#alcohol abuse tw

[whumpypepsigal]

Whumptober 2023 | No. 9

“You're a liar.”

Chicago Fire s11e14: “I know the visit from your brother was rough, but this isn't the way to handle it.”

@whumptober @whumptober-archive

[realmackross]

PARTIES: The Allgoods, @longislandcharm TIMING: July 29th (Evening/Night at Mack's Mojo Dojo Casa House) SUMMARY: The Allgoods and Winter come over for a Barbie themed sleepover at Mack's house. Good wholesome fun is had by all! :) WARNINGS: Unsanitary tw (what's new), mental health tw, alcohol abuse tw

Mackenzie was excited for the sleepover. She had made invitations. Made sure there was enough food for everyone. Had blankets and pillows at the ready. It was going to be a great night, and something she had needed for a long time. And with Winter having somewhat forgiven her, it was almost going to be like being back home. The invitation had said 6:30 pm, but at this point, as long as people showed up, it didn’t matter.

—

Alex was still surprised to receive a party invite that was extended specifically to her. She supposed she was actually doing the whole making friends thing now, which while scary, was kind of nice even if the car ride over had been a fairly quiet affair. Not that she minded all that much. Staring out the window while listening to Phoebe Bridgers was in fact a vibe. When they arrived at Mack's, she approached everyone who rode in Ariadne's car, keeping particularly close to Cass. When they walked up, she appreciated all the pink decor. A Barbie-themed sleepover was probably filling in the gap for some missed childhood experience. She waved to Mack as entered. "Hey," she greeted, "Thanks for throwing a sleepover... and inviting me. Hope you don't mind, I brought my guitar!"

—

Ever since Metzli's announcement that they were leaving, Cass had been... well, maybe down wasn't quite a strong enough word for it. She was devastated. Everything felt heavy and gloomy, the same way it always did when someone left. But this time, she had something she'd never had in the past to soften the blow: friends. The car ride with Nora, Aria, Wynne, and Alex had been quiet, but not uncomfortable. Cass already felt a little bit better just being with them. As they pulled up to Mack's house, she prepared to put on a happy face for the evening. The party wouldn't fix her... but it might distract her. She offered Mack a small, uncertain smile as they approached. "Hi," she mumbled, hoping the movie star wasn't still angry with her for the mime fiasco.

—

Ariadne hadn't entirely expected to play chauffeur to anyone except for Wynne, but Ariadne had been more than happy to drive Nora, Cass, and Alex. Especially since Nora and Cass (and Wynne) especially seemed miserable. She did her best to tap into who she was before everything, and had tried to cheer them up, with purple slushies and ham and avoiding overly peppy music. She pulled up to Mack's house and gave her a wave. "I - thanks for inviting me, even if we haven't talked a lot other than the whole dance thing I - this is nice of you." She wrapped her hand around Wynne's waist and pulled them close to her, pressing a kiss on their lips.

—

Nora didn't want to go. Didn't want anything. Wanted to sit in the pool of her own self-pity, writhing in anger and confusion. But Nora also needed something to grab onto, to believe. So when her friends asked her to go, more than one, she pulled herself out of the hell hole of her own creation and got into the car when Ariadne came to pick them up. Nora should have known this was a mistake when they pulled up to Mackenzie Ross's pink-decorated house. She shoved her hands in her pocket and forced herself not to think of it. "Sup." She mumbled, shoving past the front door and walking into the manor.

—

Milo hadn't been to a sleepover in... Well, it had been a while. And while he hadn't been feeling the best lately, he had somehow landed an invitation to a sleepover at Mackenzie Ross' house. There was no way he wasn't going to that, especially since Mack had been so nice to him so far. He was a bit nervous about who else would be there, but the last party hadn't gone terribly, and he could use some fun, honestly. He arrived at the massive manor home armed with some snacks and drinks, and an overnight bag. "Hey," Milo greeted the group. "Thanks for the invite, Mack. Your place looks amazing!"

—

When Mackenzie got the alert on her phone that people were pulling into the driveway, Mack couldn't help but let out a squeal of joy; reminiscent of her old self. All she had wanted was a nice evening where it didn't feel like life...death was complete shit. Already dressed in her pink pjs ready for the night, she went outside and started to greet everyone. It was like she was a completely different person, "Hey guys! So glad you could all make it! There's a few more people coming, I think, but go ahead and go inside and make yourself comfortable." She had been surprised to see Nora show up, but the past was the past, and she was trying to turn over a new leaf with the girl.

—

Alex smiled as Mack spoke despite the fact she felt a little nervous. A slumber party was unchartered territory and she wasn't sure what all this would entail. The decorations did fit the mood she assumed their host was going for. She was pretty sure she had just literally walked into Barbie World. "You really went full on Barbie Dreamhouse and it's giving," she told Mack. The effort was awesome and so was the fact they were all hanging out again. "Hey, Milo," she greeted as he approached with a wave. She still felt a little out of place, but she was surrounded by familiar faces who were becoming more familiar.

—

Winter hadn't been so sure about showing up at Mack's place for some party since she wasn't exactly over the girl disappearing on her but what else did she have to do? The ghost on her tail was also unenthused about this whole night which was clearly written on his face. Too bad that made Winter want to go even more. She loved to annoy him. Pulling up to her house, she rolled her eyes and muttered under her breath about this being typical Mack before making her way inside to find blobs of pink obscuring her vision. "Don't say shit about me being late. This is an assault to the eyes by the way." She gestured around them before moving further into the room towards the others she didn't know. "Winter...nice to meet you all."

—

"Winter." Nora repeated the name without much affect in her name. Most people here were familiar. Milio was here, Nora wondered if today was the day she should scare him. It could be fun, but the more she thought about it, the effort to scare someone seemed like a lot of work. Maybe she'd sit at this party and be normal, and do normal party things like stand around and eat chips from the chip bowl. "Where are the snacks?" Nora asked, disappearing into the first doorway she saw to try and find the kitchen.

—

The inside of the manor was even more impressive. Milo had only ever lived in apartments, this place was an actual dream house. He was relieved to see the familiar faces, especially those of Cass and Alex. Even if the latter had made him eat soap, he had become somewhat friendly with them. He smiled at them, offering a friendly wave to the newcomer. "Nice to meet you, too. I'm Milo."

