought that both twins could have easily been gone if they hadn’t stood up for each other in that moment where it really counted wasn’t lost on her. Despite everything they’d been through and the strain on their relationship, they had each other’s backs. “Plus, it means you and Athena are still alive,” she added, “I love you both way too much to even consider the alternative being okay.”

 It was comforting to know that Rio could defend himself if needed. Ari was well aware he has enhanced strength, but it was hard not to worry when so many people she loved seemed to slip right through her fingers. She wished Rio didn’t ever have to fight like that. She was proud of him for so many reasons, but she wanted the world to be better for him, for all of them. “Okay,” she agreed, “You were in this long before me. I can… I can do this. I don’t want to be apart from you. I didn’t even want to be apart from–” She trailed off, remembering the panic she had been in after she attacked Aavyan, thinking she killed him. How she’d barely even given either of the twins the reasoning or notice they deserved. “We’re in this together, you’re right. No matter what.” 

 The swearing off of promises made Ari laugh a bit. “Yeah, I need to get better about swearing off the ‘thank you’s too,” she joked through teary eyes, “Pretty sure Athena would be happy about the swearing off promises though. But you’re right.” She let out a sigh and let herself fall back onto the bed. “All we can do is have each other’s backs and do our best to survive this place. And I’m sorry for trying to push you away. Seeing Kaden like that was… I know I’ve survived a lot, but I’m not sure I could do it if it was you, Kaden, or your sister, you know?” 

 The sigh of relief was involuntary and louder than Rio expected. But all of that fear and anxiety and held breath had built up in Rio like a balloon. He had been seconds away from popping completely until Ari finally spoke the words he had been waiting to hear and finally let some of that pressure out. We’re in this together. Now deflated, Rio felt more elated than anything. A wide smile broke across his face and he dove forward to wrap her into a hug. Thank god. Thank god. Thank god. Anything Rio could think to say was said through that hug. Physical touch and intimacy was still something that freaked Rio out. Hugging and touch almost never felt natural to him, mostly because in his household it never had been. But hugging Ari felt like the most natural thing in the world. 

 “Athena would be pissed at both of us for ever doing it in the first place.” Rio laughed, still too happy about Ari changing her mind to worry about being freaked out about anything else. The only remaining worry that lingered in his head was Kaden’s safety. Even if he was going to be fine now, were those hunters still out there? Would he continue to be a target? Would Ari? Rio didn’t want to ruin the mood by asking now. “You don’t have to apologise. Trust me, I get it. We are stuck right in the middle of a really bad situation. But I think we’re going to make it out of this, okay?”

 The hug came as a surprise, but Ari found herself immediately melting into it. She allowed herself to feel the comfort of knowing her best friend would always be there, even if maybe it would be better for him if he wasn’t. It was hard to not worry about the worst case scenario, but she promised herself she would always do whatever she could to protect him. She held onto Rio tightly, letting herself feel that he was here, real, and okay. That he could continue to be all of those things if she just let him and she knew in that moment he needed her just as much as she needed him. 

 “I think we will, too,” Ari whispered into his shoulder, “We’ll look out for ourselves and each other. I don’t ever wanna be apart again.” She squeezed him even tighter thinking of how lost she’d felt without him all those months, some of which were of her own doing, but neither of them had to do this alone anymore. Survival would never be a given, it never was in White Crest it seemed. All she could do was hold onto the people she loved as tightly as possible and protect them with everything she had. And for Rio, she’d give just about anything to keep him safe. It was enough. It had to be enough. 

[3starsquinn]

Uprooted || Rio & Solomon (POTW)

TIMING: A few days after Foundation of Decay PARTIES: @shroomsbysolomon & @3starsquinn SUMMARY: Rio runs into baby Solomon in the Common, but after funky time distortion nonsense things get dangerous CONTENT: parental death mention tw, gun mention tw (briefly mentioned)

Something definitely wasn’t right, but Orion couldn’t tell what it was yet. The Common still looked the same, not much out of place besides the lack of people. It might have been too early in the morning for the college kids to be out roaming the open field yet. Rio walked along one of the paved paths, heading towards the campus to find a spot to read. The sun had only just begun to rise, and it was still cool out for the time being. It was welcome, wearing pants and sweaters in the summer only worked to make him run hotter throughout the day, so he loved moments like this where he got to feel comfortable roaming the town. He still couldn’t shake the feeling that something wasn’t right, but he pushed the feeling away. He was still getting used to being back in town. To the constant state of unease that knowing the things he did about this town made someone feel. The only useful things his parents had ever taught him was that this town was a dangerous place.

A noise came from off in the distance, too far for anyone with normal hearing to pick up. Rio couldn’t recognize the source, so against his better judgment he deterred from his path to head towards the noise. When he finally came upon it, Rio was pretty sure he had completely lost his mind. The only thing out of place here was a branch. At first, Rio was pretty sure it was just some oddly shaped tree branch that had fallen from a tree and seen better days. At least until it… moved. “Holy crap” Rio mumbled. It was definitely moving. Running through his mental list in his head, he could really only thing of one thing, but Rio had never actually seen a Leshy in person. Not one without glamour at least, or so… small. “Uh hey there.” Rio spoke, pretty sure that if a morning jogger came by he’d look completely insane, “Are you okay?”

Perhaps simply trying to find the forest had been a mistake. Memories of those that the young leshy knew, people Solomon knew that lived here that might be able to help him were all that he could think of as he abandoned his search for the woods. Which was just as well, considering his fairly close proximity to the wildlife reserve… of course once he’d finally found his forest, he’d reconsidered the need to disappear into it. That wouldn’t fix this… issue. And frankly, the idea of living an extra one thousand years was exhausting. 

Sprawled out in the grass, absorbing the morning dew through his dark, wooden skin, Solomon stared blankly up at the early morning sky. The sunlight crept over his little body as he lay there, feeding him in a way he desperately needed, draining as it had been to be so panicked the last few days. Closing his eyes, the leshy rolled onto his side and curled up into a ball, only to hear the voice of someone behind him a few moments later. 

The panic he might have normally felt at the sound had been dulled by his recent experiences, and he wearily sat up, turning to look at the human apprehensively. “No,” he answered, looking back down at the grass. “Small… small age.” 

The Quinn household held two specialties. Fae hunting from the Wardens on the dad’s side and Werewolf hunting from the ranger on the mom’s. Rio had studied both, just like his sister despite being a ranger himself. The training became more specific the older they got, but he had learned plenty about Leshy as a kid. And yet none of those lessons ever mentioned what it would be like to encounter a leshy as small and defenseless as this one. It was no surprise, unlike his sister Rio had learned very early on that James and Linda used lessons as propaganda. Knowledge intermixed with stories about the ruthless atrocities these monsters committed. Rio only believed them at a young age, when they came across as more of a ghost story than anything else. The more he learned about his parents, the less he figured these stories were true.

Rio supposed he fell somewhere in the middle now. He figured a lot of those stories could be true, though they hardly represented the entire species. Looking down at this Leshy now, he knew what his parents would think of it. But they weren’t here, and he was. “Yeah uh- very small” Rio tried. Admittedly, he wasn’t even sure if Leshy were able to talk this young. He lucked out that the two seemed to be able to communicate, even if it seemed a bit limited. “I’m not here to hurt you or anything- pr” he cut himself off immediately. He had absolutely no intention of causing the small Leshy any harm, but he had to draw a line after the mess he had found himself in with Lydia. Something that should have been as innocent and simple as a promise to keep someone safe had turned into something so ugly and sinister. “Do you need me to take you somewhere? We should probably not be here once people start walking The Common to get to class.” They were tucked away behind trees right now, but that hardly meant they were completely concealed.

He didn’t know what a class was or why someone would need to get to it, but what Solomon did understand was the warning of large crowds to come. He’d been trapped in a crowd when this all happened, and was not keen to repeat the experience. As much as he worried whether or not he could trust this person, his fear of being surrounded by strangers again was a more compelling motivator than paranoia, and it urged the little leshy forward. “Cutler,” was all he could think to say, trembling as he neared the young man. “Virgil. Nicole. Kaden.” Rattling off names of people he knew, people he’d feel safe with seemed to be all he could do. There was little hope that this person knew any of them, but it was worth a shot, since he couldn’t seem to remember where any of them lived. Staring up at Rio, the leshy shivered. “Help find.”

Rio didn’t really care about the class he had anymore. All he needed to focus on was getting this leshy somewhere safe. Which would be a lot easier if he was more knowledgeable on younger leshy and their habits. Clearly he could speak, but how much could he understand of human english at this age? He once again found himself cursing his stupid parents and their hunter lineage. He mentally put leshy on top of his list of priorities once he got back to the Scribrary. He could probably find some sort of journal about leshy and their aging. If he was lucky he might even find a first hand account from a leshy, which would be a lot more reliable than going off of what some old human dude could say about them. 

Rio didn’t recognize the first couple of names, but the third one was familiar. Nicole wasn’t an uncommon name, but was it possible the same woman that had saved Rio from that bauk in the woods knew this leshy? But the fourth name was even more familiar- and even a bit surprising. “Kaden?” Rio repeated, continuously surprised by yet another supernatural creature that trusted the hunter. Rio felt a twinge of pride. “I can get you to Kaden. Follow me.”

Walking slowly at first, Rio turned around constantly to make sure that the leshy was able to keep up behind him. He led the leshy back across the common, passing by sections of the campus on their way to his car. If he could just get the leshy there, they’d be home free and able to get to Kaden. Considering Rio still hadn’t run into him yet, this would be one hell of a reunion. As he passed by a sign, he paused, stopping dead in his tracks as he looked back at the name of the building that they had just passed. “Hold on.” Rio froze, a sinking feeling in his stomach forming as he stared at the name on the building. “This… isn’t right.” Rio spoke, not sure if he was talking to the leshy or just out loud to himself. But he couldn’t seem to find the right words, mostly because none of them made any sense. For his own sanity, he continued to talk out loud. “This building it’s- well it’s named wrong.” He looked down at the leshy again, wondering if any of this was being communicated to him or not. “They changed the name in 99 when they got a new donor. This hasn’t been the name of the building in over twenty years.” Rio explained himself further. Something was really, really wrong here.

“Kid, I’d get away from that thing if I were you.” A voice came from across The Common, breaking Rio from the trance he had fallen into staring at the building. He spun around, instinctively stepping in front of the leshy he was watching over. He knew that tone, had heard it most of his life. As the figure moved across the open field, slowly moving further into focus, Rio could see a small, dark gray object pulled from a pocket. “Oh crap.” Rio mumbled, taking a deep breath and balling his hands into an involuntary fist. Running into a hunter was the absolute last thing he needed right now. “Seriously. Get to class or wherever you’re going. I’ll take care of that.” Rio could see the man’s head angle towards the leshy and Rio slid further over to try to block his view. But once the hunter got close enough, the feeling of dread that had washed over Rio threatened to drown him completely. He was pretty sure he had completely lost it. Between the thirty year old building behind him and the hunter stalking towards him, Rio had to be having some sort of psychotic break. Because he had seen this hunter before. In photos around his home. In the aged stare that he used to get from the man’s operating theater in their basement. In the empty look in his eyes right before Rio plunged a knife into his chest. This wasn’t just a hunter. It was his dad.

So it seemed that Solomon wasn’t the only one being affected by time strangeness… this whole area had apparently slipped into a different decade. While such a meager shift made little difference to a creature as old as Solomon, it clearly made a lot of difference to the young man attempting to help him. Solomon stepped closer as Rio stared at the sign, worry lacing his wooden expression. He reached a hand out in an attempt to comfort but the gesture was cut short by an unwelcome voice. Solomon froze like a deer in headlights, peering past Rio’s legs to try and get a better look at the person that was approaching them, but the young man stepped into his line of sight. 

Even though he couldn’t see the gun, the man’s promise to ‘take care of that’ sounded less than friendly, and Solomon bristled with offense. He was afraid, too—of course he was afraid—but the anger was quicker, lashing out like a disturbed snake. Poking his head out from behind his protector’s waist, Solomon sneered at the stranger. 

“Go!” he shouted defiantly, little fists clenched at his sides. He was tired, and this inability to communicate was really starting to get on his nerves. “Leave!”

Rio felt sick to his stomach. What the actual hell was going on? Was this some sort of sick dream or fae illusion? Because this was Rio’s worst nightmare come to life. As weird as life in this town had become, he couldn’t actually be standing face to face against his father from the nineties, right? Even that was too far. All of this was just too far. But considering Rio wasn’t waking up, he had to do what he could to protect this leshy. On the off chance that this was reality. 

“You heard him. Leave.” Rio stated coldly, fists still clenched and praying this his anger sounded genuine. That James Quinn couldn’t hear the trembling in his voice or the way his whole body felt like it was shaking right now. Hidden behind that top layer of fear was a growing anger. That same primal rage that had led Rio to stabbing his father in the first place. As much as Rio would rather keep that part of him buried deep, he could dig it out if absolutely necessary.

“That thing is not a him. It’s a monster.” James Quinn spoke with venom, the same disgusted tone that Rio remembered from countless hunts he had been dragged on while he was a child. His father had always been the more calm and collected one, preferring to keep an even disposition to balance his wife’s vicious and excited energy. But no matter how even-keeled the man acted, a deep and animalistic hatred of all fae and supernatural creatures rested. In many ways, Rio’s father had been even more of a monster than his mother. He just chose to hide behind science as an excuse instead of facing that evil head on. “Now, I suggest you move on before you end up getting hurt too.” As the man’s shirt lifted, Rio could see the gun in his side holster, the sound of a click proof that James was pulling it free.

Years of training forced Rio to act before his brain was able to. He had never been much of a fighter. He had never had good enough reason to try. But between his forced training with his family to the help that Adam and Kaden had both tried to provide, he had spent his entire life learning how to do it. Putting it into practice was easier in theory than reality though. His form had been sloppy, stepping too far forward and stumbling into his grip on the man’s armed… well, arm. But what Rio did have going for him was the element of surprise. An unassuming disposition plus his own hunter strength. Eventually, Rio was able to grab onto the gun, his other hand holding onto his father’s wrist and then twisting both in opposite directions, ripping the gun from his father’s hand. Rio took a step back, pressing the button to drop the magazine before racking the slide to empty the last bullet from the gun. He ripped the slide from the gun, tossing the disassembled gun in two opposite directions. “Holy crap” Rio mumbled, amazed that that had actually worked, taking just a bit too long to celebrate the moment when a fist cut across his vision and directly into the side of his face. 

Stumbling onto the ground, Rio felt the entire world spin for a minute. It had been awhile since he had taken a punch. He felt himself being lifted up off of the ground and made a weak attempt at escaping from the man’s grasp, trying and failing to fight against the grip that the hunter had on him. His back was crushed against something, a crunching noise as pointed pieces stabbed into his back made Rio assume it was a tree. “I have no idea who you are, but stay the hell out of my way.” James warned before slamming the back of Rio’s head against the tree and letting him crumple to the ground.

Solomon’s peach-sized heart was thundering in his chest as he watched Rio rip the gun from the stranger’s hands and get punched in response. That anger that had so quickly arrived grew hotter, crawling up his spine and darkening the edges of his vision. He didn’t know how to fight, not really. Not like anything the two humans were doing, but… he had his magic, wild as it was. Puffing out a breath, Solomon focused his energy and pleaded with the nearby plants to help, waving his arms toward Rio’s attacker as if to beckon them in that direction. The tree he had the young man pressed against trembled once Rio had crumpled at its base, roots lengthening beneath the dirt and twisting around one another to thicken themselves before bursting from the earth. They sailed toward the warden as he stormed in Solomon’s direction, who began to sprint in a wide circle around their attacker to get back over to where Rio was. 

The tree roots snaked around the warden’s ankles in an attempt to trip him up, but when that did little more than slow him down, Solomon realized he’d have to take a more direct approach. With terror in his wide, golden eyes, the young leshy clasped his hands together in front of him and extended the length of his own two limbs, new, thick cords of fibrous plant material swirling over his fist to turn it into a sizeable sledgehammer. “Leave!”  he bellowed once more, his voice anything but intimidating. Swinging his arms up in a high loop, he aimed straight for the man as he brought them back down, leaping toward him at the same time.

When Rio’s vision finally returned, his head was pounding and he felt sick to his stomach. He hadn’t passed out, the pain had been too present. He felt the thrash, the roots and foliage beneath him digging into his skin as he slumped onto the ground. But his vision had gone dark and all of Rio’s senses escaped him. For a long moment there had been nothing but pitch black and a ringing in his ears. His father, or his father-to-be rather, had put all of his strength into that attack. It hadn’t occurred to Rio as a child that his father had ever held anything back during their training, but it was all too clear at this moment. If this encounter was going to be determined on strength alone, Rio and the leshy were fighting a losing battle.

But it was becoming clear that this wasn’t purely based on strength. Rio watched, seemingly helpless as roots from the ground started to peak up, coiling themselves around his father. The man swept them away haphazardly. He had probably fought leshy before. Killed leshy before. Until the leshy went on a full offensive, using his own grown limbs to swing at the man full force, taking his father off guard and connecting a hit. His father hadn’t expected that. He had written the leshy off as some weed to be extinguished and never expected a fight back. Just like he hadn’t expected Rio to know how to disarm him. The only way they were going to get away was if they surprised him. Rio tried to keep himself silent as he slowly fought against the pain and pushed himself onto his knees. The first step in an attempt to make it onto his feet despite his body pleading with him to stay put. Rio reached into his pocket, wrapping his fingers around the pocket knife that Athena had given him. It was made of silver, because of course it was, and the blade wasn’t big enough to do any major damage with just a few jabs. But it would have to do. Whether James Quinn knew it or not, Rio had a one up on him. 

Memories of fighting witches and hunters in the woods came spilling forth as Solomon’s makeshift hammer made contact with the man’s body, thumping loudly as it sent him toppling into the dew-covered grass. Memories of darker times in his life, things he’d done when he was much older than he was now, which was… confusing, to say the least. He couldn’t form a solid timeline in his head, not that this was the time to do so, but instead just got flashes of wildfire in his peripheral vision and the crunch of bones rising to meet his ears. The phantom feeling of the strangleweed that had cocooned his heart for so long constricted in his chest as he took another swing at the warden, letting loose his best war cry as tears pricked at his eyes. When had he become so violent? When had he changed so foundationally into an entirely different leshy? This was not his way. It was never meant to be his way.