—

Alex waved. "Hey, Winter!" Her tone almost matched the vibe of the decorations. She still felt worried after her meeting with Nora in the mines, but by all indications, she'd been truthful when she said that Alex had helped. There wasn't anything in her mannerisms that was especially cold toward her either. She'd gotten the same characteristic monotone from Nora that everyone else had gotten though the bugbear had quickly gone to find snacks. So she returned her focus to the group around her and gave Milo a playful grin. "Promise I won't make you eat soap this time, bestie."

—

"I'm Ariadne," she gave a nod to Winter. "This is Wynne. My partner." She didn't let her hand leave theirs. "I brought a lot of candy, if anybody wants? I'm not the biggest fan of salty snacks. I'm much more of a sweets girl." Said with perhaps more enthusiasm than was necessary, perhaps, but she'd gotten decent at faking that this past year. The house was exceptional. She'd never been in a place this big (at least invited on purpose). "Hey Milo," she offered him a small smile.

—

Milo laughed. "I'd appreciate that, thanks." He greeted Wynne and Ariadne. "I also have salty covered," he said, holding up the bags of snacks. "Also, rum, if anyone wants drinks."

—

Mackenzie followed everyone inside, "Thanks, Alex. I just wanted to match the vibes you know? Thought we could all use something fun." All things considered in this town...She heard Nora ask about the snacks, "You're headed down the right path, Nora. Just keep going." She had heard Winter's snarky ass comment and was honestly surprised that she had showed up after their meeting at the drive-in, "Fuck you too, Bestie." She moved into the living room and somewhat relaxed, "It's been a while since I've thrown a sleepover, so if there's any games or whatever...throw 'em out. This is a night of fun, even for you Winter, you crotchety old bitch."

—

"Nice to meet you, Winter!" It felt like a battle to glue that smile onto her face, but Cass liked to think it was a convincing one. It wouldn't fool Nora or Alex or Ariadne, but it might fool some of the people who didn't know Cass quite as well. "I'll take some snacks, definitely! And, um, games would be fun. I know we did truth or dare last time, so maybe never have I ever to keep things fresh?"

—

Miyeon wasn't surprised that she was fashionably late. For someone with meticulous organization and a well-penned planner, she still found herself running late for pretty much everything that wasn't her morning show. She was surprised she got an invite to this but she was pretty sure it had to do with Mack trying to keep Miyeon from digging too far into her. Like you don't tattle on your friends or whatever so that made sense enough. "Hey,' she said as she peeked through the door. "I brought nachos. And sangria. It's pink! Well, the sangria. Not that nachos"

—

Winter waved absentmindedly at everyone introducing themselves. She'd never remember all these names. The mention of all the snacks hadn't peaked her interest until she heard"rum" and then later "nachos" and "sangria." Her ears perked at that, the girl ignoring Mack's digs at her age as she smiled at the two who had brought the alcohol. "Anyone with liquor is immediately a friend. I'm always down for Never Have I Ever if it's the drinking game version."

—

"We can do the drinking game version," Cass agreed. Her experience with alcohol was fairly limited --- technically, she wasn't even old enough to have it in the States --- but she thought it would probably help with the vibes here.

—

Seeing everyone mingling made her happy, but there seemed to be a certain sadness hanging in the air. They needed something to pep up the night. Mackenzie wasn't sure what was going on with everyone, because most of the time she lived under a rock, but Cass and Winter's idea sounded fun, despite not being able to drink or taste anything. "Yeah, let's do it! I'll go get more alcohol." She wasn't against spicing things up as long as people could have some fun.

—

"I could drink," Nora called from down the hallway. Alcohol didn't seem to work for Emilio, maybe it would work for her.

—

"I - don't really drink, but..." Ariadne, "my cousin says I should live a bit more, so... sure. Or I'll just stick with Dr. Pepper, or something like that." The nerves were setting in, now, and even though she knew that she was here to support Wynne, she found herself incredibly grateful that they were here, too.

—

Miyeon followed Nora towards where the snacks seemed to be and set down the nachos and the jug of sangria. "Hey, Nora," she said with a wave. "If you want a drink, rose sangria is a good place to start." She winked and grabbed a solo cup and started to fill it up for herself. "Never have I ever could definitely be interesting with this group."

—

Nora gave a slight shrug, filling a solo cup up with sangria. She downed it in one and filled it up again. "Never have I ever kissed someone in public." She stated, knowing full well Ariadne and Wynne had just kissed in public.

—

Alex threw a smile in Miyeon's direction when she entered the manor. It was shaping up to be a good crew and all of the faces were familiar, which made relaxing easier. Rum would also do the trick in that department. "Drinking game never have I ever it is," she exclaimed. She turned to Cass and placed a hand on her shoulder, "Any drink preferences? I can grab one for you."

—

"Whatever you're having," Cass replied to Alex with a soft smile that was a touch more genuine than the one she'd been sporting so far. "I'm not really picky." And she didn't really know enough about alcohol to know her preferences.

—

Ariadne raised an eyebrow, once again thankful she couldn't blush. She grabbed a cup of something, hoping Chance would be proud of her, and downed half of it. "Never have I ever... snuck out of my house without my parents knowing."

—

"Never have I ever is always fun," Milo nodded in a agreement. There was something in the air, vibes slightly off. "You can definitely stick to soda if you're more comfortable," he said to Ariadne. "Can also just add a tiny bit." He shrugged, giving her a smile. "I don't usually drink much myself."

—

Miyeon laughed. "Alright, damn. Make sure you have some water, too," she said as she watched Nora inhale a cup of sangria. She did in fact have to take a drink at her first declaration. "Uh yeah, no shame in that one." And then again, Ariadne was making a statement that had Miyeon drinking again. "Come on, give me one second to breathe oh my god."

—

Nora stares at Ariadne. Did Ariadne know she was a runaway? Nora hadn't mentioned that, had she? She downed the drink again. Running away was sneaking out to an extreme, after all. A buzz pulsed over her skin. Maybe things weren't so bad.

—

Mackenzie left the room and went downstairs to get more alcohol in a spare fridge that didn't contain her food. She had hoped people were enjoying themselves, but she couldn't really tell anymore. Maybe it hadn't been the right time for a sleepover.

—

Alex grabbed two solo cups full of sangria for her and Cass, immediately taking a sip from her own for Nora's statement. It was a little convenient that Ariadne had just said hers too. No one would know which she was drinking for and who didn't love a little mystery. "Here you go," she said taking a seat next to Cass. She looked around the circle and tried to think of a good thing she'd never done. "Never have I ever eaten soap," she grinned, knowing that taking a sip from his drink early on in the night would be way better than eating soap.

—

Wynne took a drink because they did sneak out that one time :/.

—

Milo mixed some of the rum with soda, and quickly took two drinks, catching up.

—

Cass took a sip for Nora's statement, lowering the cup as Ariadne made hers. Hard to sneak out without your parents knowing when you'd never known your parents to begin with. Swallowing, she shifted. "Um, never have I ever left the movie theater before the credits finished playing. Gotta catch the extra scene. You know?"

—

Winter followed the nachos. They looked delicious as well as the pink sangria that was placed next to them and soon she had a solo cup in one hand as she ate with the other. She eyed the room, noticing that a lot of these people didn't seem so into the idea until she heard the first couple of Nevers uttered, prompting her to drink both times. "Sangria's good...props on that." The third Never uttered made her raise her eyebrows though, making a point to lower her cup.

—

"Never eaten soap, but Lush has the prettiest soap I think I've ever seen. Like, way prettier than most soaps," Ariadne looked over to Cass apologetically, "I have, but I won't ever again, okay?" She nestled herself against Wynne, running her fingers against their arm.

—

Nora took another drink. She'd left movies halfway through the movie because they were boring. Her eyes followed Winter as she came to stand near Miyeon and her. "Yeah, the sangria is good." Nora agreed. There was a light flush pressed against her cheeks. Maybe tonight wasn't so bad.

—

Miyeon noted who was taking a drink and who wasn't. "Looks like we have a lot of rebels in here. Good to know." She smiled. She also took a drink at Cass's statement. She was very sweet and maybe a little naive. Miyeon made a note to look out for her if the moment arose. Ariadne, too. Didn't have to drink for the soap one at least. "Never have I ever... gone viral online."

—

Milo: And quickly added a third, throwing a playful look at Alex. "I see how it is." He took another drink at Cass'. "Never have I ever gone skinny dipping."

—

Nora blankly stared at Miyeon. A new suspicion rising. She downed the drink again. As she went to refill her cup, she wondered if the world was spinning a little. Some sticky alcoholic liquid fell on her hand, she stared at it for a minute, trying to decide how she was going to deal with this new and quickly evolving problem.

—

Wynne leaned against Ariadne and drank despite it not applying to them. They just wanted another sip.

—

Cass took another sip of her drink at Miyeon's statement. Technically it was Magma who'd gone viral --- a short video clip that the internet later decided was definitely fake --- but Cass was pretty sure it still counted. Milo's statement actually drew a quiet giggle from her, and she finished the rest of her drinks. Nymphs didn't tend to see much importance in bathing suits.

—

Alex took a drink at Milo's statement. She was pretty sure rinsing off in rivers and lakes when they didn't have a place to stay counted as skinny dipping anyway. She noticed Cass drink at going viral and looked at her curiously. That was a story for another time, she was certain. "Never have I ever seen a movie in theaters."

—

Mackenzie came back upstairs with more bottles and sat them on the counter. Pouring herself a solo cup full of the strongest liquor at the party, she went and took a seat somewhere near the circle. She noticed Miyeon had arrived, but prayed nothing happened that would give the girl scoop for her next radio show, "Never have I ever won an Oscar."

—

Wynne asked, "What is skinny dipping?"

—

"Never have I ever been a f-" Nora managed to swallow the word as her slowed mind realized that this was maybe something she shouldn't say. Her mind stalled, blanking on what she was supposed to say. "Uh. Been a uh. Movie theater." She took a drink because she had been to a movie theater like Alex stated. Then Mack was stating never have I ever won an Oscar, cause once more everyone in the room needed to know she was a famous actress. Nora's blank gaze turned to Mack. Who was supposed to drink to that? Herself?

—

Three more drinks down and Winter had to wonder how young these people actually were. She was only two years older than Mack but suddenly she felt like the crypt keeper. Still, she wasn't throwing out any of her Nevers just yet as she got a feel for who she was dealing with. Her eyes drifted to her ghoul who looked so bored he could die for a second time and Winter snorted softly before looking around at the others.

—

Alex laughed. "Unless someone in this room is secretly William Bowery, I don't think anyone here has an Oscar. Maybe an uncle Oscar or something."

—

Cass refilled her drink only to take another sip at Alex's statement, flashing her a curious look. They'd have to change that, wouldn't they? "I don't think anyone here has won an Oscar," she agreed with a quiet laugh. Looking to Wynne, she added, "Skinny dipping is swimming without any clothes on."

—

Miyeon also noted who was taking a sip during her own statement. "A room full of internet superstars, too." She noticed that Nora was looking a little wobbly. "Hey, you might want to slow down a little there," she said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "I don't want to hold anyone's hair back tonight if I don't have to." Wait, was she about to say the word fox just then? Alright, Miyeon was already planning to find a hair tie, they were gonna need it.

—

Wynne nodded at Cass and took a long drink. Though they weren't sure what an Oscar was, they had never won one.

—

Ariadne pressed her lips against Wynne's ear. "I know a place we could do that sometime, if you ever wanted." Shaking her head, she refocused on the group. "No Oscar for me either, I don't think -- who's William Bowery?" She asked Alex.

—

Mackenzie caught sight of Nora glaring at her, "Does it look like I'm drinking, Nora." She looked over to Alex, "Sorry, it was the first thing that came to mind." She looked over to Winter, but also to the man sitting next to her. That was new.

—

Milo looked between Mack and Nora before taking a long drink. Yikes. He'd certainly been to the movies before but no Oscar or viral videos for him.