Golden eyes flicked to the side to see Rio getting to his feet, and so the fae persisted in his assault. But, of course, his lack of training eventually caught up to him, and the man was able to gain the upper hand. Even as roots and vines still snaked around his feet and legs and tried to pull him down, his hand found the young leshy’s throat and lifted him into the air by the neck. Solomon’s battering-ram hands broke apart and shrank back to a proportionate size to clutch at the warden’s forearms, legs kicking violently at his chest. Even the hits that landed seemed to do little to deter the man, and once again, that fear took hold.

There were a lot of emotions running through Rio’s brain, the forefront of those being fear and rage. The fear was enough to make his hands shake and his whole body tremble as it tried to stop him from taking any steps forward. He had been in this situation before. More times than he could count or care to remember. His parents had dragged him along on hunts as a child, forcing himself and his sister to receive training real time. He had seen this exact scene play out. His parents cornering someone supernatural, his sister staring in wide eyed amazement while Rio watched in horror until he couldn’t take it anymore and hid his head in his arms. So many lives had been lost and Rio had done nothing. Those memories are what fueled the shame and rage in Rio that kept him moving. He focused on the leshy, struggling against his father’s grip. Rio had made his decision. There was no more time to be passive.

Slowly slipping the knife open, Rio closed the remaining distance between himself and the two struggling. The leshy was still fighting as much as he could, struggling his father and causing as much noise as he could. It worked perfectly as a distraction, and Rio crept behind the man and hesitated for only one more second before raising his knife and stabbing it into the back of his father’s dominant shoulder blade, the smell of blood was immediate as Rio quickly pulled the knife free from his father’s skin. James yelled out in pain, dropping the leshy and swinging around, but Rio was prepared. He stepped back, expecting the hook and then side swept when his father moved to kick out at him. Rio swooped down, running the blade across the back of his father’s heel, splitting his jeans and ankle open. The man followed up with another jab, from his uninjured arm, which Rio expected and blocked, wrapping his own arms around the man’s wrist and elbow and twisting, shifting himself behind his father. Rio had never been much of a fighter, but he had always been forced into the ring. He had been forced to fight against his sister endlessly, sparred against both of his parents. It had always been a losing battle, Rio rarely ever threw a punch. But he had observed. He had studied his family's technique and learned how to survive a fight long enough simply by dodging and deflecting. His father was strong and he was skilled, but after years of losing fights against him, the man was predictable. 

The moment he was dropped to the ground, everything was screaming at Solomon to run. Too many times had he stayed planted firmly in place, facing danger with a reckless fury that ended in death. He couldn’t do it again. He couldn’t bear any more death on his conscience, not when he’d been spared from the fate he’d crafted for himself with his misdeeds and given a second chance. He could not walk that path of darkness again, or he knew he would be truly lost.

Pushing himself upright, the leshy blinked away the blurriness in his vision to see Rio deftly handling the hunter—too deftly. He knew where this would lead, and he couldn’t stay. He couldn’t be a part of it. His cowardice took hold and urged him up to his feet, sending him scrambling away from the scene. He only had a vague sense of which direction was the one that he wanted, but that didn’t matter right now. All that mattered was getting away before the inevitable occurred, and the leshy was strapped with yet another sin that would drag him to his grave. The guilt of leaving Rio to fend for himself could not outweigh the shameless need to spare his own soul, and so Solomon ran.  

With a final twist, Rio threw the man onto the ground, bending down and pushing the weight of his knee against his father’s chest and holding his pocket knife against the man's throat. “I killed you once. Don’t think I won’t do it again” Rio threatened, his face beet red through Rio’s rage and the tears that were now streaming down his face. A confused expression crossed his father’s face, but as he tried to speak, Rio pressed the blade further into his throat, drawing blood. All he could think about was his twenty-first birthday. The relief that he had felt once he finally plunged the kitchen knife into his father’s chest. Rio had always feared turning into a monster like his parents, but how monstrous could it be to prevent someone else from taking lives? Every single fiber of his being screamed at him to finish the job. But who knew how this time travel stuff worked? If he killed his father now, would Rio have ever even been born? For once in his life, Rio had no interest in dying. 

Rio made his final choice then. “Stay down” Rio warned, slowly lifting himself off of the man and standing up. For the moment, James Quinn just laid there, an evil glare looking up at Rio. But Rio  knew his father too well to know that this peace wouldn’t last. With one more movement, Rio lifted his leg and kicked the man across the face, hard enough to knock the man without killing him. Hopefully. The scream anger in Rio slowly quieted down, and between that and the fighting, it had become almost silent in the Common. Rio bent over, palms braced against his knees to hold himself up and took a few breaths of relief. This was over. By some miracle, he had come out on top. The relief only lasted a minute before he remembered what he had been fighting for in the first place. But as he spun around and looked for the leshy he had decided to help, all he saw was an open field and uprooted foliage. “Crap.” Wherever the fae had run off to, he was back on his own. 

[faetedwill]

Put a Pin In It || Sloane / Cass / Ari / Rio / Jonas

TIMING: On Cass’s birthday (mid July)  LOCATION: The farm house  PARTIES: @faetedwill @stolensiren @3starsquinn @letsbenditlikebennett @moonrivermedium SUMMARY:  For Cass’s birthday, Sloane, Jonas, Rio, and Ari get together to celebrate their friend.  CONTENT WARNINGS: N/A 

Sloane wasn’t sure why she was so nervous about Cass’s birthday celebration. Maybe it was because she hadn’t been invited to any parties growing up, or maybe it was because she wanted to make a good and lasting impression. Whatever it was, it ended up with Sloane buying way too many cartons of cupcakes of varying flavors, as well as 5 slurpees. She hadn’t yet met Jonas, so she wasn’t sure what flavor he would prefer, so she hoped she’d gone in the right direction of blue raspberry. Who didn’t love blue raspberry? Very possibly Jonas, but she hoped that wasn’t the case. 

But it seemed alright. Slurpee in hand, Sloane sat across from Jonas, just next to Cass in one of the camping chairs that Ari had pulled out for the five of them. “Ari, whatever the hell you’re doing over there, it smells good.” She shot a look at Ari’s before finding the bright red straw of her slurpee and sucking down a small portion of the liquid. The threat of a brain freeze lingered, but she ignored it as she leaned back. She didn’t know too much about superheroes, so she opted for something on the easier side– Spider Gwen while Steve ran around with a cape red cape she had fashioned from a bed sheet. 

Admittedly, Ari may have gone overboard when it came to the food portion of the party. She was still coming out of the post demon possession slump and wanted this party to be fun for all of them, especially Cass who she knew had also been having a go of things as of late. White Crest had a habit of that, putting good people through bad shit, so this party was going to be a blast. She stood by the grill donning her admittedly cheesy Wolfsbane costume as Luna ran around saying hi to everyone in her Supergirl costume. Or as Ari preferred to call it, her Super Good Girl costume. 

Kebabs, burgers, hot dogs, and veggie burgers were all cooking on the grill while some sides were still inside for safe keeping. Ari didn’t know what bugs White Crest had flying around this time of year, but now wasn’t the time to find out, especially if they were those stinging bees that made everything all trippy. “We’ve got veggie burgers for you, regular burgers, hot dogs, chicken kebabs, corn on here. Got some other sides and stuff in the house. I think we have a ton of desserts too, even for the dogs.” 

“Then there’s some games and stuff for after we eat, too,” Ari said brightly, feeling a little over-excited to have most of her friends here. 

Jonas sat awkwardly in his chair, Blue was on his feet in her batgirl costume soaking up the attention he could offer with one free hand. He was using the other to hold up his slurpee and was taking sips from it from time to time. He liked blue raspberry and normally would have downed it by now but didn’t think a brain freeze would do his head any good. Jonas had gone the opposite direction from Ari and had brought way too many supplies to make sure there were enough plates and napkins and paper cups all superhero themed. He even brought little goodie bags filled with homemade cookies for humans and dogs to take home later. 

Jonas hadn’t dressed up, he thought Blue being in costume was good enough for the both of them. The dog was surprisingly alright with it, “Blue why don’t you-don’t you go greet the other guests?” His feet were starting to fall asleep. “Do you-do you want any help Ari?” He turned around in his seat hoping to have a reason to get up. The dog didn’t seem to agree at first but after all the shuffling from Jonas she finally got up and went to sit on someone else’s feet and beg for pets. 

The party was like nothing Cass had ever experienced before. It was certainly unlike anything anyone had ever done for her. It made her feel warm inside, put a grin on her face that nothing could erase. Her costume — a Silk costume she’d been putting together for Halloween — might have felt a little hot if not for the fans pumped up to full blast and the slushie cooling her gloved hands. She grinned as she took a sip, the bandana from the costume hanging around her neck. Leaning down, she scratched Blue behind the ears and flashed Jonas a small smile.

“It really does smell amazing,” she said in Ari’s direction, leg bouncing where she sat. “Are you sure you don’t mind doing the cooking? I can get up to help you if you want.” That unquenchable desire to make herself useful was on full display, had seen her hovering near Ari for the first few minutes of the party until she was led over to one of the chairs. At the mention of games, she perked up even further. “What kind? I love party games.” She turned to Sloane, flashing her a grin. “I bet you could pin so many tails on so many donkeys.” 

Social gatherings had never been something Orion excelled at. He had an awkward enough time carrying a conversation with one person. Around multiple he tended to fade into the background and try to disappear entirely. But despite not knowing the person they were celebrating, Ari had made sure that Rio got the invite and the last thing he wanted to do was ruin the party. So he threw together a makeshift Wiccan outfit which mostly consisted of a long sleeve black shirt and black pants with a red cape. He was currently scratching at his head under the headband he had bought to complete the look, an accessory he wasn’t used to wearing that was causing his forehead to sweat and his brown hair to stick to his skin. 

“I’ve offered to help her multiple times.” Rio shrugged, taking a long sip from the slurpee that Sloane had brought along. She had been a familiar face - both of them having grown up in town. But they had never been friends. “She didn’t accept it. Though to be fair- I’m not really known for my cooking skills.” He was sure Ari had heard all about how awful his diet was from Athena when the two lived together. His sister had constantly berated him and tried to get him to eat healthier. “I suck at party games” Rio admitted, forcing himself to perk back up immediately, “But I’m in.”

Sloane felt mildly guilty for not having offered Ari some help like both Jonas and Cass, but as Rio spoke, she knew that he had the right idea — even if they offered, Ari would shoo them away. Too many hands in the kitchen, or something. Her dad used that expression more times than she could count, and most of the time, she was forced to listen to him. She’d at the very least be on clean-up duty. “I think our way of helping might be eating all of the food that way she doesn’t have leftovers for like, days.” 

At Cass’s comment about pin the tail on the donkey, Sloane snorted. “That’s like, oddly specific.” The banshee leaned forward in her chair and reached to pat Blue on the side, scratching just at her hip. She began to kick her leg out, just as Steve usually did when she hit the right spot. “She might be in competition with Steve for who’s cuter, Jonas.” Sloane flashed him a smile before turning her attention to her own dog who had taken one of Luna’s toys and was currently running around with it. “Party games will be fun either way, even if we’re not good at them.” She wasn’t, or at least, she didn’t know if she was. She hadn’t ever had the opportunity to take part, other than the ones that went on in the classroom at the end of each year. 

For the most part, Ari liked taking charge in the kitchen and having that arena to herself. Aside from the fact she was easily distracted, she always had a system going inside her head that she didn’t like to have disrupted. Celeste, Athena, and Kaden were the only people she’d really felt comfortable sharing the kitchen with. They had a cadence and worked well together without getting in the other’s way. She did appreciate the offer for help though. The thought always counted. “I’ve got it covered,” she said with a smile, “I can be a little controlling in the kitchen… or well, grill I guess currently.” 

Ari couldn’t help but laugh at Rio and Sloane’s very accurate predictions about her. “Yeah,” she laughed, “They were spot on with that one. Eating all the food is helping.” She opened the top to give the burgers a final flip and started removing the hot dogs and corn. She didn’t go as overboard in the game department, but they had a selection. “Uh, cornhole I think it’s called? And Cards Against Humanity and yes, pin the tail on the donkey. I’ve never played it so felt like a good time to start,” she answered with a grin.

Jonas looked over at Sloane and smiled, “Steve is-is very cute.” He gave up on the idea of helping Ari and instead played with the straw in his cup. “I wouldn’t mind playing some-some games.” It would give his brain something to do, he was used to going to bars and parties but never very good at just mingling. Talking was all well and good but actively doing something while talking was even better. It would probably make everyone else feel more at ease too. 

“How about we start with -start with pin the tail. I want to see if Sloane is actually-actually great at it.” Jonas didn’t know Sloane so he was curious as to why Cass would say she seemed like she’d be able to pin so many donkey tails. “Though we should do it -do it where the dogs are kept out of the way.” Blue was needy and he didn’t want her to accidentally trip someone while they were holding a tail or end up in the way. She was a big dog after all. 

It was hardly a surprise that Ari was refusing help, though Cass still wished she could get her to accept some. But the werewolf seemed happy to do it, and it was enough to make Cass relax. “I can, like, only make pasta, to be honest,” she admitted with a sheepish shrug. She was working on perfecting other recipes, but it was the kind of thing that would take time. And it probably wouldn’t be great if the food at the party was all burned. She wanted everyone to have fun, not to have to eat burned burgers. “But eating I’m pretty good at. Like, pretty much a pro.” 

Jonas’s suggestion was a good one, and Cass nodded along as he spoke. “I just have, like, a gut feeling. Like, you just have pin the tail on the donkey vibes. Corn hole is gonna be my game, though. I’m totally gonna kick all your asses.” Really, she didn’t care who won and who lost; she was just happy to be here. Happy to have friends who’d come together to celebrate her birthday for… what was probably the first time in twenty-three years. 

Orion found himself smiling as the group talked about which game to play. Though he didn’t know most of these people, he knew if Ari trusted them that he could relax around them as well. Sloane and Cass both seemed more social and at ease in the group setting, similar to how Ari was. Which left Jonas and Rio to be the more reserved ones. He wasn’t sure whether he felt more or less comfortable around Jonas after the guy had quite literally seen Rio at his most vulnerable. But there was a certain connection there knowing they both suffered from panic attacks. That he hadn’t been judging Rio for it. “I’m with Cass. Eating is a great skill of mine. All the work before hand? Not winning any awards there.” He hadn’t been back in town long, but as long as he had been crashing with Ari he didn’t think she had asked for his help cooking once. Clearly, Athena had told her about his lack of skill.

“I’d like to see this tail pinning skill too. I think you’re going to nail it.” Rio offered Sloane a thumbs up. He wasn’t sure this was a skill someone could be naturally good at, but he was willing to play along. For the vibes and all. “What’s corn hole again? That one with the bean bags? And like the hole that you throw it at?” Jesus, his introvert was showing. “I’m so sorry for whoever’s team I end up on in advance. Whatever happens… just know I’m trying my best.”

Sloane leaned forward in her chair, scooting forward enough so that the back legs were lifted off of the ground. She rocked back a bit to tap them against the floor. “I’m going to either prove, or destroy the expectations you have.” She beamed at Cass before she got to her feet. Slurpee still in hand, Sloane took a long sip, wincing slightly at the feeling at the back of her throat, just beyond her tonsils. “Eating is easy, it’s the cooking part is hard. I mean, unless you’re a part of one of those eating contests or something.” 

The banshee nodded thoughtfully at Cass’s declaration that she’d be good at corn hole. She hadn’t ever played that one. “Not sure, but why the hell don’t they call it something else? What’s the purpose of corn?” Sloane whistled for Steve who came running around the corner, Luna’s toy still in his mouth. She leaned forward as he knocked against her leg, tail beating quickly in the air. “I second Jonas though, I think Steve might try to take the bean bag out of the air, it’ll make you lose. He’ll be the reigning champion, Cass.” Sloane watched as Steve trotted away to find somebody else to gain attention from and then she looked at Rio as he offered his condolences for his less-than stellar gameplay. “There’s an odd number of us, we can be on a team. You’ll need me for the pin-the-tail.” 

“I don’t mind - I don’t mind just being a judge and watching the dogs.” Jonas was more than comfortable just watching. Plus if someone kept an eye on the dogs he’d feel better about it. He didn’t want them running around on their own while everyone was playing and he thought Blue would appreciate it if she could sit by him. 

“They used to- used to fill the bags with corn.” Jonas explained, though he wasn’t sure the others were looking for an explanation really still he had it and thought he might as well offer it. He turned towards Rio and offered a smile, “I’m sure you’ll do just- do just fine, besides the point is to - is to have fun.” He tried to reassure the other man though he did know that some people could get competitive and was hoping it wouldn’t get to that. But he stood and took a few more sips of his slurpee before moving past his chair to round up the pups. 

“You always surpass my expectations,” Cass replied with a grin, and it was true. Everyone here did, even Rio, who she’d only just met. She’d never expected this kind of companionship from any of them, because she didn’t expect it from anyone at all. Cass had been alone most of her life; moments like this reminded her that that wasn’t the case anymore. It was a good feeling. “You should only sit out if you want to,” she told Jonas, wanting to ensure that he was having a good time, too. “We can have one team with three people! If Rio’s as bad at is as he says he’ll be, maybe we’ll give him the advantage.” She flashed Rio a quick grin as she said it.

She blinked at the explanation behind the game’s name, intrigued. “What are they filled with now? And why did they stop filling them with corn? I’ve got so many questions.” Jonas was right, though; the point of all the games was only to have a good time. Cass doubted anyone there was entirely concerned with winning. 

“I agree with Cass. If you want to play, we’d love to have you on our team.” Sloane pointed from herself to Rio. “I’m speaking for him, by the way.” She wasn’t sure if that was a great idea considering she didn’t know him very well at all, but still. “Hey, who says Rio will make us lose. Maybe it will be me. But Jonas? Definitely going to be a champion.” Sloane grabbed a chip from one of the opened bags and popped it into her mouth. 