—

Alex answered, "It's a pseudonym... co wrote a few Taylor Swift songs. Sweet Nothing, exile, betty... and I think those are it." She looked to Nora who did in fact look like she was drinking faster than the rest of them. Her head tilted with concern, but she wasn't sure how to press as much. Getting a good read on people was how Alex usually navigated social situations and Nora was hard to read. Maybe that'd change with time. She found she hoped it did.

—

"Sweet." Ariadne grinned at Alex. "Still getting my Taylor knowledge to exist at all. I like exile, even if it's way sad." She looked over to Nora, offering her a look that wasn't sympathy (as she didn't think Nora would be receptive to that), but was comforting, she hoped.

—

Milo took a handful of chips before casually offering the bag to Nora.

—

Mackenzie looked back over to Nora, "Are you okay?"

—

Nora doesn't like that more people were giving her attention. Looking at her while she looked like this. Nora's blank expression, still well practiced, stared back at each of them in return. "Fine." Fine, she'd slow down if they all stopped looking. "I am okay. This is a fun party, Mack." She took the bag of chips and somehow fumbled a few into her mouth. "Good chips." She answered, swaying slightly in place.

—

"Thanks, I'm glad you're having fun." Mackenzie wasn't sure Nora was, but she was concerned for her well being. "Eat all the chips you want. There's a couple of different dips in the fridge too if you're into that sort of thing."

—

Miyeon would make sure to check that Nora wasn't curled up in the bathroom later that evening. For now, she downed her drink and poured another. She had to catch up after all. Also, things were getting too serious or whatever. Time to lighten the mood. "Never have I ever not done wolf girl jumps at a party." Her words were slurring a little but she was pretty sure that made sense.

—

"I prefer using the name William when talking about him, his real name doesn't deserve to be in conversation." Winter drank again but only because she needed to get drunk to deal with this much longer, something that also prompted the next Never out of her mouth so that she could gulp down the rest of her beverage while still being in the game. "Never have I ever had my Julie Andrews moment and mattress surfed down the stairs."

—

She could sense Wynne's quiet unease, even if they weren't entirely showing it, and stood up, giving their arm a small tug. "We'll - uh, we'll be back in a little while." Ariadne pulled them along, off to find a quiet, empty room where they could just be together. Once said room was acquired, she gave them a deeper kiss, pulling their body close to hers. "Figured we could use some time just the two of us."

—

Milo laughed, drinking at Miyeon's statement, only to grin at Winter. "Oh, man, what an iconic scene. I always thought that looked so fun, but we didn't have the stairs to try to do it at home." He took another drink, thinking back on watching Princess Diaries with his sisters.

—

“Sorry I’m late, but I brought Dippin’ Dots,” Chaisai called, juggling a handful of flavors of ice cream novelty cups as Chaisai breezed through the door.

—

Mackenzie heard the door open and saw Chai enter, "Hey! Welcome to the chaos that is Never Have I Ever. Kitchen's that way." She motioned with her head, "And while you're there grab a solo cup and come join the fun."

—

Alex looked to Cass, assuming she'd know what the heck Winter was talking about. "Julie Andrews moment," she asked in a whisper.

—

Miyeon was intrigued by this proposal by Winter. "Okay I've never done that but like, there's no time like the present, right?" She looked over to Mack to see if she was going to go for it.

—

"It's totally fun, you really should try to do it at one point." Looking at the new arrival, Winter contemplated following just for the ice cream of the future but then she spotted the stairs not far out of eyeline. "Actually, Mack has a nice set of stairs there."

—

"Oh! Can I grab a mattress?" The idea did sound like the sort of thing that would cheer her up. Maybe when Milo was done, Cass would take a turn of her own. She turned to Mack, flashing her a hopeful look. She didn't think the movie star was her biggest fan, but... Maybe she'd be okay with this. For the sake of the party and all.

—

Nora nodded, still swaying lightly on the spot. "Mack has a good set of stairs." Then Cass was getting excited about it, Nora thought. And Nora was happy because Cass was happy, and found something she wanted to do that looked fun. And Cass deserved to have fun at a party. Nora gave Cass a thumbs up.

—

"Uh, considering I haven't done anything crazy daring lately..." Except kill a huge spider... "Count me in!" Mack stood up and walked over to Cass, much like she had at the last party, "Let's go grab a mattress." She reached out her hand with a smile.

—

"Oh, fuck yes," Milo exclaimed. Mattress surfing and Dippin Dots? ...he might be feeling the drinks a little, but he was so in.

—

Ray entered for the first time

Ray left the chat

—

Mack was reaching for her hand, and Cass smiled, glad to see that things did seem to be mending a little between the two of them. "Save us some Dippin Dots," she ordered, taking Mack's hand and letting the movie star lead the way to the nearest mattress to be repurposed for stair surfing.

—

Alex was starting to put two and two together with the whole mattress surfing thing. Cass looked so excited that she couldn't help but catch some of that thrill herself even though she would decidedly not be surfing on a mattress that night. "Go do mattress beach, Barbies!"

—

Chai entered the kitchen and poured himself a drink and unceremoniously deposited the Dippin’ Dots on the counter before returning to the heart of the party. “Did I hear mattress surfing? Like that princess movie?”

—

Ray arrived a little late to the party after his shift at the restaurant. He'd had a few drinks on the way over to curb his anxiety in the crowds and was proceeding to try and keep up with the rest as they drank more and more. even drinking to ones he'd never done to fit in a little. "That sounds fun."

—

Mackenzie had let go of the frustration she had been harboring with the younger girl. It had been more of a concern than anything, but here they were about to mattress surf and make good memories! Mack led her upstairs towards one of the spare bedrooms, "We can grab this one. I think it's perfect for mattress surfing." She started taking off the comforter, pillows, and sheets.

—

"I've lived out my Princess Diary dreams, you guys have fun. I'm going for the dots." Maybe not eating the way she was supposed to this past month was starting to catch up with her because all of this food seemed to be calling her name. Being a little buzzed didn't help either. Winter made her way to the counter with the ice cream and grabbed a random flavor before she came back to watch the goings on. She playfully reached over with her spoon towards the ghost at her side just to annoy him before she took another bite. "Thank you for bringing these."

—

Milo got up to help the girls. "Hey, Ray!" he called over his shoulder.

—

Ray smiled at Milo and moved to put his bottle down to come to help as well "Hey dude, you going to surf too?"

—

Alex waved and said, "Hey, Soup!"

—

As the others mingled, Cass helped Mack grab the mattress. It was big. Bigger than she'd really expected it to be. She had an embarrassingly limited experience with something as simple as mattresses, had only ever really slept on cots and couches when she could find them, and the ground when she couldn't. It felt heavier than she'd expected, too, but she wouldn't let Mack see it. After the mime fiasco, she desperately wanted Mack to think she was cool and normal and nice. She'd do anything for that, especially now. "Okay," she grunted, nodding. "I got a grip. Come on!" Afraid she'd drop the mattress if she took too long with it, she rushed forward pushing both Mack and the mattress along.

—

That zombie strength would have come in handy right about now. Mackenzie could tell she was footing a lot of the weight, but it was okay. Once they got it to the edge of the steps, they'd be good to go. The night was definitely going so much better than she could have imagined. Everyone was having a good time, and Mack was able to let loose for once and not feel so paranoid. As she moved forward, she could tell Cass was using all her strength and it was causing Mackenzie to stumble, "Hey, Cass, slow down just a little will you?" Okay, maybe they should have just drug the thing instead. As she kept walking, she felt Cass push again, but this time Mackenzie couldn't control the additional weight, and before she knew it, she was pushed into the railing, before the mattress gave her the final push she needed to go over the railing. Everything suddenly flashed back to the day she died on the set of Dropped. And as much as she wanted to scream or try to better prepare herself to land safely, all the training in the world couldn't help her. Instead, she hit the hardwood floor head first cracking her neck and back for the second time with a hard thud. And once again, the world went dark.

—

"Sorry, sorry. I'm just trying to..." Cass trailed off, unable to focus on both supporting the weight of the mattress and carrying on a conversation. She grunted a little, shoving the mattress forward again. This was the problem with having a huge house, right? So much more ground to cover. She didn't mean to shove the mattress into Mack... but that was exactly what happened. And then, Mack was losing her footing, was stumbling over the edge, and was hitting the ground with a crack that Cass thought would live in her mind forever. Her breath caught in her throat, and she dropped the mattress to run to the edge of the railing, looking over with a nauseous feeling tugging at her gut. There was Mack, laying on the floor below with cracks rippling out from the tile around her. Not moving, not breathing. For a moment, Mack was Kuma, was Debbie. Cass thought she might be sick. "Oh my god," she said, panic gripping her. "Oh my god. I didn't --- I didn't mean to. Oh my god. Nonononono."

—

Miyeon's hands clasped to her mouth, gasping as she saw Mack tumble over the side of the balcony. The sound of her neck cracking, the thud to the hard floor echoed through the house. For a moment, Miyeon was frozen in place, stunned by shock. Had she just watched someone die? Had she just seen Mack Ross /die/? Her heart was pounding in her chest and she ran over to see if the host was alright. She reached down to her splayed out wrist, trying to feel for a pulse. There was nothing. She could feel panic grip her, her breaths growing shorter. She didn't know what to do and, for once, she had no idea what to say.

—

If he’d have blinked, he would’ve missed it. But he hadn’t. It happened almost I’m slow motion. One second Mack was tipping over the railing, and the next she was crumpled on the floor below. “Oh, shit!” Chaisai exclaimed. Mack didn’t look good, but he couldn’t bring himself to step towards her. He could not be the sober one here. Responsibility was not his strong suit. He downed the remainder of his glass before taking a single, deliberate step towards his friend. “Uh, hey, Barbie. Get up, please. Please?”

—

One minute Winter was eating the delicious ice cream and enjoying the buzz and then the next all she heard was the sickening crunch of Mack literally landing on her head after falling from the balcony above. Everything went into slow motion, the Dippin' Dots slipping from her hands and landing on the ground while she stared at her friend laying there. She watched as one of the others went forward and checked for a pulse, rooted to the spot, and when it was obvious that there wasn't anything to feel she let a whimper leave her lips.

—

Milo had been going up the stairs to assist Mack and Cass. He wasn't incredibly strong or anything, but he figured another pair of hands couldn't hurt. He was about halfway up when he saw Mack tumble over her railing. There wasn't enough time for him to even try to react before she had hit the ground with a horrifying, stomach turning crack. He stared wide eyed at her body at the ground, neck bent at an unnatural angle, frozen for a moment before he came to his senses. "Oh my god," he breathed. This wasn't happening. This could not be happening.

—

Ray was turning to greet Alex as well when he heard the creak of the bannister, head swivelling back around he caught the very moment that Mack hit the ground. A guttural yell escaped Ray as he registered the bones he'd heard crunching and the sight of Mack on the floor. Dead. She had to be dead. He was stock still and unmoving as he whispered to Ryan in his head "Is she gone? Can you tell?" Looking to Miyeon as she checked for a pulse.

—

Nora knew she was drunk. Nora knew that alcohol buzzed in her vein, clouding her thoughts much like her time in the mines. But as Mack's neck cracked against the wooden floor, she had trouble grasping it. This couldn't be real right? This was just a joke? Wasn't Mack proud of her acting skills? "Get up Mack, come on, it's not funny." Nora's words slurred as she spoke them. "Mack?" Nora tried to take a step forward, but the world was spinning around her. "Fuck." She said finally, sitting down on the floor, giving up on movement. "Not again."

—

Alex had been sipping her drink and watching Cass from afar as she helped Mack get the mattress over to the stairs. Everything happened so fast that she couldn't even get a word out before Mack was tumbling over the balcony and a crack was echoing in her ears. She automatically tuned in on Cass, who's heartbeat was moving more rapidly with every second and quickly leapt up to go over to her. It was an accident and Alex was a bit stunned that someone was dead but she had to make sure Cass was alright. "Hey," she said softly, "You didn't mean to, it was an accident. Just breathe slowly, ok?" She placed a hand on Cass's back and tried to rub soothing circles despite the fact she felt like she was going to be sick. There was a slight tremble in her fingertips that she hoped wasn't felt by the oread. The whimper that left Winter's lips told her everything she needed to know.