At Jonas’s explanation, Sloane stopped mid-chew. “Wait, really?” She blinked at him. “So it totally lost its meaning then.” Like a lot of things, but– “that’s cool, appreciate the explanation!” She smiled at Jonas to really drive in the point that she was grateful he took the time to teach her something, even if it’d been a joke. Now she could use that tidbit of information if she ever needed to. 

  Ari smiled as she brought food over to the table they’d set up outside. If it was pin the tail on the donkey skeleton, she was pretty sure Sloane could figure it out based on the bones alone. Maybe that translated to a poster of Jack the donkey. She’d fly with it. “You know, I’m gonna believe you’re a natural at the donkey game. It’d be the most random hidden talent ever and I’m here for it.” 

She took a seat with her friends and appreciated how normal this all was. Just a group of friends together celebrating a birthday on a nice summer day. Most days, Ari found herself wondering why she stayed here when it brought so much hurt, but sitting here, it was easy to see why. Moments just like this one. She shot Cass a smirk and so exclaimed, “We’ll have to be on separate teams to keep things fair because we already know I’m good at corn hole.” She nudged her shoulder to Rio’s. “I’ll take Rio. I can make enough shots for the both of us.” 

“Oh I actually know this!” Rio chimed in excitedly at Cass’s question. If there was anything that was going to help break him out of his shell it was random historical facts. “Since the 70’s normal beanbags have been filled with these beads called EPS beads. It’s like a cheap plastic material.” Rio tried to explain. Admittedly, he knew more about the name of the material than he did about what EPS actually stood for, “Don’t ask me how I know that. It was a weird rabbit hole involving Hacky sack. As for why they use it, whoo knows. Corn kernels go bad eventually and can get moldy if wet so maybe longevity? But I didn’t even know they used to use real corn kernels, so thanks for the trivia, Jonas.” Rio smiled in his direction. Jonas wouldn’t know, but random pieces of information were like gold to Rio. He lived for learning stuff like that. 

Blue was making her rounds and Rio was happy to finally kneel down and scratch her behind the ears to as he tried to keep his attention towards the group. “I’m happy wherever you put me.” Surprisingly, he meant it too. The anxiety he had felt for being around people that weren’t just Ari had slowly melted away. “I’m mostly just excited to eat Ari’s food.”

“If we’re sure about the teams then I don’t-I don’t mind it.” Jonas was fine sitting it out, but he was glad to play if the others wanted him too. How long had it been since he actually played a party game? Maybe Alex’s last birthday? At least not since he came to White Crest. But here he was surrounded by wonderful people at a party, really he was starting to feel more at home in the town because of the people he kept running into. “I am excited to get a chance to- chance to eat too.” 

Jonas hadn’t gotten the chance to eat Ari’s cooking before, so far the two had only had take out and restaurant food while in each others company so far. “So Ari is the one to - one to beat in cornhole and Sloane in - in pin the tail.” 

Cass grinned as Ari brought the food over, wasting little time in grabbing a burger for her plate. “It definitely wouldn’t be fair if we were on the same team,” she agreed, though she’d never actually played cornhole before to know if it was true. “We’d totally destroy the competition.” She found that she didn’t really mind what team she ended up on; everyone here would make the game fun, regardless of how they were divided. 

She listened with interest as Rio launched into an explanation regarding the makeup of beanbags, nodding along as he spoke. “I guess it would make sense to use something that won’t get moldy and gross. Maybe it’s cheaper, too?” Things usually came down to the bottom line where companies were concerned, she’d learned. Between Jonas and Rio, Cass certainly knew a lot more about beanbags now than she had before, and she flashed the two of them a bright grin in thanks. “Food is pretty exciting. And, hey, the quicker we eat it, the quicker we can see if we’re right about our party game predictions!”

“They should have called it Mold Hole if that were the case, then.” Sloane squinted, expression fixing into something disgusted. “Wait, never mind.” Sloane followed Ari back over to the table and took a seat, wasting no time in grabbing one of the veggie burgers that Ari had prepared especially for her. Maybe others, too, but she couldn’t be sure about their diets. It wasn’t like it mattered, did it? If Ari trusted them all to be here, then maybe Sloane should, too. “I hope that if I ever get thrown to the wolves–” She cleared her throat, trying not to make eye contact with Ari about her joke, “that is trivia, it’s about bean bags.” 

Now Sloane had to be good at pin the tail. If she wasn’t, she’d be ruining just about every expectation that the group had. With a smile, she took a bite out of her burger and wiped her hand against her mouth before she pointed at Rio with her pinky finger. “I might need to take you out for some trivia.” She glanced over to Jonas. “You, too. You guys would win us the big bucks.” The banshee put her burger back down, only finishing her sentence once she was done with her bite. “Not that that’s all you’re good for.” Her gaze cut over to Ari, then to Cass. “This is like, really good. Cass, she really pulled out all the stops for you on your…” it occurred to her then that she didn’t know how old her friend was. “Birthday.” 

Once Ari was certain everyone had gotten some of what they wanted on their plates, she filled her own with kebabs and one of the corn cobs. She listened to the corn hole fun facts somewhat intrigued. That explained the original name, but Rio was right, rotten corn probably didn’t smell great. “Good thing they changed it then, Could definitely do without the stale or moldy corn smell.” 

While trivia was far from something Ari was good at, she had the feeling Rio and Jonas on a team could kick some major butt. “You might be onto something there,” she laughed, “I’m only good at the sports part of trivia and even then it’s like… soccer. Or repair stuff! Actually between all of us we should cover most of the categories.” 

There was a proud grin on her face as people mentioned the food was really good. Ari always enjoyed feeding people and it was even better when they liked the food. “Had to,” she joked, “You only turn 23 once… probably”

“I would love a trivia night” Rio interjected immediately. He wasn’t convinced that he could yell out answers in a crowded bar, but he was pretty confident that half of this group would if he mumbled it. “Next birthday party should definitely be that.” He hesitated at suggesting it for his own birthday. That seemed lame. Especially when Ari was the only one here that he could legitimately count as a friend before today. He at least hoped they all considered him a friend now. “Yeah, I agree. I suck at sport stuff.  We can all balance each other out.” 

Rio didn’t hesitate in stuffing his mouth with food as the others ate too. He loved Ari’s cooking. It was definitely the best meals he had in the last year or so since he left town. It was probably the best cooking since he lived with Winston and Ricky. “This is amazing, Ari. No surprise of course.” He must have thanked and complimented her a million times since running into her at The Common. But in his defense, he had a year of time to make up for. “After this we gotta put this pin the tail theory to the test.”

“Trivia night would be delightful.” Jonas was great at trivia, as long as it didn’t pertain to movies and sports but he was sure the others had that covered. He grabbed some food from the table and took a seat, Blue moved under it to catch anything he might drop. “You can’t have any.” He mumbled at her before turning his attention back to the group. 

“The food really is - really is great Ari.” Jonas offered a smile before turning to Cass, “Happy Birthday. Oh that reminds me,” He pulled out his phone and got up coming over to Cass, “I took pictures of Zan and Jayna in little - little capes.” All the smoke and noise wouldn’t have been good for the birds so they got to stay home but Jonas still wanted them to be included somehow given they were Cass’. He pulled up the pictures and handed the phone to Cass. “I wouldn’t mind - wouldn’t mind pin the tail after this.” 

“Mold Hole!” Cass repeated with an undignified snort, the sound turning into a laugh rather quickly. She felt light and good and free in a way she very rarely did here. Good company did wonders for a person. “We’d make a kickass trivia team!” She agreed with a grin. “If there are any questions about comic books, I’m your girl. Even the stupid, obscure stuff like Hellcow.” Between all of them, they’d probably have at least one expert in most of the trivia categories. 

Flashing Ari a bright grin, Cass nodded. “Hey, you never know in White Crest, right? Twenty-three might repeat!” She took a bite of the burger, humming contentedly. “This really is, like, the best burger I’ve ever had. I think I want you to cook all my meals forever now.” Leaning forward as Jonas brought over the phone, she cooed at the photos. “Oh my god, they’re so cute! Look at Zan’s little smile!” She sighed, sending the photos to herself so she could have them on her phone before handing Jonas’s back to him. “Yeah, for sure!”

Sloane was happy that her suggestion of going out for trivia seemed to catch their attention. She liked being around people she enjoyed the company of, and even though she only really knew Cass and Ari, Jonas and Rio were shaping up to be good company. When Ari clarified how old Cass was, Sloane nodded. That made sense. At Cass’s words, Sloane snorted. “Don’t say that. It might.” The reality of where they lived stayed with them every step of the way, even in their offhanded jokes. 

The banshee watched over her burger as Jonas got up to show Cass something on his phone, silently reminding herself to mind her business. If it was meant to be shared, it would be. It wasn’t like she had to be included in everything. Sloane swayed in her seat slightly as she finished off another bite of her burger. It had shocked her the first time she had Ari’s cooking. There were some key differences in the way Ari and her dad both grilled, but she had already made the joke to her dad that he might have some competition, to which he brushed off with laughter and a look that said I’d like to see her try. “Pin the tail sounds great.” After a moment, Sloane set her burger down. “Who’s Zan? Is that another dog?” 

“Hm? Oh no Zand and Jayna are um well budgies.” Jonas carefully shuffled over to Sloane and offered her his phone. “They’re rather - rather fond of Cass.” The two budgies were wearing little capes in the photos though Jayna seemed more intent on taking it off than Zan. “Hellcow? What’s Hellcow?” Jonas didn’t know much about comics but he knew there was one where a monkey had a gun, so he supposed something called Hellcow was within the realm of possibility. 

Jonas wasn’t really surprised at Cass’ age given that he had to see all her paperwork before hiring her. “Mm you shouldn’t jinx it. It might -might actually happen.” If Jonas had learned one thing from coming to White Crest, it was that anything was possible. The year repeating? Would be expected at this point. 

Rio immediately turned to Cass when she mentioned Hellcow. “Holy crap I completely forgot hellcow existed.” Jonas seemed curious too, asking about it afterwards. “I’m definitely not an expert on it. But it’s this pretty obscure Marvel comic. Pretty sure it’s about a vampire cow. I’m sure Cass knows more.” He didn’t know many comic book fans, so knowing that Cass considered herself an expert only made him like her more. He had mostly fallen behind in his comic books. He used to sneak away to Tower Comics and spend the entire day reading comics, but once he started with the Scribrary he had lost of free time to read that wasn’t ancient text or old Scribe journals. “We need to talk comic books more later, Cass.”

If it wasn’t something that could actually happen, Rio might find the year repeating joke hilarious. But as things were going now, it seemed like an all too possible outcome. The idea was enough to make Rio nauseous, but he decided to ignore it entirely and continue stuffing his face with Ari’s food. Totally worth the upcoming stomach ache. “I think it’s time to show us how pin the tail is done, Sloane.”

“There are worse years to repeat,” Cass said, a hint of fondness to her tone. “I’ve got a feeling 23 is going to be a really good one.” How could it not be, when she was kicking it off surrounded by friends with the promise of trivia and pin the tail on the donkey in her immediate future? This was the kind of thing she’d always wanted, but never imagined she might actually have. And she was glad it was real. Turning to Rio, she grinned. “A vampire cow with a serious grudge against Dracula,” she confirmed. “We’re definitely going to talk comics later!” She was ecstatic at the concept of having someone to talk comics with, really; Cass could go on for hours about her favorite books, and if Rio knew about Hellcow, he was probably pretty well-versed, too.

Finishing up her burger, she grinned and clapped her hands together. “But for right now, it’s definitely time for Sloane to school us all on pin the tail!” She was a little delighted that her completely out of left field claim that Sloane would be good at the game had stuck; it would make things funnier either way. Standing, she held a hand out to Sloane with an excited bounce. “C’mon!”

They were just birds. Well, not just birds. They were very cute birds. Sloane felt dumb for feeling left out as she looked at Jonas’s phone, a smile breaking over her features as she pointed to the one on the left. “They’re very cute. I’d love to meet them one day.” She looked up at Jonas, smile still intact. 

As both Rio and Jonas began to discuss Hellcow, Sloane leaned back, picking up her drink to take a sip of it. The slurpee had already begun to melt, so there was less ice than there was liquid and it tasted watered down. She was disappointed in the gas station for going easy on the syrup in their latest batch. “A vampire cow? Seriously?” Sloane set her drink down and shook her head with a snort. “That sounds… super obscure. Maybe that’s what I should’ve dressed Steve up as. Cass, you should have told me.” She shot a look over the table at her friend seeming far more disappointed than she actually was. 

At Rio’s suggestion that they start pin the tail, Sloane slapped the top of the table enthusiastically, ignoring the dull pain that began to splinter through her fingers. “Let’s do it!” She wasted no time in untangling herself from where she sat, folding up the paper plate and tossing it into the neighboring bin. Sloane took Cass’s hand with ease and allowed herself to be pulled toward the door that had the donkey vinyl taped to it. “I need to be spun, right?” 

[nicsalazar]

A bauk in the park || Rio & Nicole

TIMING: Current LOCATION: The woods PARTIES:  @3starsquinn  &  @nicsalazar SUMMARY: Nicole rescues Rio from a bauk. CONTENT WARNING: None

Rio should have expected this from White Crest. He had barely been back in town for a week before something had gone horribly wrong. Usually Rio at least had the knowledge and foresight to know what exactly was trying to kill him. This time though, it had gotten him before Rio had even seen or heard what was coming - which was scary enough in itself. One moment he had been alone in the woods and the next he was waking up in some damp, musty cave in the pitch black. 

The Hunter senses kicked in quickly. Rio blinked his hunter senses into focus and glanced around, at first seeing nothing besides the walls of the cave surrounding him, but in the corner he spotted a pile of something white. Oh crap. Were those bones? This was not good at all. He quickly tried to think of anything he might remember before being knocked unconscious, or anything that may explain how he had woken up in this cave. But he had nothing. Just that something far stronger than him had knocked him out, and an unknown amount of time later he woke up in this cave, head pounding and soaking wet. The only other sign of life came to Rio as his hearing slowly took over his other senses. Even with his night sight, Rio couldn’t see something, but he was becoming uncomfortably aware that he wasn’t alone. There was a crunching sound, no- a chewing sound somewhere in this cave. He really needed to get out of here.

It was, perhaps, too late for Nicole to still be wandering about in the woods. It had been a relatively peaceful walk, the kind she seldom enjoyed anymore. So checking for the time had been the last thing on her mind, allowing herself to wander until her legs couldn’t go anymore. It was dark, yes, but it had been worth it. Besides, she made sure to keep her senses alert to her surroundings.

Which is how she initially spotted the other hiker, too far in the distance to be of any danger. She had already forgotten about him, when the strangled sounds of the man being captured reached her ears. And his captor was– Nicole’s body tensed, identifying the growl of a bear. Her initial instinct was to run and help, and she was glad that she didn’t obey it without consideration. She couldn’t just go chase a bear away, could she?  Then again, could she let a man become a meal right in front of her?

Her body didn’t seem to care about her internal conflict, legs already in motion. Nicole sped up her pace, shortening the distance. Trying to think of a diversion tactic in the meantime. Get it to turn its attention towards her, maybe, and leave the human alone. If she ran the way her supernatural abilities allowed, then she could outrun the beast. The bear did a great job disguising itself in the shadows though, so much that Nicole wondered if it was a bear at all or some sort of shapeshifting spirit. The creature didn’t seem to be devouring its prey, in fact the man had been knocked unconscious and he was being dragged somewhere else. Odd. And so, she found herself stalking the pair all the way to the bear’s den.

Steps lighter not to draw attention yet, Nicole entered the cave, immersing herself in darkness. But she didn’t have to, she realized, stomach fluttering with nerves. It had never been so easy before, all it took was to blink and then the cave revealed itself to her, amber pupils glowing amidst the dark. She spotted the man on the ground, and she approached quickly, forgetting about the predator for a second. “Gotta go, quick” but a growl came from deep within the cave, and the hair on the back of her neck stood on end. So there it was. 

All Nicole knew a second later, was that a heavy shadow figure was trying to bring her down.

There were footsteps coming, something that should have concerned Rio deeply if he wasn’t sure they were human. Or at the very least, bipedal. This was confirmed when from a corner of the cave, a woman ran up to him. Gotta go, quick. The woman whispered next to him, and Rio couldn’t argue that. He pushed up with his arms, trying to ignore the pinch of pain that immediately shot through his leg. But he didn’t even have time to focus on the pain before he heard something else. Something much worse than the crunching noise from before, and it was a lot closer too. 

And then it was just… there. Rio had no other way to describe it. One moment the cave was empty aside from himself and the woman who had come in to rescue him and the next there was a creature growling and leaping on top of her. It seemed to be some sort of bear, so dark that even his vision could barely pick out its features, and the only way that Rio could describe it was that it had crawled out of pitch blackness. It was on the woman in an instant, and Rio only had a few moments to think. He rolled away, pushing back onto his feet and digging into his pocket for his phone. If this thing was a shadow it couldn’t like light, right? 

Just as quickly as it had appeared, it vanished. Once Rio focused the phone light on it, the thing groaned in protest and then fell away from the light, into a corner of darkness before disappearing entirely. A million thoughts were running through Rio’s brain, but all of them involved mentally scrolling through his database to try to figure out what this thing was. Some sort of Mara? The disappearing act sure seemed like an illusion of some sort. He supposed at the moment it didn’t really matter. All that mattered was that it was gone for the moment, and now was their time to escape. “Hey. I owe you so many thank you’s. But right now we should probably get out.” He spoke to the woman, holding out a hand to offer her help.

Jaguar vision was soon lost as Nicole tried to defend herself against the beast. She was no match for its immense physical strength. Her lungs begged for air, clouding her thoughts as the enormous weight crushed her slowly. Still, she stubbornly pushed against it, muscles shaking from the exertion. She only needed enough time for the man to get on his feet and give her a hand. Which thankfully, he did. The beast's muzzle hovered just above her head when something lit up the cave, blinding the bear in the process. 

While scrambling to escape from the source of light, it cried out in pain, tripping backwards. Nicole didn’t process what was happening, only pulled her own phone to copy the guy’s actions. The bear was not the most graceful as he escaped from the light. It only confused her further. What the fuck was that beast supposed to be? And why was it hurt by the brightness? 