—

Alex was there in a heartbeat, standing in front of Cass and telling her to breathe. Breathe, like Mack wasn't. Because Cass had killed her. The panic was all-encompassing, to the point that she didn't hear Nora's muttered 'not again,' didn't register Miyeon checking Mack for a pulse, and didn't take note of Winter's whimper. All that existed was the body on the floor and the fact that Cass had put it there. She tried to look at Alex, but she couldn't tear her gaze away from the corpse. She couldn't focus on anything else. "I killed her. I killed Mack Ross. Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god."

—

Miyeon had never seen anyone die. She couldn't comprehend it. It didn't make sense. One moment Mack was there and now she wasn't. She was gone. And all that was left was a dead body that Miyeon was crouching next to. Oh god, that was a dead body. She scooted away on the floor and wrapped her arms around her knees, pulling herself in on herself. "Wh--what do we do?" her voice cracked even at a whisper. "She-- she--she..." Miyeon gulped trying to find her next words. "She's dead." Miyeon couldn't tell if she wanted to scream or cry or simply curl into a ball and disappear. Maybe all of them at once.

—

"What do we do?" Winter was still rooted to the spot, her voice a horse whisper as if anything above that would break even more in the room. What did they do? When Mack disappeared from her life months before she had been pissed at the girl but still thought she would see her again and now...now she was definitely gone. She could feel tears welling up but she refused to let them fall. No, they had to figure this out. There was no time for crying.

—

Another crisis for Cass. Nora was grateful Alex was there helping her. Nora wanted to help too, but her legs had buckled under her. Why had she drunk so much? No one else had drunk as much as her? That was so dumb of her. "We dispose of the body." Nora answered. Cass wasn't going to jail for this. They weren't going to jail cause of a dumb accident. "And we never talk about it again." Which, in her drunk slur, sounded silly and not at all serious like the moment intended.

—

He didn't know what to do, wasn't sure he was breathing. Everything the others were saying sounded muffled under the sound of his blood rushing. This couldn't be happening. She had to be okay. There was no way they had all just watched Mack Ross die. He stumbled down the stairs, wanting to check her pulse- Miyeon had to be wrong- but once he was standing there, staring over at her, he couldn't get himself to move any closer. No. No, no, no, no, no. He wasn't sure if he had said it aloud. He couldn't- This couldn't be happening again. His head snapped up at Nora's suggestion, though. "What?! We can't just- This isn't- We have to tell someone! I'm not going-" Milo couldn't get the words out. He wasn't going along with this, this wasn't going to be another fucking death pit situation.

—

Of all the things that could have been suggested, that was not what Winter had expected. Immediately she snapped, her eyes finally leaving Mack as she turned her head towards Nora. "What the fuck? Maybe we call a fucking ambulance? We could be wrong, right?" Even if they weren't wrong, and there was no way they were, Mack still deserved more than a fucking body dump.

—

Alex had hardly had anything to drink, but the suggestion still made her feel sick to her stomach. Even if it was an accident, they'd been underaged and drinking and she couldn't see it shaking out well for Cass. It felt shitty. Mack was her friend. It was new, sure, but they were giving the whole friendship thing a try even if it was new to both of them. But it was Cass and she couldn't let her go to jail. All she could do was nod and move her hand to take Cass's in her own instead. The silent gesture said more than words could, it let her know that Alex was going to be there no matter what they had to do.

—

Ray finally got control of his feet but couldn't get them to do anything useful - especially when all his body really screamed for him to do was run away. But he always ran away. He had to stop. But what were they going to do? Were they actually going to dump a body? "Is that the only way?" he wondered quietly looking to Nora and finally tearing his eyes away from the corpse.

—

Everything was muffled. Words were jumbled. Nothing made sense. But there was a brightness. The lights above. Mackenzie could recognize light. She could recognize that there were other people around her, but everything felt off. She couldn't move. At least not at the moment. But she knew her body was doing something - healing itself. And with the healing came an insatiable need to feed. She was soooo hungry. Food was all that mattered and the room she was laying in currently held many options. Easy pickings. Who first? The little one on the floor? The two on the balcony. She could make out blurs of shapes as her eyesight started to come back. The ones on the floor would be the easiest, because right now her legs and neck were not working. Groaning slightly, she started to move her arms. Things were starting to work, but pitifully. Grunting, Mackenzie began crawling towards Nora. Fitting, since she had just suggested dumping her body, but Mack didn't hear that. All she knew was food. Nothing logical, since she was still in her infancy and dumb as a box of rocks.

—

"I don't want to go to jail. Oh god. Oh my god. They're gonna --- They'll put me in ---" She couldn't even form a thought. What would happen to her? This wasn't some random person Cass had killed. This was a movie star, someone famous, someone loved. There was no way they'd do anything less than throw the book at her. The public would hate her. She'd rot in prison. And then what? What even happened when someone not human was arrested? Were there protocols in place, rules? Would they lock her in a special cell, or would they just kill her? She didn't want to find out. "We can't! If we call for an ambulance, they'll --- We're going to get in trouble and I don't --- We should --- We should promise not to tell. We should..." The body groaned. Mack groaned. And moved. Crawling towards Nora, looking... hungry? "What the fuck is happening?"

—

Of course, Mack had been acting. What kind of fucking play was everyone working on? Nora watched as the body groaned and started crawling towards her. "Come on Mack. We get it. You're an actor, you're sooo good at playing dead. What is all of this?" Because Nora, despite accepting the supernatural, despite being trained by a slayer, wouldn't consider something as supernatural as the undead at a Barbie's Dream House Party.

—

“Dispose of the body?” Chai echoed, incredulous. “Cave girl, we cannot do that. We should probably—we should—I don’t know what we should do.” Should they call the police? It was an accident, no one should get in trouble for that. But the potential for underage drinking was there, he figured, looking around at the group. Would that be a problem? “We can’t throw her away,” he insisted. A feeling of dread snaked its way up his spine. images of his friend being struck by lightning flashed across his mind and he closed his eyes. When he opened them again, he looked back towards their friend— their dead friend—and suddenly the corpse moved. “Holy shit. Nope. Nope.” With that, he turned away, heading for the kitchen. He was definitely too sober for this.

—

Fuck. Milo plopped onto the ground. He was shaking and his chest was stuttering and he wasn't breathing properly, and already he could feel that familiar tingling underneath his skin. He needed to breathe. He couldn't lose control here. But then Mack's body started moving, scaring the ever loving shit out of him, and a lamp went flying across the room, shattering against the wall. "What the fuck?!"

—

Alex usually hated her sense of hearing, but in that moment, she was grateful that she was quick to realize Mack was moving. She had been dead and now she was moving with a hungry look in her eyes. She honed in on the sounds coming from Mack and notably a heartbeat was not one of them which could only mean one thing. Shit. Mack was undead and while she didn't know much, that meant she was probably as ravenous as Alex was on the full moon. Did she know she was undead? Alex hoped so, that would mean she had a stash of food for herself somewhere, but she had to be quick. "Cass, Nora," she directed, "You keep an eye on Mack. Do not let her get close to you or anyone else until I get back. Got it?" If anyone could handle a hungry undead, it would be the giant bear and the superhero, even if the former was more than a little intoxicated and the latter in a state of shock.

—

Again, a noise had her head snapping in another direction only to find Mack moving. How the holy… Winter couldn't wrap her mind around what was happening right now and even with Nora's words she felt her stomach drop. Even if Mack was an actor she knew better than to think she would pull something like this on everyone here. Winter might have but not her, right? The lamp flying across the room elicited a scream. With everything happening she was super jumpy. "What the actual fuck?!?"

—

Ray muffled a scream when the body started to move again. She'd been dead. She'd been confirmed dead. In a panic, wanting to get everyone away from whatever was happening he rushed for Nora and scooped her off the floor and moved them rapidly away from Mack. "What's going ON?"

—

A lot was going on. All of it was confusing. Fear was an intoxicating snack for Nora, and she reveled in the sweet snacks of her friends as they all freaked out. For what? Mack's acting wasn't even that good. She just fell and played dead. A sober Nora, one who could read a room and pay attention to many facts, may have picked up on the true seriousness of this situation, but Nora was really into making a fool of herself lately. Ray was picking her off the floor and pulling her away from the crawling Mack, but Ray was a runner. He would be scared of anything. Nora patted his arm gently, there, there. This wasn't even scary.

—

Alex figured if there was a stash of blood in the manor, it wouldn't be in the main fridge she had guests going into. If that had been the case, someone would have already called Mack out on it. There had to be another fridge somewhere. Maybe her bedroom, basement, or garage. The size of the house had seemed cool before, but now it seemed overwhelming. She was 5'1" and while she was quick, that was a lot of ground to cover. She wasn't sure she'd be able to pick up on the smell, but maybe she'd be able to hear the hum of another refrigerator. She normally tuned that out, but she ripped her ear plugs out and closed her eyes to get a sense of what direction to go in. She ran as fast as her feet could take her down the stairs, shuffling around rooms until she found the two refrigerators. In a rush, she ripped the doors open on both, breaking the door off the one that seemed to be for human food. Well, at least if she had this many fridges it wouldn't be an issue to replace later. She quickly gathered as many containers of brains and body parts as she could and flew back up the stairs. As she reached outside, one of the containers fell on the ground, but she couldn't be bothered to stop and instead raced toward Mack. She quickly knelt down and took the lid off one of the tupperware with brains. She handed it to Mack carefully. "Here," she said softly, "You'll feel better after you eat this. I can grab and send someone down to crab more, too. Cass or Nora won't be freaked out by it."

—

Mackenzie heard the voice yelling at her. She still couldn't make out the words. The only thing on her mind was eating. She needed her strength. She needed food. Nora looked like a mighty tasty blur. As she pulled herself forward with her arms dragging herself across the floor, Mackenzie groaned louder, before the word food escaped her mouth. She saw another human figure scoop up her prey. Growling in anger, Mackenzie felt her strength grow along with a healing crack of her back. Pushing herself up off of the floor to her knees and then to wobbly feet, the actress grabbed her head and cracked her neck back into place, "Hungry..." Looking around, her eyes hazy and glazed over, she spotted Winter and started to move towards her.

—

Miyeon thought she was shocked before but then the dead body moved. Mack Ross was dead on the ground one second and then standing up the next. She didn't move. Other than her jaw hanging open in shock, her eyes stuck to the girl who was definitely up and walking after she snapped her neck. She was frozen in place, trying to hold her legs tighter to keep from shaking. She was one second away from just turning into a fox. It might be the only way she could figure out how to move. "Someone t-tell me what is going on?" she whimpered. A lamp crashed and made her jump out of her shock. Yeah, fuck this, she didn't care who knew or who saw what. A burst of smoke surrendered Miyeon and in her place was a small fox, scurrying away to Nora, hiding behind her legs.

—

Keep an eye on her? Why? Cass wasn't thinking logically, but she trusted Alex. "I'll make sure she's okay," she said, moving towards Mack cautiously. She crouched down next to the movie star, reaching out to put a hand on her arm just as Alex rejoined the party with... tupperware? "I don't think she wants a snack, Alex," she said with uncertainty.

—

Winter was having a psychotic break, that was the only explanation. First a ghost was following her around, one who looked decidedly amused at this point, and now her friend was coming back from the dead and snapping her neck into place while things flew across the room on their own. She had to be in some room back home making this up in her head. Did she miss Mack that much? Now a person was a fox? Yea, she had lost it. That was all there was to it.

—

Alex realized how close Cass was to Mack and whispered urgently, "You need to back up, Cass. She needs the snack. It's not a human thing."

—

"Alex, I don't think this is a good time for flirting," Cass replied uncertainly. "She's hurt."

—

Chaisai pounded a glass and re-entered the crime scene in time to see Alex return with…leftovers. He turned to ask anyone else what the hell was happening when he saw something that caught him off guard. “Is that a fox?” he asked no one in particular. “What is even happening tonight?” All of this had to be some immense prank, and it wasn’t very funny. The fox seemed out of place, too.

—

Milo saw Alex returning with tupperware, and noticed the one that had fallen had opened to reveal what appeared to be a brain. Fuck this town. "What the fuck is wrong with this town?" Milo shuddered at the sound of Mack's neck snapping back into a normal position, pulling himself up and away from the zombie??? Only to see Miyeon disappear and a fox to appear in her place. What the fuck?!?!?