“Yes. Yeah–” Nicole replied without thought, still recovering from the crushing weight of the beast, mouth agape as she followed the shadows on the wall. Would it come back? Bring reinforcements, maybe? All it mattered was to escape while they could, a voice in the back of her mind chimed in. So she took his hand and got to her feet, patting the boy on the back. “Go,” she nodded ahead (or backwards? She wasn’t sure), shaking her phone around to illuminate the ground, in hopes of finding traces of her own footsteps. “That way, yeah” She remained in her spot for a moment, catching her breath, and stupidly hoping to get another look at the creature. She wished to understand. But it seemed the light coming from their phones was enough to deter the bear from reemerging. 

Nicole walked backwards – to avoid an ambush – until she caught up with the young man. A few minutes in silence, the pair found the entrance. And she could finally feel her throat again. “I... saw you get dragged. The fuck were you thinking?” It was an incredibly bold question to ask, considering she had dared and stalked him right to that same cave. But well, she felt entitled to being a hypocrite. She hadn't pulled off the most heroic rescue, but at least she made sure the bear didn't get him. It had to count for something. Recalling where he had parked his car, she guided them east, following the trail that would lead them to it. Looking up and down at him, she examined him. “Broke anything?” 

They were both lucky that the woman seemed to pay attention on her way in the cave. Rio couldn’t even remember being dragged here, let alone try to find a way out. The way that his heart was exploding in his chest, he wasn’t even sure he would be able to focus his senses to try to find his way back outside. 

The woman was smart too, using her own phone for light and facing the opposite direction as Rio. It kept both sides of their path lit and assumedly kept that bear-like creature from reappearing. The two stayed almost completely silent, the only sound coming from her periodic directions telling Rio where to turn and which path to follow. Without her, Rio wasn’t sure he would have been able to make it out at all. Or at least make it out before whatever that thing was found him again. He wasn’t sure they were safe now. They both walked on eggshells waiting for the shoe to drop and for it to attack again. If before had been any indication, the bear could come from literally anywhere.

Rio waited until they found the exit and were outside the cave before he finally let out a sigh of relief. He hunched over, hands on his knees as he sucked in a few breaths that he felt like he had been holding for the last twenty minutes. “Holy crap” Rio muttered, mind still reeling. He hated not knowing something. Especially when that something had tried to kill him.

Apparently, the woman took the opportunity to talk too. “I- I don’t know” Rio didn’t know how to answer that. He didn’t know how to tell her that he had been trying to walk to an old abandoned building in the woods that was invisible to the naked eye and protected by magic. That sounded even crazier than trying to logically explain what that supernatural bear in that cave was. “I was taking a walk and… I never even heard something coming.” That might have been the most baffling thing of all. “Are you okay? Did you seriously follow me into a cave because you saw me getting dragged?” Rio asked, incredulous but also amazed, “Wow. That’s brave.”

Anything broken? The question reminded him of the pain in his leg. In the darkness, Rio could tell that his jeans had been torn and his leg was bleeding, but he couldn’t tell how badly since the blood on his jeans was mixed with mud and water from the cave. “No. I’m fine. Whatever it is, it'll heal.” 

A smile pulled at her lips at his expression of relief. A reluctant one. Nicole didn’t want him thinking what he did was in any way responsible. But she supposed escaping some strange shadow creature twice their size was some achievement. So she gave him a second before patting him on the back again, urging him to keep his celebration short.

As soon as they were out of the cave, Nicole scanned their surroundings, ears attuned for any strange shuffling. She wasn’t sure it’d help. The beast appeared to conceal itself in the shadows, much quieter than any bear she’d met. But hopefully, they’d avoid a second encounter. She listened as he explained himself, confirming what she had gathered until then: It was a sneaky creature for its size. More and more likely a supernatural case. She felt less inclined to grill him just because of that. But before she could further question him, he spoke first.

Nicole didn’t want to acknowledge how hot her cheeks suddenly felt. “It’s not…It’s– It’s not brave” someone who repeatedly told herself not to play hero wasn’t brave, right? “It was… reckless” she admitted, her steps shifting west. “But, I know the woods” probably not as well as Victoria thought she did, down to every sketchy patch of grass, but well enough her instincts had seldom led her askew. “And…I thought it was an actual bear— not— not that. Got some bear spray I thought could help” not really, not when she barely got a chance to reach for her backpack before the beast ambushed her.

None of that mattered, what mattered was reaffirming she wasn’t brave. Just stupid. Once Nicole got confirmation he was physically fine, tension left her body. “Good job— with the…” her hands shook her phone again, before putting back in her pocket, “by the way. Quick thinking. It….It looked scared, didn’t it? Never— don’t think I’ve seen one like that before”.

It was hard to focus on the sounds of the forest when Rio was still breathing so heavily. The pounding of his heart overtook the rustling of leaves. But as he started to level out he began to think of the training he had done with Kaden before leaving town. How appalled he had originally been that Rio was so bad at honing his senses. Admittedly, he still wasn’t great. But the difference was almost night and day because of him. But as he started listening for something out of the ordinary, he couldn’t pick any strange sounds out. He didn’t count them completely safe though. If the monster could mask his presence in the shadows who was to say it couldn’t find a way to mute itself too?

“I don’t know. Sometimes those two are like, interchangeable.” Rio suggested, though it came out as more of a question than a statement. He shrugged, indicating that he didn’t actually know the right answer. “I mean- I definitely think you could be one or the other. But that’s like way too deep of a conversation for someone who just got kidnapped by a…” Rio paused as he considered the end of that sentence, “bear? I guess?”

Then she was complimenting him, which considering the situation Rio certainly didn’t deserve. He wasn’t sure he could have made it out of that cave without her. Not before it found him. “Oh. Well, thanks. It was a theory more than anything else. We just got lucky. It definitely didn’t like the light.” That sat with him for a while, he was already thinking of getting into the Scribary and trying to find a book mentioning the creature. Aside from shadow bear that didn’t like light. In a library full of books, it wasn’t much to go off of. “But I mean that thing was so…” Rio tried to find the right word before abandoning the attempt immediately, “cool, right?” He said, before immediately shaking the thought away and turning towards the woman. “I mean like, objectively it was terrifying. And I’ve always been afraid of… well, just about everything honestly. I was totally petrified. But that thing just melted away from the light. It wasn’t just hiding, it was gone. That’s insane. Like insanely cool.” Considering it had probably intended on killing them, he probably shouldn’t be fangirling over the thing right now. But he honestly couldn’t help himself.

“By the way, I uh-” Rio paused again. The constant hesitation was his small attempt at second guessing his words before saying them. It only worked like thirty percent of the time. “I appreciate your help.” He tried to avoid thanking people if possible. The thought of the promise he owed Lydia still haunted his dreams. “My name’s Rio.” 

Rio wasn’t entirely wrong, and Nicole hated having to confront her own hypocrisy. Had someone else done what she did, she’d be the first to call it brave. And sure, she would have questioned their common sense right after, but the fact remained true. “Guess you’re not… off” she gave in, face still flushed. “Gotta be a little both if you wanna survive this town, no?” was she brave? That seemed so– Fearful people couldn’t be brave. “Oh. Definitely a bear…but not… the normal kind” that’s as far as she wanted to ponder. She wasn’t sure how much he knew or how dangerous he could be.

It became clear as they navigated the forest, that Rio was one of those people who rambled endlessly when they were nervous. Nicole wasn’t uncomfortable with but… if he was nervous and she was nervous, then who would be leading the conversation? She continued strolling in silence, because having to process all of words coming from his mouth required a lot of energy. Cool wasn’t the first word that popped into her head in relation to the beast, but she appreciated how honest he was. 

“Me too— the afraid part. Not the… not the cool part” Nicole sort of understood what he was trying to say, though. That curiosity had gotten her in trouble in the past as well. It almost did just now, as she followed a mysterious creature into its den. She did want to know what that thing was. As a park ranger, having information about special wildlife could make the difference between life and death. She tried to think of a word Leah would use to describe such an encounter instead. “Ah…Fascinating, maybe?” big word, she could almost hear her saying it.

“Rio” she acknowledged, ignoring his attempt at a ‘thank you’. It wasn’t needed. Or rather, Nicole didn’t know how to accept it. She glanced at him uncertain. Not because she didn’t want to do what she was about to do. But because she didn’t know if she was supposed to. If he’d find it odd. All of this –socializing– was still a learning curve. Every single day. “My place isn't too far. Uh– have you eaten anything? Wouldn’t hurt…” she trailed off, because fuck maybe if she didn’t finish her sentence he could ignore it. She had been too worried about her words that she forgot to introduce herself. “Oh…Nicole. I’m– that’s my name”.  

Gotta be a little of both if you wanna survive in this town. Rio laughed at the accuracy of her statement. Now did not feel at all like an appropriate time to laugh, especially for someone like Rio who had never felt any type of joy in violence or danger. He had spent most of his life trying to actively run from it. But that was the White Crest effect, apparently. At some point this town broke everyone, forcing them to either succumb to the insanity of it or die in denial. Rio had never wanted to do either. He had wanted to leave town and never come back. And yet he tried that and here he was, back again and far past that breaking point. “Trust me, like two years ago I would have run out of that cave screaming my head off and never walked into the woods again. Assuming I even made it out of the cave in the first place. So I get it.” He wiped at his forehead, pushing his damp hair that had stuck to his skin away from his face. He had barely realized that his bangs had been obstructing his view because he had been so focused on following this woman. “Still not saying that I’m like, ready to walk into a death trap or anything. I just uh- well I appreciate people who are willing to help those in need. So thanks.” He didn’t know how to say it any more gracefully than that. He was lucky that it came out as a coherent string of words at all.

“Fascinating is probably a better word than cool.” Rio agreed, snapping his finger as the adjective stuck. He always found supernatural creatures like that fascinating. Though he had quickly learned that he preferred reading about them in Scribe journals and texts rather than seeing them for himself. At least the deadly ones. He still hadn’t quite figured out what this bear creature was, but he was pretty sure it counted as deadly. “Uh no, haven’t eaten anything. But I don’t want to bother you. I can just uh- well if I can find my car I can probably make it home safely without being kidnapped by another bear.” He rubbed the back of his neck nervously, considering whether he actually knew how to get to his car or not from here. “Nice to meet you Nicole. Or like- well it’s nice to meet you now. It wasn’t quite as pleasant before. But that wasn’t because of you, obviously. It was because of the bear. Or that thing that sorta looked like a bear. You know what? We both obviously know that you know that I’m not implying that it wasn’t nice to meet you because of you and I definitely meant that getting attacked by a shadow bear thing was the bad part of that encounter.” He breathed a heavy sigh once he finally finished rambling and rubbed at his temples. He was giving himself a headache.

About two years ago, Nicole was sleepwalking into the cave of voices. Stealing ancient bones from cemeteries to bring back a dangerous spellcaster back to life. A spellcaster that would later plot the demise of the town. It wasn’t until Rio recalled his own journey that she realized how long she had been dealing with White Crest’s bullshit first hand.  

She should really stop going near caves, apparently. “Good. Never be ready to walk into death traps. Cling to that fear” Nicole patted his shoulder, confident in her own advice. Clinging to fear may be the only thing keeping her alive at all times. 

Fascinating was good, Nicole smiled at the thought of telling all of this to Leah. Leaving out the part where she almost got crushed by a bear, of course. “I have a… uh, my—” she shoved her hands further into her jacket, blush creeping on her cheeks again. “There’s someone I know who might figure out exactly what we just saw” she nodded, a half grin playing on her lips. “I’ll tell you as soon as I talk to her”. 

Nicole tried to assure him that she wanted to take care of him. That she wouldn’t offer something if it bothered her, especially not an invitation to her own place. It was far from her style. But Rio was going on another ramble, so interjecting something was near impossible.

“Rio” she called eventually, his name still unfamiliar in her tongue. Nicole offered a nod. “I got it, yeah. It’s nice to meet you”. Instead of following the path that would lead them back to his car, she took a slight detour, knowing it’d help them reach her cabin faster. “Don’t want you driving with all that adrenaline pumping” she explained, watching him rub his temples. She had, perhaps, found an even bigger nervous wreck than her. “You’ll get some food at my place—” her fridge was rarely stocked, but she was certain she’d find something. “Then I’ll take you to your car. That sound okay to you?”

Finally, someone in town with some actual sense. Cling to that fear. Rio didn’t have much of a choice in the matter, unfortunately. The real shame was that he had somehow taught himself to ignore the fear and move forward anyways. He blamed all of his reckless, stubborn friends for that one. The ones that he had been forced to swallow that fear and push onward anyways, for their sake and his own. He loved them to death, but sometimes he wondered just how many people in this town had actual death wishes. “No worries there. Fear is definitely present. Along with morbid curiosity, I guess. But fear wins.”

Nicole knew someone that could look into this? Rio could read between the thinly veiled lines. They both knew that this had been supernatural, and she apparently knew someone that might be knowledgeable enough to identify it. That didn’t exactly narrow anything down or prove that the two had a mutual friend. Rio was sure there were half a dozen or more hunters in town that could have named the creature on sight. Most of them were probably at the Silver Bullet right now, if that place was still standing. God, he hoped it wasn’t. “Really? That’d be great. I may be able to look into it too? I’ll uh- well we can exchange contact info and let each other know if we find anything.” They were both skirting around the topic, but that suited Rio just fine. They had escaped potential death together, but at the end of the day they were still just strangers.

Rio breathed a sigh of relief when Nicole cut him off. It was for the best. He was genuinely convinced that he could talk himself into asphyxiation. She took control of the conversation from there on, more telling Rio the plan rather than suggesting. She tacked on a confirmation at the end, questioning his consent so that he could back out if he wanted. But after getting knocked unconscious and kidnapped by a shadow bear, he wasn’t much in the mood to argue. “Yeah. That sounds great.”

Nicole nodded in quiet approval. At least Rio wasn’t as reckless as she had initially believed him to be. In that way, she supposed there weren’t too different. Both curious and scared. “You keep that up” she mumbled as final encouragement, signaling him to take a turn left. His flashlight still illuminated the path for them, as the surroundings became more familiar. She estimated she’d spot her cabin in the distance in a matter of minutes. 

“Really” Nicole confirmed, with a coy smile. She knew Leah would be able to figure out what they just encountered with a few questions. Or at least, find the book with the answer. “Oh…” his comment gave her a pause, and she quirked a curious brow at him. He clearly wasn’t oblivious to the supernatural, that much she had gathered. But how much did he know, exactly? She supposed she could test the waters later. When things had calmed down. “That’s, ah—Yeah, it’s better if we help each other out…” in the end, that’s the only thing guaranteed to save anyone from the towns terrors.

Nicole didn’t think Rio was completely sold on her idea, and part of her was proud of that. He had just been dragged to a cave to become a creature’s meal, she would’ve seriously judged him if he didn’t show any apprehension about following a stranger back to their place. Even if she knew she would never hurt him.  “Okay”. Mostly, she wanted to make sure the encounter with the bear would be as far away from his mind as possible before he got behind the wheel. After that, she didn’t try to overwhelm him with any more reassuring words, or attempted small talk. The remaining distance towards her cabin was spent in silence. Both of them deserved some time to let the experience sink in their bodies and minds. They would discuss it in more detail later, in the comfort of her own home.

[stephenharvey]

Cold cases | Orion & Stephen

Location: Al’s Diner Date: July 18th, 2022 Trigger warning: death tw, parental death tw

Stephen looked at his watch as he parked in front of Al’s Diner. 13:32. It was a bit earlier than he had anticipated. He got off the patrol and locked the car as he walked into the diner, instantly transported back to 1950. He gave Big Al a side smile as he nodded, taking off his hat to silently greet the owner. He grabbed one of the booths at the far end of the restaurant and put his hat on his side, alongside a folder containing confidential papers. A waitress came by his table to take his order. 

“The usual,” Stephen gave the waitress another side smile before adding, “Someone’s joining me today. Maybe hold off on the hamburger after he arrives?” He was aware that it was not professional to eat while discussing a case, more so when it came to an unresolved double homicide, but he wanted to make the Quinn kid feel comfortable, maybe even forget that he was being questioned for a case Stephen assumed he wasn’t too happy to discuss. The waitress went back to the kitchen and brought him a cold beer. “Thanks.”

Grabbing the folder next to him, Stephen went through the case one more time. He had also questioned Orion’s sister, Athena, a few months back. So far, nothing new had come up. Stephen was not surprised. This was normal for most homicide cases that took place in White Crest. They would always find a body, sometimes unrecognizable by wounds or signs of violence, no further leads. Most witnesses he questioned couldn’t give him any concrete answers. It was almost as if the town itself didn’t want to cooperate, loved to have maniacs around. He was mostly talking to the Quinn kid to get his checklist done and be able to close the case – even if it wasn’t resolved. Stephen figured it would never get resolved anyway. Too much time had passed, not enough witnesses. A breaking and entering gone wrong.     

Hearing the door open, Stephen put the folder down and turned around on his seat to see who was entering the diner. It was close to two o’clock, the appointed time of his meeting with Orion Quinn. 

@3starsquinn​

[onlyaylin]

Two Hunters Walk Into a Library || Rio & Aylin

TIMING: A few weeks ago (before Time Plot Shenanigans)  PARTIES: @3starsquinn​ and @onlyaylin​ SUMMARY: Rio and Aylin run into one another at the library... literally. They quickly bond over language and their mutual love of learning. Neither of them are any the wiser to the fact that the other is a hunter. WARNINGS: None! Soft times for these two! (Actually soft!)

Rio had missed this library. He missed the familiarity of it. After almost a year, and even though some of the displays and sections had been moved around, he still felt like he could navigate the place with relative ease. He had always loved reading, but this place had served more than just a place to provide entertainment and knowledge. This had been his safe space growing up. A spot where he could disappear for hours without putting himself in danger. A place that could distract him from his reality. Before he had returned to the abandoned scribe building, this was where Rio had practically lived. 

Ten books in hand, Rio was now heading towards an open table where he could crack open one of the books and distract himself for an hour or two. He had hoped to run into Leah here, another former White Crest relation he was hoping to reunite with, but he must have missed her for the day. He didn’t mind. He was a patient person, and he knew he’d be back at the library again soon anyways.

The library books piled in his arms towered above Rio’s own eyesight, a safety hazard he should have considered given his less than graceful history. He rounded a corner too quickly, running directly into another person and sending his stack of books flying through the air. One of those books ended up on the floor just as Rio stepped to regain his balance, and the thing slipped out from under him and sent him tumbling backwards, his back hitting the floor with a loud thud as the corner of another back stabbed into his side. He laid there for a long moment before finally muttering a quiet “Ow,” keeping his eye closed to avoid the reality he had just created. 

Finally, Rio decided to accept this embarrassment, and poked a single eye open. He pushed up into a sitting position to see a girl probably a few years younger than himself. Clearly, she had been the one that he had run into. “I’m so sorry. Are you okay?” Rio asked immediately, readjusting again so that he was now on his knees and scrambling to pick up the lost books. “I can’t believe I did that. Some things really never change.”

Aylin had always loved the library. She’d been lucky enough as a kid to be able to go to her neighborhood one back in Dearborn practically whenever she wanted, and it had always been a sort of second home for her. Books were easy to understand, even when certain aspects of the rest of the world were not.

She’d only grabbed a couple of books today - she knew she was due to meet up with Ceyda soon, and she had a whole stack of books back at the house to read, but more was never a bad thing, was it? Aylin wasn’t entirely paying attention to her surroundings - though given that there were no werewolves in the library, she’d decided to at least try to act chill, at least as much as was possible for her to. Before she knew exactly what was happening, she’d collided with someone else and that someone else’s books went flying everywhere - as did hers, but she grabbed one of them quickly (too quickly, possibly, but she’d say that she just had good reflexes if anyone had noticed) as she stumbled backwards, ending up on the library’s rug. She rubbed her nose with her fingertips. 

Ow. Aylin made a small, bashful face. She hadn’t thought that she’d done any real sort of damage, but for a moment she worried that maybe running into her had been a worse fate than falling on the floor. “I’m okay. Are you okay?” She grabbed a couple of his books and handed them over to him. “You run into people a lot?” She tapped her fingers against the cover of one of her books. “Were you reading while walking? I - my aunt and my parents,” she sucked in her lower lip briefly, “used to have to tell me all the time that I should look up where I was going, because I was always getting way too engrossed in books and walked straight into a tree once.” She hopped up and held a hand out to the boy. “You sure you’re okay?”

There was a collection of books scattered on the ground, and Rio wasn’t sure which ones belonged to him and which belonged to the girl he had just ran into. If she only had one book and all of these were the ones he had been carrying, that would be embarrassing. As the two scrambled to collect the books and pass them back and forth, he quickly realized that the vast majority of them were in fact his. “Currently dying of embarrassment but otherwise I’ll make it through” Rio sighed, sure that his face was currently three different shades of red. “More often than I should admit” Rio explained. He had never quite had the grace that his mother or sister had. His sister had excelled at sports, Rio excelled at tripping up the stairs. 

“No. Not reading and walking.” Rio laughed. The books now sat in a stack on the ground and he left them there as he pushed back onto his feet. He didn’t bother picking them back up yet. It was just another hazard waiting to happen. “The stack was taller than me. Not that I need limited vision as an excuse to run into things either. It’s a whole thing.” It was fine. At least the girl seemed nice. “A tree? Nice. I’ve done my fair share of extreme tree hugging too.” He tried for a joke, scratching at the back of his neck nervously. Talking with strangers had never exactly been his forte. “Oh yeah. Collisions like this are pretty normal for me. I bounce back quick.”

“I don’t think you can actually die of embarrassment,” Aylin bit her lip, quickly turning a deeper shade of red, “I know that’s a saying, by the way - I - sorry, I’ve never been the best at joking.” His words were almost comforting, in a strange sort of way. “Your secret’s safe with me.” She winked at him, “I mean, there’s not like, many people besides my aunt I could even tell that secret to, and I don’t think I want to start with something that doesn’t highlight someone’s best qualities when I’m talking about them to her for the first time.” Even though she liked to think of herself as relatively coordinated, most of the time (years of training hadn’t been all for nothing), she was also acutely aware of how much more skilled Ceyda was than she was.

“Do you wear glasses? Or do you just mean from the stack of books?” Aylin raised an eyebrow at him as she offered a kind, shy smile. “What about extreme sliding? Because I also once went down a slide on accident when I was reading a book. Then my parents were all, ‘Aylin, you can bring books to the playground but you have to put them on the bench with us when you go and play’.” She pressed her thumb against the ring on her forefinger as she thought back to that memory. “I’m glad you bounce back easily, but if you wish, we could go sit at one of those tables? Unless you’ve decided that you want nothing to do with me, which I totally get!” 

“Not yet at least, but I keep trying” Rio mumbled, mostly under his breath. Clearly it must be true, or he would have passed away long ago. He had a special habit of making a fool out of himself. If he didn’t do it by walking into something or tripping over something, he usually did it through rambling. “Very noble of you” Clearly this girl had never met his family. They had always specialized in highlighting his weakest qualities.

With his balance mostly regained, Rio finally swooped down to pick up his stack of books, this time splitting them in half and tucking two stacks under each arm. It looked awkward, and kept his arms outstretched at an almost uncomfortable distance but at least it let him see where he was going better. “Just the books. No glasses to worry about.” He hated giving any sort of credit to his hunter genes and senses, but great vision was at least one perk he had. He couldn���t exactly explain how he knew he would need glasses if he wasn’t a hunter, but all he knew was that the vibes fit. While the girl explained her slide scenario, definitely one-upping him in the oblivious category, Rio chuckled. He tried to keep the volume acceptable for a library. “Oof. Yeah you have me beat there, I’ll give that to you.” He considered his options. Take the books to some corner alone and then leave the library alone to go hang out alone, or try to converse with a random stranger at the library who at least appeared to be nice? He wasn’t super social by nature, but the friends he had made in White Crest over the last couple of years had at least cracked his shell a tiny bit. What could be the harm in trying to be friendly? “No, yeah. Why not? I have no plans” Rio shrugged, following her over to a table and dropping his two stacks of books on it. He shoved them in the corner before picking one off the top, “My name’s Rio by the well. Technically it’s Orion, but nobody really calls me that.”

“I mean statistically it’s - sorry, joke, right?” Aylin queried, “regardless, I think even though I’ve just met you that I would like to just go on record and say I’d prefer you alive.” She shrugged, “I don’t really think it’s noble, it’s just like - basic human decency, right? Treat those around you with the kindness you’d want for yourself.” She fiddled with her ring for a moment.

“Glad we didn’t have to risk ruining your glasses, and the books seem like they’re still in pretty good shape - or at least the same shape that they were in before.” At least the boy in front of her seemed to have a good sense of humor and a nice outlook on the world, though Aylin knew she couldn’t - or rather, shouldn't - make full judgements at first meeting, but the relief she felt around someone who was kind and didn’t set off her senses was incredible. “Surprisingly I didn’t end up too injured as a kid, despite my tendency to read books wherever I went.” Though she knew fully well that her genes were a good part of the reason to credit for that. “Okay, great! My favorite spot’s right over there,” she nodded towards a table in the corner, “and if you’ve got no plans, I’d - well, I’d be happy to be a reading buddy for you.” She made her way over to the table and set her books down, before sticking her hand out as he introduced himself, “like the constellation? That’s cool. Nice to meet you, Rio. I’m Aylin, which you already heard, but it felt like the right thing to do to say it again.”

Friendship must have really done a number on Rio if he was the one making jokes to a stranger right now. “Yes. Joke. At least an attempt at one.” Rio chuckled, hoping he wasn’t coming across as desperate. This was exactly why he had mostly avoided humor. He already over thought every conversation he had to analyze when and how he had said something stupid or cringey. The last thing he needed was a poorly landed joke to throw things off even further. “I think I’m honored that you’re so keen on keeping me alive? I mean at the very least it’s a kind gesture.” Yeah, this was definitely not his finest conversation. He should have known talking to a stranger would be a complete disaster, even one inside a library which should objectively be the safest place for Rio to find like-minded people to conversate with. “Just checking but… how long have you been in White Crest again? I’m not sure basic human decency is exactly the default state of mind here. At least not in my experience.” Not while growing up surrounded by hunters.

“These things? They’re practically indestructible.” Rio should know, he’s had a long history of tripping over things and throwing them across the library. “Besides, if I actually did damage a book I know the librarian would-” roast me alive. He almost said it as a joke before realizing that it hit a bit too close to home. Humor or not, Rio didn’t trust strangers enough to not take him literally. So he masked it with a cough before continuing, “probably ban me for life or something.” He read the spine of the book he had grabbed before abandoning it to check for another book. Now that he was talking to her, he wasn’t sure which book he wanted to start, if any. “A reading buddy might be nice.” She re-introduced herself, the same name she had mentioned earlier when talking about herself. He repeated the name silently in his head a few times as he tried to place where he had heard it before. “Aylin. That’s uh- Turkish right? Something moon?”

“It was a good joke! Sorry, sometimes I can be a little slow on the uptake of sarcasm. Blame it on me being homeschooled until I went to university,” Aylin hummed, “but no, I liked it. I swear, it was a good joke and I’m probably overcompensating and explaining myself but seriously. Made me smile.” She offered him a smile, “oh yes, it’s meant to be kind!” That and I was born to keep people safe even if I’ve failed at that and don’t really do that right now. “Uh, I moved here with my aunt within the last year. Why isn’t it a default state of mind? Shouldn’t people just like, naturally be nice to one another? I thought small towns were supposed to be full of that - or at least that’s the case in books and television shows.” She frowned. “I’m sorry that hasn’t been your experience.”

“That’s true, especially when they’re hardcover.” Aylin’s eyes grew wide, “you’ve got an in with the librarian? I mean, I know one of them too, but not that well, I just come here and ask her questions and borrow tons of books.” She shook her head, “well, I don’t want you to get in trouble, so I’m glad nothing happened. I can’t think of many things worse than being banned from a library.” Other than what happened to me just after I turned sixteen. “I’d be happy to be your reading buddy then.” “Yes, it is! Means ‘one that belongs to the moon’ or ‘moon halo’, depending on where you look.” The fact that he’d recognized Turkish made her smile grow. She hadn’t come across too many people here who did. “Türkçe konuşabiliyor musun?” Do you speak Turkish? “Your name’s a constellation, right?”

“Don’t worry, I don’t think I socialized with anyone until college either.” Rio chuckled, trying to level with the girl. He had gone through public education, a luxury that his parents probably never would have allowed if they weren’t so set on giving the illusion of a normal, put together family to the average townsfolk. Rio would never claim that he had enjoyed his high school experience, but it did provide a much needed escape from his house for eight hours a day. “And I definitely didn’t make jokes until then.” As sad as it was that might actually be true too, but it was hard to remember the specifics of a childhood he tried so hard to repress. “Ah well, welcome to town.” Rio shrugged, trying to pair it with a smile to make it seem more welcoming than it probably came out. Rio’s reflexive response to find out someone willingly moved here was never to welcome them, but to question what in the world convinced them to come here. But since that was rude and borderline suspicious, Rio always suppressed that initial reaction and stuck to the pleasantries. “Okay, that sounded bad. There are plenty of friendly and pleasant people that live here. But there are also a lot of not so friendly ones. So just uh- don’t take it personally if some people aren’t super conversational. This town is like simultaneously exactly like every young adult book you’ve ever read and nothing like it. I wish I could elaborate further, but I don’t know how.” He did actually, but he wouldn’t.

Rio gave another scan around the library, maybe double checking to make sure that Leah hadn’t materialized out of nowhere. “I had an in with the librarian” he corrected, flipping his first book up to the first page and pretending like he might actually read it. “I just got back into town after like a year away so I may not anymore, who knows.” He found it hard to believe Leah wouldn’t work here anymore though. “It’s a really pretty name” Rio pointed out, because it was. Without context and with context, admittedly. She perked up immediately, and then said something that Rio couldn’t understand at all. He knew enough to know that it was Turkish, but not much beyond that. “Oh sorry- No I don’t actually speak Turkish at all. Just a fan of languages,” Rio nodded, “It is! I guess technically I’m named after the Greek hero Orion. But my parents only really knew about him because there is a constellation named after him. So yes.”

“That’s a relief!” Aylin exclaimed, “I mean, not that - I don’t mean that I didn’t think that you should have socialized, but I feel like everyone’s super good at talking to other people and though my aunt’d say I’m better than she is, sometimes I’m pretty positive she says that just because she loves me.” She bit her lip, “well I like your jokes, for what it’s worth.” She offered him a grin in response to his welcome, “thanks a whole lot! It’s certainly a beautiful town, I think.” Other than the issues on full moons. “That’s a good head’s up to have. I’m glad I ran into you, because you seem to know a lot about this place. I will try to not take it personally, and I get it, sometimes I don’t want to talk to people either. Except if I get nervous, then I ramble, sort of like what I’m doing now - not that you made me nervous, you’re actually super easy to talk to, but just - yes.” She took in a deep breath.

“Oh! That’s cool. Did you go traveling? I’m sure you’ll find a new in, even if you don’t have your old in anymore.” Aylin pressed her tongue against the roof of her mouth, “I’ll give you my in, if you need one?” She felt her cheeks turn slightly darker at his compliment, “thanks, though when my aunt and I were driving around and we went into those shops at gas stations? Whatever those are called - my name certainly isn’t ever on any of those license plates or mugs or such, but that’s kind of nice? It makes me feel like my name is all my own.” Her expression fell for one moment as he admitted that he didn’t really know Turkish, but she quickly shook her head and offered him another smile. “Well, if you ever want to learn, I’d be happy to teach you - especially if you like languages, and at the very least I could teach you some basics - like hello, goodbye, and other relevant things?” Aylin appreciated the explanation behind his name. “That’s cool. It’s a neat constellation, and certainly one that isn’t too tough to find, which must be nice for you?” 

Orion couldn’t help but laugh as Aylin tiptoed around the statement and tried to walk herself back from saying the wrong thing. It was mostly humorous because Rio spent so much time doing the exact same thing. He still did, admittedly. Although he had noticed that he had gotten better since being friends with more social and blunt people like Ari. Between this and the library, the two seemed to have a lot in common. There was something about the way she did that made Rio more comfortable in his own speech. Suddenly, he felt like the one comfortable  in this conversation. It was an odd turn of events, but not an unwelcome one.

The topic of where he had been hardly seemed appropriate for someone he didn’t know. Who knew if they even knew about the supernatural? “More like visiting a family friend. But I got to enjoy some time away.” He enjoyed talking names and languages much more than he did about his year away from White Crest. “Yeah! Honestly those souvenir shops are overrated. I think there’s a certain bit of pride in not being able to find your name on one of those.” The thought surprised him a bit. Rio had never liked his name. Too many ties to his parents and what they had expected from him. “Wait, seriously?” Rio stopped everything immediately to focus on Aylin, “I love learning new languages. I’d totally take you up on that.”

There was something about the boy in front of her that made her feel relaxed, even with his laugh and even with the fact that Aylin still felt like she’d maybe misspoken or done some sort of terrible misstep. The fact that even if he wasn’t quite as awkward as she was, but still seemed slightly out of place and shy, at the very least, which she could respect.

“That’s nice! Family friends are lovely, I think.” Aylin wondered if the group of hunters back home could be considered that, in a way - because they were all some sort of family, even if they weren’t directly related to one another. “I hope that you had fun, wherever you were. I mean, I like this town,” usually, except sometimes and certainly not on the full moon, “but I guess if you lived here a while you might want to visit other places?” She offered a half shrug. “I’d agree, and my name connects me to my heritage, which is far more important than having a souvenir that says my name.” She beamed at his next comment, “yes, absolutely! I’d love to have someone else to speak Turkish with, and I like to help people, and you seem nice, so it seems to be at least a triple win, if not more.” She grabbed her phone and held it out to Rio. “If you want to give me your number, we can plan some study sessions?”

Rio smiled through the irony, conveniently forgetting to mention that most of the people that his family would have considered friends were awful murderers that Rio wouldn’t spend time with if he had a gun against his head. And he had, not that he would have mentioned that either. Aylin seemed nice, and approachable. And normal. Something Rio desperately needed more of in his life. “They certainly can be.” If you have the right family being the unspoken end to that sentence. “Yeah, I mean it definitely has some charms.” Sometimes literally. “But it was nice seeing somewhere new. I got to visit New York City for the first time. That was fun!” Jury was out on whether he actually enjoyed being back in White Crest or not, but it had reminded him just how much he had missed Ari. “Exactly. And having that connection to your heritage can be really important.” Rio supposed his name also connected his name to his heritage, in a way. Not a way that he enjoyed or wanted, but definitely in a way. “I need you to know that I’m not even like… half kidding. Or a quarter. Like I’m so excited to learn some Turkish. We need to pre-plan this language lesson like… now.”

“At least mine were - are? Most of them aren’t around here, so I don’t know which tense is the best to use, but…” Aylin let her voice trail off, shaking her head. Right now wasn’t the time to get sad, or to focus on things from the past. She was very much present with a new and nice person, and she knew that it would be better to keep her mind in the current moment. “New York City’s magical, I bet!” She chirped, “what did you like most about it? If that’s all well and good to ask.” She nodded, “I agree - my heritage is something that’s always been so important to me, so it’s nice to have a permanent part of that with me, always. I mean, obviously there’s just… me, but it’s nice to have parts that are not,” she gestured to herself, “well, this? I don’t know if I’m making any sense.” She felt her smile brighten, “Truly? I’m down to plan anything you want right now, or whenever. I bet you could even come by my house sometime - I’m sure my aunt would love you,” and would love the fact that I have a maybe-sort-of-friend even more, maybe, “but we can also just meet up at the library or a café or whatever works for you.”

There was definitely more to that story, but diving into family trauma seemed a bit too personal for a first meeting. At least, Rio knew that he didn’t want to unpack any of that right now while the vibes were upbeat and friendly, he assumed Aylin may be the same way. “It was! It was super cool.” Rio had a lot of fond memories from that trip. He shouldn’t mention that his favorite part of the trip was feeling like he had the upper hand with his sister for once. Seeing her so far out of her element and him so far into it wasn’t the best part of the trip, but it was certainly a highlight. “I mean, obviously Broadway is a highlight.” Rio began, “But I’m a history nerd. So visiting the museums and like historical sites like the Statue of Liberty and Brooklyn Bridge.” He sighed, remembering what it felt like to see those sights for the first time, “I guess you learn about them your whole life, but when you grow up in a small town like this it’s different to actually see it in person.” 

She made sense, just not necessarily to Rio. But that was just because he couldn’t relate to someone proud of their heritage. “I’m down for whatever. If it’s nice out we could also meet at The Common? It’s right next to the college campus. We could find a table or just lay out a blanket and work. I hang out there a lot to read.” 

“That’s great!” Aylin was glad that Rio’s time away had been positive - or that it at least seemed that way. “I’ve heard of some musicals, though not many. Are they a favorite of yours?” Talking with him was easy, and she found herself more willing and ready to talk than usual, but she wasn’t going to put a negative spin on that. He didn’t deserve that, and she figured that she deserved a nice day, too. “History’s great. I like that, but I also like science - did you get to go to the museum of natural history? That’s sort of both history and science, so best of both worlds, right?” She nodded, “that must’ve been great, and yeah, they’re in history books - I was homeschooled, like I said, but I read some history books about early twentieth century America, which the Statue of Liberty obviously plays a large role in.” She smiled, “I mean, honestly, seeing the Atlantic ocean for the first time when I moved here with my aunt was pretty neat, so I can only imagine what it’d be like to see such important landmarks.”

Aylin nodded at his suggestion, “works for me. I like being outdoors, in open spaces. Inside’s good too, but I’m absolutely up for hanging out outside.” She grabbed another book and flipped it open, smiling at Rio. “I’m glad we literally ran into one another. I’ll text you about a first study session soon?”

[fearhims3lf-retired]

@3starsquinn

That's like... a curse word right? Or at least slang for it yeah? I guess I can see why your mom was mad then.

♦

Yeah. Means “fuck yourself”

[chasseurdeloup-retired]

Hell’s Kitchen || Ariana, Rio, Damien, and Kaden

TIMING: Current LOCATION: Kaden’s Apartment PARTIES: @letsbenditlikebennett, @3starsquinn, @damienxsheppard, @chasseurdeloup SUMMARY: Kaden finally recruits help to make the staggering number of pies needed. Two werewolves, two hunters, and one pixie, no problems whatsoever.

“Is there more flour over there?” Kaden called out, barely looking up from the counter as he worked to make more dough. It didn’t matter who answered. Honestly he wasn’t certain that his apartment was big enough for all four of them at once, at least not actively working and baking. He knew it wasn’t big enough for the number of pies they had to make. It was hard to keep from muttering curses under his breath as he worked, mostly about two hundred pies and mostly in French. Still, he was grateful for the help at the moment, odd bunch though it might be. Two werewolves and two werewolf hunters. All in one apartment. Kaden had to keep rolling his shoulders back to ignore the chills down his spine every now and then. “Make sure the finished ones are labeled,” he called out to the living room. “Uh, please.” The timer buzzed and he nearly jumped out of his skin. “And someone grab that. I’ve got another ready here to swap out.”

Orion felt like a fish out of water. He didn’t think it was going too far out on a limb to assume that he had the least amount of experience with baking. Unless watching his sister bake growing up counted for anything. “I think I saw some flour over here.” Rio answered Kaden, dodging in and out of furniture and people to get to the counter. “Sorry, excuse me!” Rio mentioned to Damien as he slid behind him. Though the two had not met before, Rio figured that if he was a friend of Kaden and Ariana’s then he must be alright. He finally reached the bag and held it up in the air triumphantly before tucking it under his arm to take back over to Kaden. He ignored the tingling sensation nipping at his skin, a mainstay anytime he hung out with Ariana. Eventually it would stop bothering him like it always did. “What do you want me to do with it?” Rio found himself asking. This had been how he tried to make himself useful despite the minimal amount of baking experience he had. He didn’t know how to bake the pies, so he busied himself grabbing ingredients and measuring things out instead.

Damien wasn’t sure why he agreed to help. He was not typically the sort to be favorable to others, and he sure as shit didn’t know how to bake. Regardless of his usual disposition, he found himself here, ignorant of the threat the two men in the room could be to him, and annoyed to see the little werewolf walking about. “What are you doing here?” Damien grumbled lowly as he bent his form down to address Ariana. His tone lacked the sharp edge he wanted it to have, dulled now by their familiarity and a liking he wouldn’t admit to. If he was made to recognize the two hunters in the room he’d be forced to realize she was his closest ally. With a brief introduction to Rio, and an old greeting given to Kaden, Damien went to work. His hand snapped out to clasp the timer as Rio slipped past him, he should be glad the alarm of it signaled another pie was done and the lot of them were closer to their goal, but he hated the sound. Maneuvering through the maze of people, Damien arrived at the oven to free it of a recent baked good, leaving the door open for someone to place another on the racks.

“Hand it to me,” Kaden said simply, holding his hand out to take the bag of flour. With a quick sigh, he realized he could actually take a whole fucking second to explain. Rio did want to learn about baking, he’d said as much before. “I need to coat my hands again so that the dough doesn’t stick to them when I’m working with it.” Without even looking at the bag, Kaden reached in to scoop out some flour and pat it onto his hands. Only as soon as he did, something was off. It was… sticky? Definitely not flour. “Putain de merde,” he grumbled to himself, holding out his sugar covered hands. “Did you read the label on the bag, kid? I thought you liked reading.” he asked as he dodged around the two werewolves to get to the sink. “Please tell me you’re doing better over here. And can you get the next pie in the oven, Rio? Just make sure it’s not one that was already baked.”

Appreciative of Kaden trying to teach him along the way, Orion listened eagerly as Kaden explained the process and dipped his hand into the bag, only to pull out a handful of definitely not flour. Rio frowned at the bag, doing a double take to see that it did indeed claim to be sugar on the outside. Which didn’t make any sense considering he knew he had grabbed the flour. “I’m so sorry! I swe- I thought it said flour.” Rio caught himself mid sentence and rephrased, still eyeing the package as if the words were going to change back to flour. Rio pivoted quickly, still listening to Kaden while trying to right the wrong he had done. He found the bag of flour, opening it up to confirm this time before picking it up to take over to Kaden. Except this time when he lifted it, a stream of flour began pouring out of the bag from the bottom. “Oh come on!” Rio groaned, lifting it up to see a hole in the bottom. How had that happened? He plugged it with his hand and moved it next to Kaden, “There’s a hole in this, I don’t know why.” He explained clumsily before moving along to Kaden's next request, the new pies. He grabbed an unbaked one and moved towards the oven, waiting for Damien to remove a few before occupying the empty space. “Are you any good at baking or are you just as inept at this as I am?” Rio asked, smiling weakly at the man in what was probably a poor attempt at making conversation.

The commotion behind him drew Damien’s attention and he turned to watch as Kaden plunged his hand into a white bag and drew it back with his fingers covered in sugar. It seemed like an easy enough mistake to make, various ingredients in the kitchen were astray as the lot of them clamored to make more pies. One by one Damien pulled the pies from the oven, placing them on the limited counter space till only one was left perched in his hands wrapped in a cloth to prevent the heat from sinking into his fingertips. Searching the area for an available space, he found Rio struggling with the sought after bag of flour, a hole allowing for white powder to flow from the bag and dust their surroundings. He couldn’t help the small grin that developed on his face as Rio spoke to him, “you’re making me look good,” the werewolf replied as he moved through the limited space and dropped the last pie on the counter. An audible crack followed its landing as egg oozed from beneath the pan. “Fuck!” the curse was a little louder than need be, amplified by his genuine surprise, “where the hell did that egg come from? Did one of you put it there?” Damien reached for some paper towel to address the mess, “who the hell just leaves eggs lying around like that.”

The last person Ariana expected to see at Kaden’s apartment to help with baking pies of all things was Damien. Did Damien know Kaden was a hunter? Did Kaden know Damien was a werewolf? He had his whole werewolf sixth sense thing so he had to know, right? Maybe Ariana wasn’t his only exception which she was somehow both grateful for and a little jealous of, but she definitely preferred Kaden not trying to kill the grumpy werewolf she adopted so she’d take it. She couldn’t help the eye roll when Damien asked why she was here. “Helping make pies, obviously,” she answered jokingly as she continued rolling out some pie crust she had been working on. As fun as embarrassing Kaden could be, she wasn’t too keen to go into their fairly complicated backstory. Instead, she cackled as Kaden got his hands all sticky with sugar. It seemed like what followed was just a series of unfortunate events as Rio dropped flour everywhere and Damien broke a random egg. Ariana couldn’t help but laugh at Damien’s curses. “Y’all good? Do we need to like… reorganize the space,” she asked before her rolling pin went over an egg that definitely wasn’t there when she started rolling. “Hey,” she exclaimed with a hint of frustration in her voice, “Just because you’re making a mess of the eggs doesn’t mean you had to put one in my way,” she grumbled at Damien.

The kitchen was filled with cursing, which was nothing new, but it left Kaden wondering if the was a good idea after all. Maybe he should have just continued to struggle on his own to chip away at the growing list of orders. “My hands are wet, I can’t--” He didn’t get to finish his sentence before having to try and clumsily grab the leaking bag, alternating wiping his hands dry on his jeans. It only worked a little. The cracking behind him made him wince. “The hell is going on in here?” he muttered, mostly to himself, setting the bag aside for now. He ran his fingers through his hair, pushing it back out of the way before remembering that his were both still a little wet and sprinkled with patches of flour. “Rearrange. Yeah, let’s do that. We can, uh… We can move things…” He looked around for any opening. “Somewhere. I don’t know, we can move the extra ingredients out onto the table over there, the one with the--” His brows furrowed as he went to point towards the dining room table. The one currently covered in mushrooms. Putain. Of course the fucking pixie was at it. Something he knew he could explain to Rio and Ari. How much did Damien even know? And what kind of shit would that lead to? Kaden sighed. For now, ignore it. “The mushrooms. Just move those. Ignore them. Whatever.”

“When was the last time you had your eyes checked,” Damien countered Ariana as she reeled to recover the damage the egg had done to her rolling pin, “I’ve been too busy to plant eggs around here for you.” He snagged another paper towel and cleaned the surface the pie was resting on, discarding the material into the nearest trash bin. He had hardly been paying attention to what the hunters were doing, only turning around when Kaden began to formulate a new plan for their operation. Eyes scanned the cluttered workspace for available room for the pies, locking on the table the same time Kaden noticed the abundance of mushrooms. Where the hell had those come from? He didn’t remember seeing them when he walked in, and if he had he would have turned tail and left thinking this was some kind of joke. Damien had been fortunate enough that since moving to White Crest his interactions with the supernatural were limited, or subtle. They didn’t exactly step out and admit they were vampires or fae. Only recently had he encountered another of his kind that resulted in any damage. He had no idea what could have produced so many mushrooms. “Are you joking?” he turned to the others, clearly confused, “are we using those? We’re not using those, right? That would be disgusting. I might not have the cooking skills of a Frenchman but even I can’t stomach the idea of mushroom pie.”

Did baking usually involve this much mess? Orion knew people always said that a few eggs had to be cracked, but he had never considered that the phrase was meant literally. “Mushrooms?” Rio asked, perplexed by Damien’s statement until he had turned and spotted them for himself. That was certainly odd, and if Rio had to take a wild guess, probably involved some sort of fae. But why here of all places? “Is this a normal occurrence while you’re baking?” Though the thought was perplexing, he thought it would be mildly humorous if the hunter’s secret to baking was some sort of fae ingredient. Rio was checking on the pies he had put in the oven when he heard music start playing from seemingly nowhere. Recognized the song too, Abba. He had always loved the group until he realized the Silver Bullet played it so much. “Where is that music coming from?”

Not quite willing to admit Damien was probably right, Ariana opted to stick her tongue out at him before cleaning up the mess in front of her. “Whatever,” she muttered before following Kaden out to the table. Her brows furrowed in confusion at the sight of all the mushrooms. Sure, he was dating a banshee, but Regan didn’t exactly seem the type to enjoy getting hopped up on fairy mushrooms. Plus, she was pretty sure those weren’t there when she arrived. “Ignoring the mushrooms. Sounds like a great idea,” she said with a not so subtle hint of sarcasm in her tone though she eventually found herself laughing at Damien’s questions. She’d explain later, but for now, she joked, “Obviously someone requested a mushroom pot pie.” Only seconds before Rio mentioned it, she could faintly hear the sound of that one Gimme Gimme Gimme song that Celeste had always liked. It caused her mouth to twist into a slight frown. “Yeah, Kaden, what’s with the old people music?” She shook her head, “No wonder you and Celeste were friends. Same boomer music taste.”

“Not normal, no,” Kaden called out with a sigh not far behind. He wiped off his hands once more on his jeans before turning to the fridge, swinging the door open, and reaching in for two bottles. “Here,” he said, handing one of the bottles of beer to Damien. “I think we’re going to need this.” He cracked open the cap and took a swig before looking at the state of the table. Rumpleskuffs, had to be. Showing off for all the new guests. Kaden debated disappearing into the other room to make a deal with the pixie just long enough to get this all over with when he, too, heard a familiar sound. His eyes darted to the teenager, wide and shocked before narrowing in on her. “Cut it out, Ari. Is this another one of your tocking tick pranks? Putain, this isn’t--” Only it was clear she wasn’t responsible for the music, either. “Hey. I’m not that old. I don’t even like ABBA. That much. Anyway.” The timer went off again. His brow furrowed and he looked back to the oven. There was no way that was right. The pies just went in. “One second,” he said as he went to check on the pies. Not done. He turned off the timer and reset it, hoping that he wasn’t going to have to reset it again in a minute or two. Something told him that might be the case.

“You don’t like ABBA?” Orion questioned the hunter, perplexed by the bold statement. When it played at the Silver Bullet was just about the only time that people in that place didn’t seem all that bad. For a moment, they stopped being all grumbly and macho. Or maybe that was just wishful thinking on Rio’s part. “It’s tiktok, Kaden.” He sighed, almost amused by how terribly he had butchered the app name, “And I don’t think this song is one of the popular sounds.” Not this ABBA song at least. A timer suddenly going off made Rio jump, hopping away from the oven and raising his heart rate on instinct. There was no way those were done already. Rio folded his arms and cast a worried glance over towards Damien. If he wasn’t here, Rio would be asking about what was actually going on. Since Kaden and Ariana weren’t bringing it up, he assumed that meant he must not be in the know. Or at the very least, not in the know about  fae and the mischief they can allegedly cause. “I didn’t know volunteering to help you bake pies was going to be so... eventful.”

Damien gratefully accepted the beer Kaden offered him, with the music playing in the background and mushrooms piled up onto the table things were starting to feel part of a show. A cooking segment you accidentally landed on while clicking through shows and paused on because of the quirky nature of it all. He took a drink of his beer and shrugged off the remarks between the two discussing the name of an app and their taste in music. Damien snagged an empty bowl meant for cooking and started to collect the mushrooms, “mushroom pot pie my ass,” he replied, though he was sure by Ariana’s tone that she hadn’t been serious at all. “And don’t lie Kaden, everyone likes ABBA, or at least one of their songs.” Damien took the mushrooms he collected into review, looking over the strangeness of their appearance as if the answer was written just out of sight. “What do you even want me to do with these?”

“What? No. Even if this was a good prank, this whole mess is longer than one minute,” Ariana said with a matter of fact tone to her voice as if Kaden was supposed to know that TikTok videos couldn’t be longer than a minute. She grabbed some more finished pies to set on the table and clear their workspace and shook her head at Damien’s mushroom pot pie questioning. Later, she’d explain the significance of mushrooms though she was dying to know now just why they were here. Still, curiosity took over as she picked up one of the mushrooms and eyed the almost fake looking spots that danced across it’s cap. “Is Regan on a mushroom kick or something,” she blurted out before adding the mushroom to the bowl Damien was collecting them in. Regan didn’t seem the type to intentionally partake in fae things, but it would explain the pimping out pies thing.

How was it that everyone in that damn room knew his secret? How the hell did they find out? Kaden’s eyes shot to Ari. Did she tell Rio? She could have. But how did Damien know, too? “Alright, fine,” he admitted with a grumble into his beer. “I don’t hate ABBA but I don’t love them or anything like that.” His brow furrowed again as Damien brushed the mushrooms off the table. Interesting. Normally they were just visual illusions. Then again, Rumpleskuffs had been very bored lately. Maybe he save some spores just for this sort of occasion. “You can, uh, just put them in the trash. Or something.” Shit, would that anger the tiny fae? Probably. “Or, uh, just set them to the side. Somewhere. Doesn’t matter, figure it out.” The timer went off again and Kaden thought he might scream. At the very least he was going to take this fucking timer and chuck it out the window. Instead, he simply turned it off again, reset it again, and placed it down on the counter as gently as he could manage. It still was a bit of a slam. “Huh?” he called back to Ari, his chest tightening at the thought. He knew Ari knew what Regan was. And Rio. But would that give her away to Damien? Couldn’t they just all pretend to be completely fucking normal humans for an hour or two? Wouldn’t that be nice? “No, definitely not hers. Regan hates mushrooms. I think. Nah, this is just, uh, wel…” Shit, should have gone with her explanation. “Maybe just another experiment of hers or something. Like that.”

Damien discarded the bowl of mushrooms on the couch sofa, it seemed unlikely they’d need that space for anything else with the pies quickly taking over the apartment. He had never asked how Kaden managed to rack up such an order and it seemed a little late now to question it. The timer began to chime again, signifying one more item baked towards their goal, but the sound of it landing on the counter a little too harshly caused Damien to turn his head. Was this about Regan? He didn’t see how mushrooms could be tied back to her but the stress of this, it seemed like the roots really dug into something more daunting than a bake off. “I don’t get the impression Regan is much of a trickster. Though maybe she’d have an interest in mushrooms if they were sprouting from something recently departed. Or were related to the death of something,” at least, that was more of the impression Damien had of her, knowledgeable about all things deceased. He strode over to Kaden, placing a hand on his shoulder, “maybe you should take a break man,” he gave a light push over towards the couch, “I think he can manage for a little bit.” It was then that Damien turned his head, or rather, looked down to find Ari, “come on girl scout, time to earn a badge for baking mastery.”

Mushrooms were a fae thing, Orion knew that much. Though he didn’t think it was really a Banshee thing. Definitely not a Regan thing. Not unless this whole health kick where Regan assumed that Rio was one missed protein or strong breeze would be his breaking point had been nothing more than a practical joke all along. If that were the case, Rio would actually have to be a bit impressed. And maybe a bit disappointed. “Saprophytes” Rio suggested casually as the discussion turned towards mushrooms growing on dead things, “It’s a type of fungus that grows on dead things.” Not that those mushrooms were the kind that grew on dead things. At least he didn’t think so. Damien was trying to get Kaden to take a break, which was probably the right idea. Even if the idea of losing his lifeline to this whole baking thing was a bit terrifying. “Who is in charge then? Because I don’t know what I’m doing. Guidance requested please.”

Considering Damien seemed to shrug off any warnings she gave him about other supernatural crap that happened in town, Ariana doubted that he’d put together two and two when it came to fae and mushrooms. Kaden seemed pretty certain Regan hated mushrooms and given how serious Regan was, she doubted she was really into pranks. Still, if she happened upon some mushrooms, that could have changed her outlook a bit. At least from what Ariana understood about fae and mushrooms which admittedly wasn’t much for someone who had a warden girlfriend. She looked Damien and Kaden both with an amused grin on her face and wondered why they weren’t just throwing the mushrooms out. “Couch, seems good enough until the kitchen is freed up,” she said with a shrug before she added, “And I’m a little old to be a girl scout, but I’ve gotten pretty good at baking. So don’t worry, you two be grumpy old men together and Rio and I can take over in the kitchen for a bit.” Before she even finished her sentence, she could practically hear Kaden grumbling about how he wasn’t grumpy or saying some French swear word. While he hadn’t responded, it still left her smiling. She linked her arm up with Rio’s and assured, “No worries, Rio. I’ve been baking with your sister long enough that I’m practically an expert at this point.” Somehow, the timer was going off again and she swore it had only been a few minutes. Someone was definitely joking around here. If this was a cartoon, she was sure steam would be coming out of Kaden’s ears and that was enough to have her laughing amongst the chaos again. She dragged Rio into the kitchen, turned the timer off, and whispered, “Okay, what the hell is going on here? Who is not me and pranking Kaden?” Mime stripper reviews crossed her mind and her eyes lit up. She poked her head out of the kitchen and asked, “Hey, Kaden? Has Nell been here recently?” Though mushrooms still didn’t seem like Nell’s style even if she had joked about enchanting vegetables after the potato incident.

Damien was going to elect Ariana as the leader of this little group, she seemed to be the thread that connected most of them, but he also did not want to give Ari the satisfaction of his vote. So, he took to his role in accompanying Kaden to the couch as the second half of the grumpy man team, throwing an arm around Kaden’s shoulder as he indulged in his beer. “I’ll be happy to fit the grumpy man trope if it lets me finish my drink,” he murmured to Kaden, maneuvering towards the couch. Damien let his body all but crashing into the cushion, sinking in without protest. The time spouted off again causing him to briefly turn his head to see how the others were managing the kitchen before returning his focus on the drink. He knew he shouldn’t ask what came next, that he shouldn’t want to know, but some part of him had grown to care for these people and Damien struggled to ignore that. “How are things going with Regan, with her classes I mean?” he asked Kaden, “is she taking breaks in-between to work on the pie business?”

“Guess Ari is your guidance,” Kaden said back to Rio. “Just shout if you all need help. And I’m not that old, alright,” he grumbled as he took a seat on the couch. Putain, he couldn’t remember the last time he sat down today, if he was being honest. Maybe the teenage werewolf was right and he did need the break. The timer went off again and he pinched his nose between his fingers, hoping the pressure would relieve some of the tension in his head. It wasn’t working so he took a swig of his drink instead. It didn’t make the headache go away but it was good beer and it was better than the goddamn mushrooms. “It’s not Nell. Or Blanche. Or Grace.” Not that it was even possible to be some of them but he knew the cause of this was a small fae who had taken up residence in his apartment. Another swig was definitely necessary. “How do you know Nell, anyway?” Then again, it wasn’t hard to run into at least one Vural in town. Well, now that there were three again. Kaden sighed and was about to take another drink but Damien’s comment made him stop and furrow his brows. “Huh?” he asked as he looked over to Damien. Classes? What cl-- Oh. Oh. That’s right. When he’d explained the banshee lessons. Putain. “Uh, yeah it’s going alright. She’s made progress I think. Almost done. But yeah, the pies have been a good break for her. As much of a fucking mess this is, it’s been nice to have.”

Somehow, the two youngest ended up in charge of the pies. Luckily for Orion, Ari knew what she was doing. Unluckily for him, she knew what she was doing because of his sister. She wasn’t exactly an ideal conversation topic. Ironically, she was probably the most conflicting part of his own friendship with Ari at this point. He trusted her to keep Ari safe, but not much beyond that. “Just tell me what to do. I’ll be the obedient sous chef.” Rio laughed. When she whispered to him he shrugged but glanced toward the two. He didn’t know Damien, but he didn’t really seem the type. Kaden hadn’t been wrong to suspect Ari first, admittedly. “No idea. But all seems very… fae-y. Just pretend that’s a word.” The kitchen was a mess and he couldn’t tell what parts of that were their doing and what part was whatever was continuing to mess things up. While he waited on instructions, Rio worked to try to tidy up. “We have a very intricate young person friend group, Kaden.” Rio answered his question. Of course they knew Nell. Probably because of Winston. At least in Rio’s case, they had been the common string that introduced most of the friends Rio had now. “We’re all very tight knit.” Trauma and near death experiences had a habit of encouraging bonding experiences.

Seeing as Kaden wasn’t dropping any hint of who the hell was playing mushroom pranks on him, Ariana figured it was probably time to drop it. She could always bug him about it later. It seemed like she could have a true partner in crime with pranking Kaden. The part of her that enjoyed the clout on TikTok was delighted. The part of her that still struggled to wrap her head around fae things after everything with Lydia and then Deirdre, decided maybe this prankster wasn’t up her alley. Mushrooms brought a rightful sense of unease. “Your sous-chef duty for now is gonna be turning the timer off since it seems to like going off every 2 minutes and we all have too good of hearing for that shit,” she said to Rio who could probably already sense she wasn’t the only werewolf in the room. She got to rolling out some more dough for the crust and called out, “What he said.” It was easier than explaining they chatted online a few times before Nell and Bea helped make charmed jewelry to help protect her and Celeste. So much help that did, not that it was their fault. With a few more crusts cut out, she got another batch of pies ready to move into the oven. As crazy as the afternoon was, Ari found there was some sort of content feeling that came with being surrounded by people she loved.

[walker-journal]

@3starsquinn​  [pm] This is the worst thing that’s ever happened to me

Oh. Well that is very nice of you. Are we even talking? I haven’t talked to you in a very long time. I don’t even know if I like you anymore. I mean clearly I must or I wouldn’t be replying to this. I hate this.

Clearly this whole repressed virgin thing has made its rounds. I’d be flattered that so many people care about my public messages if I was already so mortified. But uh... thanks. I will take that grossly described but surprisingly nice message to heart. I uh... hope you’re doing okay? You haven’t murdered anyone else I know have you?

[pm]

Lol its fine, dude I’m embarrassingly horny on main like....every other day. People are pretty forgiving. 

and of course we care about you man.

Uh I’m alright, I’ve finally healed up with my powers and whatnot. Getting back into the football season. 

How are you doing, uh, boning frequency aside? 

[virgil-achyls]

@3starsquinn I relate to this. Except I never came here, I was born here. But we're both still here. I don't love that for either of us

[pm] I don’t love it for us either. It really sucks. I keep wanting to go home, but there’s nothing left of it 

Has this place ever felt like home to you? I’m genuinely curious to know from someone who’s been here all their life. It just seems like it’d get exhausting to be here forever.

[wickedmilo]

[pm] Hey there! It's me, Rio. Or Orion. Whichever one you're used to. I am texting you because you put your number in my phone. So I wanted to say hi. And I'm looking forward to hanging out. So uh- hi.

[pm] Which would you prefer?

[pm] I did indeed put my number in your phone

[pm] And I am also looking forward to hanging out

[pm] Hi

[letsbenditlikebennett]

Welcome Home or Something || Ari & Rio

TIMING: Current PARTIES: @3starsquinn & @letsbenditlikebennett SUMMARY: After some time away, learning from another scribe, Rio has returned home to White Crest. In a stroke of luck, Ari finds him in the Common and the two have a heartfelt reunion

White Crest looked mostly unchanged, and yet somehow everything felt different. Rio hadn’t been back to town since he left almost a year ago and he wasn’t actually sure what he was coming back to. For the first time in his life, he had finally made friends, gotten free from his hunter past and started to make a path for himself. But he had lost friends too. This town was a revolving door, bringing so many important people into his life, but taking them from him too. 

 Unsure of where exactly he should go now that he was back, he found himself roaming the Common. He spent a lot of time here, between classes and avoiding going home, Rio liked to find an open bench. He could read there for hours, well past dark when the sun fell and his hunter sight kept him reading. He had a few spots in town that he wanted to check out before he figured out where he would sleep for the night, but this felt like the right place to start.

 He hadn’t expected to see anybody he recognized, admittedly. From what he remembered, most of his friends from before had left town too. But even from behind, Rio could recognize Ari anywhere. “No way…” There was an immediate tightening in Rio’s chest, as his stomachs did somersaults at the news that one of the most important people in his life might actually be here too. She was across the field, far enough away that anybody without super hearing probably couldn’t hear. “Ari!” He cupped his hands over his mouth and screamed it as loud as he could. He hated drawing attention to himself, hated thinking he may be the one disrupting someone else’s peaceful day at the Common. But at this exact moment, he really couldn’t care. All he cared about was seeing Ari again for the first time in a year. Rio only waited until she turned and he could confirm that it was her before he started sprinting across the field towards her.

Sitting still had never been something Ari had been particularly good at. There had always been so much energy brewing just under the surface that she found impossible to ignore even when she was bone tired from months of practically no sleep. The closer she got to the planned day for her exorcism, the more anxious she found herself. Every time she tried to just exist on the couch with Noodle and Luna she found herself bouncing in place. It was how she found herself walking through the Common in a daze, adamantly trying to keep her mind away from anything that would feed the demon that decided she was its personal guilt buffett. 

 The paths through the Common were all familiar and Ari could walk them without paying much attention to what else was going on around her, a dangerous choice in White Crest, but she found it hard to care. The repetitive motion of her footfalls was soothing in its own way, it was movement at least. When she heard her name, she didn’t think much of us. The voice was familiar, but it always was. The demon used voices of people she loved to pull her down, chip away at any ounce of self worth she had left. So her steps only slowed slightly, unable to completely abandon hope. It had never taken this particular voice before. She turned and saw a familiar face across the way. Rio. If this was just another illusion, it was a cruel one, but as he bolted across the way and she could smell him, her eyes watered up without her even realizing it.

 On instinct, Ari found her feet carrying her towards the friend she hadn’t seen in far too long. One she never thought she’d see back in White Crest let alone when she needed him the most. She ran as fast as she could, barely able to stop herself from crashing into him as her arms flew around him. Rio was solid. He still smelled like him. He was here and she was clinging onto him like he could fade away at any moment. “Rio,” she breathed out, “You’re here.” She didn’t dare let him go or be bothered to care that people were definitely staring at them. “I’ve missed you.” 

  The distance closed between the two fast, and Rio held his arms wide as Ari crashed into him. The two both wrapped each other into what was probably the tightest hug he had ever had, a reminder of just how strong Ari was. That same familiar tingling sensation traveled up his back, causing the hairs on his neck and arms to stand up straight. His hunter senses were going haywire, alerting him of a very close werewolf, what should have been a premonition of danger. But Rio had missed this sensation more than anything else over the last year, and he had never felt safer. They were finally reunited, and Rio couldn’t have asked for a better reunion as soon as he got back to town.

 “I’m here” Rio repeated, the sound was muffled and he realized all too quickly that tears had already started running down his face. Well, that was quick. “You’re here” Rio finally said, still not pulling away from the hug, “I didn’t even realize you were back in town. I’ve missed you so much.” He could repeat it a hundred times and it still wouldn’t feel like enough. He hadn’t realized just how lonely he had been the last year until right now. “Have you been back a while?”

 If her sleep hadn’t been plagued with nightmares and nightmares alone, Ari would have thought this moment was too good to be true. To just happen upon the one person she felt closest to even after a year apart, it felt surreal. It made her hesitant to even blink, like this moment could slip away out of her reach again. All she could do was hug him tighter and let the tears flow freely. Rio of all people wouldn’t care if she cried all over his shirt. It wouldn’t be the first time and it probably wouldn’t be the last. The fact it wouldn’t be the last made her feel more at ease than she had in months. She nodded into his chest when he mentioned her being back too, still unable to pull herself away. 

 Ari only loosened her grip when she was met with an actual question. She stepped back and looked at him. He was still taller and he looked good. Rested, even. She nodded. “Been back since about December I think. Road life got a little… lonely I guess.” She’d never admitted as much out loud, but it felt freeing and she knew it was safe with Rio. “When’d you get here,” she asked, “And where are you staying? How was being away? And okay… that’s a lot of questions, we should—” She looked around to see if anyone was sitting under favorite tree and let out a sigh to see it wasn’t. She gestured to the tree across the field. “Let’s go, sit, catch up. Eat some of the stupid amount of Takis I have in my backback.” 

 Once the hug was over, Rio missed it almost immediately. But it made no sense to hug for the rest of the day in the middle of the Common. There would be plenty of time to catch up and hug Ari later. Now, after all this time the two would finally get the chance to just talk again. A genuine conversation with her was one of the things Rio had missed more than anything.

 Luckily, Ari seemed to agree. She started bombarding Rio with questions with no break in between for him to answer them. She eventually realized this and offered for the two to step away from the center of an open field and under a tree where the two might be afforded a tiny bit more privacy. The whole time this was happening, all Rio could do was laugh as he wiped away the tears streaming down his face. He had missed Ari so much and even he hadn’t expected his reaction to be so emotional. So visceral. He started trying to answer her questions as he remembered them. “I know what you mean. About being lonely.” Rio started, “Literally today. I just got into town and walked to the Common. It’s like… a huge stroke of luck that I ran into you here.” Where was he staying? It was a great question that he hadn’t quite figured out the answer to, “Uh- not sure yet. I used to live in that house with Skylar. That belonged to that one weird rich lady who said I had no muscles and called me onion. But it’s been a whole year. I don’t think I live there anymore.”

 Rio took a quick break when Ari offered him food, “Oh my god. You always knew the fastest way to my heart. I will eat all of your takis” Rio laughed again. God, it felt so good to genuinely laugh. “But it was… good? I mean I missed you and everyone like crazy, but I think I needed some time away from White Crest.” He didn’t even need to ask Ari if she knew what he meant. She had left town for a while too. Clearly she knew what it was like to need some time away. “But how have you been? Are you doing okay? White Crest hasn’t like… totally traumatized you since you’ve been back has it?”

  The smile that refused to leave her cheeks was already making her cheeks sore. Ari couldn’t remember the last time she smiled like this. There was no sadness lurking just beneath the surface, she was truly overjoyed in a way she’d been so scared she wouldn’t feel again. She sniffled as she led the way to her favorite oak tree and wiped away some of the stray tears sliding down her face. This was the last thing she had expected today, or any day, and she hung onto every word Rio said. Memorizing them and the way his voice sounded. She frowned at the realization he got the lonely part. “Well, no more being lonely for either of us,” she said assuredly, her mind not wandering to whether or not she even deserved that for the first time in months, “Where’d you get off to anyway?” 

 It was nice to think that it was more than just her own nerves that pushed her to leave her spot on the couch and walk around town. Catching Rio on his literal first day back while not even meaning to? It was a stroke of luck that not even Ari could deny. It was overwhelming in a way, how much she felt all at once as she flashed him a watery smile. “We were meant to find each other clearly.” She nodded along as he spoke of where he was staying… or the lack of certainty on where he was staying and she perked up. The farm had been terribly lonely and too quiet without someone else who could actually talk around. It almost felt too hopeful that he’d even accept her offer, but she couldn’t not let him know he always had a place with her. “Well, I’ve got a whole ass farm to myself and definitely have an extra bedroom and would obviously love to have you. Wait– hold up, Onion? That’s… different. I’m still gonna call you Oreo.” She shook her head and finished, “But yeah, you’re welcome to stay with me as long as you’d like. I mean, only if you want to! I will be gone tomorrow, but should be good to come home Monday.” 

 As they reached the tree, Ari pulled her backpack around and grabbed the blanket she had in there and threw it out on the ground before tossing Rio a bag of Takis. “Glad to know some things never change,” she responded with a wide grin that refused to fade. “I get that and I’m glad the time away was good. I know how heavy shit can get here.” Her smile somewhat faltered as she remembered how heavy shit had gotten since she returned. It’d been so easy to forget it all in how excited she was to see one of her dearest friends. Then Rio had his own string of questions and Ari couldn’t help but laugh at the last one. It was a little dark, finding humor in the shit show her life had been since she’d gotten back, but she couldn’t quite help it. She shook her head as the laughter settled and chewed on her lower lip as she tried to form a real answer. “Uh,” she trailed off, “Not totally sure how to answer that one. Totally traumatized probably covers it, but that might just be the guilt demon that’s taken up residence in yours truly. It’s getting yeeted tomorrow. Hence the not being home. Making Kaden surround me with pie post exorcism like you do or something.” She shrugged as if it was totally normal… which in this town it just might be. 

 Wasting no time, Rio pulled himself into a pretzel position on the ground and shoved a handful of taki’s into his mouth. He couldn’t be sure how much he had changed over the last year, if he had changed at all. But one thing that had certainly not gotten any better was his diet. He still survived on fast food and junk. He rarely felt thankful for his hunter genes, but he may owe that to him still being at least tangentially in shape. He held one single taki towards Ari as if it was a champagne glass, “Well, cheers to not being lonely anymore” he grinned, knocking the taki against Ari’s and popping it into his mouth. “Oh. Right. Well I guess a friend of my uncle’s-” Rio paused momentarily as he realized he didn’t spend a lot of time talking about his uncle, “Long story- but my uncle was kind of more like me than the rest of my family. He left town when I was a little kid.” He waved this away and got back on track, “Friend of my uncle. Former scribe. I guess he heard about what I had been trying to do and reached out to me. Invited me to come and take a look at his own archive and learn some stuff from him.” It was the simplified version of why he had left, and why he had stayed gone so long. But it worked for now.

 Rio wasn’t sure if he believed in fate at all, but if it did, he liked the idea that something good could come out of it. Reuniting him with Ari was just about the best thing it could have done. “You have a farm?” Rio asked, raising an eyebrow in her direction, “Do you farm now?” He should question how she came to own the place, but considering he had lived in a massive house that he inherited from a selkie who inherited it from a hunter who rented it from some weird rich lady, he wasn’t sure he’d quite understand the intricacies of White Crest real estate. “Yeah, you know I’m really not sure how all these food nicknames got started for me, but I think I prefer Oreo.” He wasn’t surprised that Ari had offered him a place to stay, but he was surprised that he had not even been back in town for a day before he found a place to sleep. A place that wasn’t a dusty, unused mattress in an abandoned building. “I- I mean yeah. If you don’t mind. At least until I find a place?”

 The laugh in place of an answer told Rio all he needed to know about how Ari’s time back in White Crest had been. He wasn’t shocked in the slightest. If anything, he was just thankful she was still all in one piece. “A guilt demon?” Rio questioned, laughing curiously before the realization hit him. “Oh. Oh. Like literally a guilt demon. That wasn’t a metaphor. Right. I should have known that.” Wow. He really willingly came back to this town, huh? “Okay, um. Well it sounds like you’ve got a plan in place at least. Let me know if I can like… do anything to help? Remember that one time I got a magic eyeball stuck in my hand? I totally learned a demon language from that experience. Like multiple all nighters studying as many books as I could. Probably not the same demon language as yours since there are probably like thousands. It’d actually be pretty coincidental if it was the same demon language right? I guess more concerning than coincidental. Sorry- I’m rambling. I’m just still trying to process the whole ‘possessed by a guilt demon’ thing I think? I’ll stop talking now.” He shoved more taki’s in his mouth to speed up that ‘shutting up’ process.

 There was a smile on her face as she toasted her taki to Rio’s. It was the easiest Ari had smiled in too many months. Just the presence of someone she considered such a good friend made everything feel a little bit lighter, even if all her problems were still there. She offered her “Cheers” and actually felt in the spirit for it. Even if it felt the whole town was against her sometimes, someone out there had to be looking out for them. To find Rio when he got back to town was a stroke of luck she’d happily take. She nodded along as he spoke. From what she remembered, Rio hadn’t spoken about his uncle before, but it was good to know he had someone else in his family that was more like him at some point. She knew how much the scribary had meant to him and how it had essentially saved her ass on more than one occasion. She popped a taki in her mouth and took in everything. “So, you’ve got more of an archive going, then,” she asked eagerly, “That stuff is a little over my head, but learn anything particularly cool? Or that I can help with?” 

 Ari found herself laughing a bit. While she guessed some of her outfits fit the whole farmer aesthetic, she base level kept Ulf’s crops alive while he was out and about doing… whatever it was he did while he was away. Chilling with other wolves and finding souvenirs for her? She set her bag of takis down and chewed her lower lip for a minute. The darker reason was without Alcher there, someone had to man it though it dawned on her Rio would at least be proud of the turn that caused Kaden to make. “Saying I farm is giving me a little too much credit,” she joked, “I follow a very specific schedule for watering that was left for me. Guy who owns it comes back twice a year to plant and harvest. I just make sure nothing dies in the meantime though I did get chickens so eggs galore.” She gave him a nudge. “I think it’s because you’re sweet as an Oreo… which was super fucking cheesy, but I don’t care.” She lit up at the answer to staying with her and bounced a little in her seat. “Of course it’s okay. I would literally love to have you there. Place gets lonely… which is probably why I’ve been crashing on the dumpster couch at work or Kaden’s. Even got a pool for summer. Not like a real one, but it’s above ground and pretty fun. Fair warning, the woods are a little trippy right now and it's in the Outskirts, but you know this place.” 

 Due to her own laughter, Ari couldn’t really blame Rio for thinking she was making a joke about the demon. It was a little easier to laugh than cry, especially when she was still so stoked to have her best friend here with her. “I wish I was being metaphorical,” she shrugged, “Don’t think I’m much good at metaphors even. But yeah, been housing a literal demon for… too long because—  I don’t really know. Told myself I deserved it? Wanted to be okay for everyone else? Who fucking knows. What I do know is I’m sleeping for a week once this thing is yeeted out of me.” She looked up at Rio with a genuinely touched expression, eyes filled with adoration. “You’re the best, you know that right? I think the exorcist has it handled. That’s wild about the demon languages though. I’m glad you don’t have the eyeball in your hand anymore, but I guess knowing a random demon language is useful? Wait, do you have like a lot of books on demons and stuff because of well… you know.” She playfully nudged his arm. “Please, I’ve missed the Rio rambles. And that was kinda a bomb to drop anyway. Like oh, how’ve you been? Oh, you know, hosting a demon in my brain. Real chill. Weirdly, better than any of the alternatives though. Well, I mean I guess no nightmares or hallucinations would be the best alternative, but guilt demon beats my original guess which was I finally lost it.” 

 “Yeah! I learned some pretty cool stuff.” Rio grinned, always one to get a little too over excited when it came to this stuff. He had been lucky to finally make friends around town that had celebrated that side of him instead of calling it useless or boring. “Learned lots about the undead. Which uh- I guess was never my family’s focus.” He still tiptoed around the topic. For both himself and Ari. He hated thinking about what his family had forced him to become, but one of the longest stretches he had gone not talking to Ari had been after she had found out that he was a hunter. All because he hadn’t been able to tell her himself, right from the get go. “We had the werewolf on my mom’s side and fae on my dad’s. So it wasn’t really their top priority.” He was sure that he would need Ari’s help soon, but for now all he really wanted was to spend time with her. “I haven’t even checked the Scribary out yet. It should be fine. It was abandoned for a lot longer before I started going there. But sometimes things slip through the barrier.”

 Picturing Ari farming was immensely amusing. The grin plastered on Rio’s face made his face sore, but he couldn’t stop it. “Please tell me you wear overalls and a little straw hat while you take care of the crops. Please, please, please.” He was giddy at the thought, and the knowledge that she was only following the instructions left by the owner would not ruin his joy. “Wow. Definitely cheesy. But I’ll take it.” He couldn’t think of the nickname without thinking of Adam, and a small twinge of pain bit at his chest at the thought of him. But he tried to push it away, at least for now. He expected feelings like this to bubble up now that he was back in town. “Well I’ll do my best to keep things less lonely then. It’s the least I can do. What do you mean by trippy?” He was thankful to hear that she was still close with Kaden. That nothing terrible had changed their dynamic. He had no idea how, but she had changed something in Kaden. Something Rio wasn’t sure he would have ever been able to do on his own. “He’s on my list. Of people I need to reach out to. Can’t believe I’m admitting that I missed a hunter.”

 Rio hated the idea that Ari could ever think she deserved something as awful as that. She had been a constant source of kindness, acceptance and love in his life since he had met her. He pulled his legs up into a fetal position and wrapped his arms around his knees, taking in all that Ari had to say. “I’m sorry you felt like… I don’t know that it was something you had to figure out yourself. Or just put up with.” If he had been here, would he have been able to help prevent it? Or catch it sooner? Whatever it took, really. “Oh yeah. The Scribrary had all sorts of books on demons. A lot of them were journal entries from scribes on first or second hand accounts of demons and possessions. I have some stuff on my laptop, but not sure if it would be helpful to your situation at all.” He wasn’t sure how the two were able to casually talk about her demon possession, but apparently that was what years of White Crest did to a person. “Ha. Yeah. Honestly, how else are we supposed to break news like that to each other anymore? It’s like a weekly occurrence here.” Rio laughed himself, but paused after a minute and reached his hand over to lay it on top of Ari’s, “But seriously. You haven’t lost it. And you’re way stronger than this thing. It doesn’t stand a chance.”

 “Undead, huh,” Ari asked, clearly intrigued, “My boss is actually a slayer. I’ve gotten pretty decent with spawns. Well, except for that–  You know what nevermind. But if you’re looking for more stuff to archive he might know a thing or two.” The mention of family made her tense up slightly, but only because there was someone she wanted to ask about and wouldn’t. It wasn’t like she really deserved to know what Athena was up to. Plus, she had no idea where the twins stood, their relationship had been far from simple. If things were still tense between Athena and Rio, she didn’t necessarily want to remind him of it. If he was staying with her, he’d eventually have to bring up Athena, right? She tried to shove those thoughts down to keep herself from just blurting the question right out. “Oh yeah, makes sense. Slayer territory and all or something. Not like there’s a shortage of any of the above in this place,” she offered with a laugh. Her smile returned in full swing at the mention he hadn’t even been to the Scribrary yet. She really found him at his first stop. “You haven’t been by yet? On the off chance something did get in, I’ll go with you the first time you check it out. Just to be safe and all.” 

 Ari found herself laughing enthusiastically with Rio’s question and she let her arms fall forward onto her knees in a more relaxed stance. “You caught me,” she answered with a devious grin, “How could I farm and not get some very classic TikToks? I’m pretty sure that’s illegal. Plus, I look damn good in overalls.” She wasn’t entirely sure how to describe the woods right now. Everything just looked, felt, and smelled wrong. It wasn’t any one thing that created the uncomfortable feeling it was giving off. “Hm,” she looked back up at him, “Oh yeah, just knowing you’re near is already a big help in the loneliness department. I know it’s been like a year, but being around you doesn’t feel like it, ya know? But the woods… I don’t know how to explain it. Everything looks slightly off. Nothing smells like it’s supposed to. Like tree branches will move in the opposite direction of the wind. Obviously still crawling with a variety of creatures ready to fuck your day up.” The thought of him reaching out to Kaden was something she looked forward to. With the current existential crisis Kaden was going through, she was pretty sure Rio would be a great person to have around. It kind of amazed her how they both started at complete opposite ends of the hunter spectrum and were now converging. “I think he’d like that,” she noted, “He’s had a rough go recently, but I think you’d be proud of him. I am.” She paused for a moment and had a mischievous glint in her eyes, “He’s accepted himself for the Swiftie he is.”  

 Sitting next to Rio, Ari could almost believe what he was saying. She almost felt like the person she was before accidentally mauling someone or standing frozen, unable to stop Kaden and Alcher from fighting each other. It was almost as if Rio brought all the better parts of her back with him, but that was probably the joy talking. Still, him and Kaden knew more about her than anyone else and didn’t think she deserved all of this… And they were the best people she knew. “I guess it’s not okay, but I think the fact it’s happening in the first place is kinda eye-opening,” she shrugged as her fingers instinctively found the hem of her jacket, “Skipping the White Crest version of life lessons would’ve been preferred, but eh, I’d rather be going through it with people I care about than just coasting by alone.” She listened aptly as he spoke of the different books on demons. “Oh, my situation is chill. I have a good exorcist. Just kinda looking into another demon related thing, but that’s a problem for another day. One I’m supposed to stay out of, but you know me.” And he did. She laughed a bit, he was right there. There was no not shocking way to share White Crest news. “You make a fair point. Welcome home or something.” She laughed a bit which faded when she felt Rio’s hand on hers. She accepted the comforting gesture and found an easy smile remained. “Kicking ass is something I’m good at,” she joked, “But thanks, I’m really glad you’re back. I’ve said it like five times, but I missed you so much. I say we get milkshakes and burgers from Al’s on the way home to celebrate.” 

 Concerned was an understatement for the pit that formed in Rio’s stomach when Ari mentioned that her boss was a slayer. He immediately thought of Dani, so eager and ready to kill someone she had formerly called a friend. He trusted Ari to judge people accordingly and choose who to trust, but it was the hunters that he lacked faith in. Yet Ari had always had some special talent, charming some of the toughest hunters that Rio had known onto her side. He had always found it ironic, Ari had more hunters in her life that she liked than Rio did as a hunter himself. A hunter by birth at least, not exactly practice. “Wow. You never cease to amaze me,” Rio laughed, genuinely impressed. “I probably should, I guess. I mean the Scribes used to do that all the time. Sought out first hand accounts to add to their records. I haven’t exactly reached that level yet.” The way she offered to go with him made him blush even further. She had always been protective of him, “You’re always welcome there. But you don’t have to come if you’re busy. It’s hard to believe I know, but I do have enhanced strength too.” 

 The Tiktoks. He had always loved her tiktoks, no matter how embarrassed he acted when she had talked him into starring in one. But it had also been one of the few things that kept him connected to her while he was gone. He could really only continue to smile as she joked about farm life as a tiktok star because then she was moving on to the woods and Kaden. Both intriguing topics in their own right. “Huh” was all Rio said at first, pondering her explanation of how the woods had changed. “Weird. I wonder what could cause something like that? A spell or curse or something? Or something worse. It’s probably worse.” It was White Crest, it was always worse. Maybe more concerning than the woods was hearing that Kaden had been having a rough time. For all the times that Rio had sworn he hadn’t liked Kaden and that the two would never be able to find common ground, Rio had ended up caring a great deal for the man. It didn’t make any more sense to Rio now than it did then. “You know I always had a feeling. All that ABBA music that the Silver Bullet played really just lays the groundwork for Taylor fans.”

 Even during dark times, Ari had the magic ability to make Rio feel completely safe and fine. Even as he sat here, terrified for her and worried sick that she was in incredible danger, he couldn’t help but think that things would be okay. “You can’t learn and grow in this town unless you’re actively running and in pain too.” He did know her. And he knew that once she had her mind set on something, she wasn’t going to be stopped by a few adults telling her to leave something alone. “I’d love to help out with some of that B-side demon stuff if you need it.” 

 The two sat like that for a long moment, Rio’s hand resting on Ari’s. Between that and the hug the two had shared earlier, it was almost easy to forget just how uncomfortable he had been with any level of physical touch a few years ago. In a lot of cases, he still was. But he never felt more safe than he did around Ari. The mention of Al’s made his mouth literally salivate, “Oh my god. This is why I love you so much. I’ve been craving Al’s for a year now.”

“My only plans after tomorrow for at least a week are  just to sleep and eat my weight in Takis and the pies I’ve got Kaden making for me,” Ari assured with a smile, “And I do know you’re capable and all, I’d just feel a lot better if I was there to scope it out with you when you go back for the first time.” She knew she was maybe a bit paranoid and overprotective, but the worst case scenario seemed to be a White Crest special. She’d only just gotten Rio back, she wasn’t letting anything happen to him, not if she could help it. A year without him had been long enough, she wasn’t risking forever. That was a thought she actively had to push down. She was filled with too much joy to let something like worry ruin it. She quickly added, “But yeah, I’ll introduce you too. If he starts being an ass or too grumpy, just text me. I’ll turn Bezos I on his speakers. Usually snaps him right back into shape.” 

 Admittedly, Ari hadn’t thought too long or hard on what the source of the forest being trippy as hell was. It wasn’t like she had the slightest clue of what could cause something like that unless there were just magically ballybogs in the air… which actually sounded more fun than what was actually happening. She shrugged, “Not really sure, but probably something worse. Seems pretty par for the course around here.” If she knew Rio, there was a good chance he was going to read one of the many books in the Scribrary to find an answer and she’d be there right alongside him as much as she hated reading. In her mind, she already assigned herself to snack duty. It wouldn’t speed up her reading, but it’d keep them both fed. At the mention of Silver Bullet, Ari snorted out a laugh. “You mean to tell me that the hunter bar plays ABBA,” she asked incredulously, “Wow. Checks out though. Kaden loves ABBA. Celeste loved ABBA. But I love this Swiftie preparation.”

 “Yeah, that sounds about right,” Ari agreed. Rio was the smart one in thai friendship afterall. It’d be nice to skip the actively running and in pain part everyone once and a while though. She guessed this was one of those moments where neither applied and she felt stronger than she had in a long time. “You make it sound like we’re dropping the hottest track of the summer. Appreciate it, though. There’s no one I’d rather read books and eat junk food with.” 

 The quiet was comfortable, something it hadn’t been in far too long. Ari didn’t find herself getting lost in those darker thoughts that had taken over her life for the past few months, not when the hand in hers and the presence beside her kept her grounded. She found her eyes nearly pooling up with tears again at the thought of how grateful she was, but she let food take precedence. She knew they could both hear the growling of her stomach and she had the feeling Rio missed his favorite milkshakes. “I had the feeling,” she responded with a playful grin as she stood up, “And I love you and not just because you literally never say no to an Al’s date.” She offered her hand to help him up alongside her practically bouncing on the balls of her feet. “In case I didn’t say it before, I’m so happy you’re here.” 

[athenaquinn]

@3starsquinn replied to your post “[pm] I heard. About Ariana. I don't know what your [d: sick] game is...”

[pm] I- Stop it. I don't know what your angle is or what the heck you're doing. But stop. Do not hurt her.

[pm] What angle? She’s adorable and trusting and I don’t know, what are your thoughts on runs in the woods? She’s a great running partner, and I do mean that. :)

[carbrakes-and-stakes]

3starsquinn a réagi à votre billet “[pm] Hey there! I hope you're okay! Athena mentioned something about a...”

[pm] Oh! Great! That's good to hear. I just heard there was like a scream and I wanted to make sure you were safe or whatever. I can help with cleanup!

[pm] Apparently I’m not the one targeted by the scream. I learned this just yesterday so my guess is that person died.

I would like that. I’ll get you gloves so you don’t end up cutting yourself.