—

Alex shook her head. "I'm not flirting with you, Cass," she retorted in a hushed voice, "Mack is a zombie. If she doesn't eat what I just gave her she's probably gonna eat everyone at this party. And no, still not flirting. I mean literally, not in a fun way."

—

Ray felt Nora pet him on the arm but he was very busy watching Mack for what she was going to do next. He didn't let up his hold on the bugbear for a second, she was clearly too far gone and needed to stay away. This wasn't right, there was something going on here. The sickening crack of her neck going back into place made his stomach turn as the others started to put themselves between Mack and the Party.

—

Nora's head swam. Ray was panicked, Miyeon was a fox between her legs, Winter, that was her name right? Her ghost looked like he was having fun. That was nice. Ghosts deserve to have fun. Alex was giving instructions. Did Nora need to go get something? What did Nora need to go get? Maybe she would never drink again. Maybe having control of her conscious thoughts was a lot better then the fuzz that settled it now, even if it worked. In this confusion, she'd forgotten to think about her body and the mines.

—

A zombie? Mack Ross was a zombie? Had she always been a zombie? Cass's brow furrowed as she looked at the tupperware in Alex's hands a little closer. Brains. Okay, so the zombie thing wasn't a new development. Her eyes scanned the room --- Nora, drunk and confused with a fox that... probably had to be Miyeon hiding behind her. Winter, having a breakdown in a way that was totally not how Cass liked to meet new people. Chai and Milo, both looking more than a little lost. Ray, watching it all unfold. Was this what parties were always like? "Um, okay. Mack Ross is a zombie. Cool. Okay. Sure. What the fuck?"

—

Mackenzie had noticed Cass coming towards her. Food that was right in her path was so much easier than the person freaking out on the other side of the room. Reaching out, she moved in the direction of Cass before grabbing her and pulling her in closer with extreme strength. Leaning her newly healed neck to the side, she opened her mouth wide and laid into Cass's shoulder with a hard bite. However, whatever she bit into wasn't budging. Mack growled in frustration as she gnawed on what felt like a rock. Angry, she pushed Cass as hard as she could out of the way, before smelling the brains that Alex had brought up from downstairs. Turning her attention on the werewolf, she started moving towards Alex, "Brains..." She reached out trying to grab the food that wasn't quite in her reach yet.

—

Nora picked the fox up. The fox was soft. Nora buried her face in the soft fox coat. This was a fun party, she thought, enjoying more tasty fear snacks.

—

"Hey!" Cass screeched in a damn good impression of a banshee, jumping back as Mack Ross's zombie teeth tried to take a bite out of her shoulder. "You're gonna rip my shirt!" She hadn't broken the skin --- Cass's skin was pretty hard to break, after all --- but her shirt was all wet with zombie slobber now. Gross. At least the brains seemed to spark something. Cass grabbed the tupperware from Alex, much more content to put her hard-to-bite hand in the line of fire than risking Alex meeting the zombie's teeth, and thrust it towards her. "Here!"

—

Alex rushed towards Cass when she realized Mack was about to bite her only to let out a breath of relief when that didn't go according to plan. Even though Cass always had a certain radiance about her, it was easy to forget that she was stone and magma underneath it all. Before she could reach out to nudge the container towards Mack, Cass was already doing so. She was grateful the oread had caught on and she quickly looked to inspect her. "Are you ok?"

—

Miyeon was moving. Oh god, the world was moving and she was getting taller all a sudden. Then she realized there were hands grabbing her. Hands that smelled like Nora's. Oh, okay, she was petting her. That was fine. She snuggled into her friend. It definitely felt like the safest option. The wolf girl and rock girl could take care of the not dead girl.

—

"I'm okay," Cass assured Alex, turning to let her look at the shoulder in question. "See? No harm done." She directed the last part towards Mack, too, knowing that if their roles were reversed, she'd want to make sure she hadn't hurt anyone. Glancing over to where Nora had Miyeon, she was pleased to see the both of them safe, too. And the boys all looked alright, which mostly left... "Um... Hey, Winter? Are you, uh... How are you doing?"

—

Mackenzie yanked the brain out of the container and started to sloppily shove it in her mouth. Dropping to the floor, she consumed the brain without savoring it knowing it wasn't going to do much considering she had just died AGAIN. When she was finished, she could automatically feel things start to make sense again, but she still had a need to feed, "Alex...food. Want more food." She looked up at the person she knew to be Alex.

—

Ray was stunned as things started to seem to wind down again. It felt like a fever dream. "Uhm excuse me but ...what the actual fuck?"

—

The sight of Mack biting another human was the icing on the cake of this whole night, Winter leaning back against the wall and nodding at whoever was talking to her. "Oh, I'm so good right now." Even in times of crisis sarcasm tended to take over but there was less bite than usual in her tone. Her gaze kept flicking between Mack and the fox and then to the person Mack had bit. Cass...they were the one who had asked, right? "What is going on?"

—

Milo knew necromancy was a thing, but he wasn't sure what the fuck all of this was. This seemed proper Night of the Living Dead zombie shit. "Yeah, seconding that. What the fuck? Also, she just bit you, Cass???"

—

Now that she was a tall fox, Miyeon was able to see the ghost floating around Winter. Her little kitsune stomach started to grumble. And the nachos were not going to cut it. She tilted her little head and made a small little yip, asking to be let down. She wanted a snack, too. And she didn't want the gross-smelling whatever it was that Mack was eating. She was just going to eat a little bit of the ghost, it would be fine.

—

“She, um, she didn't bite me very hard! Didn't even break the skin!" Cass rubbed at her shoulder, pretending it hurt. "It'll just be a bruise, that's all." She looked to Mack with uncertainty. She thought she was probably up to speed now, but it wasn't really up to her to tell everyone else, was it? If Mack wanted a lie... well, she'd need someone other than Cass to tell it.

—

Alex was relieved that the only damage done was some slobber on Cass's shirt. "Okay, good," she said, reaching to give Cass's hand a squeeze before returning her attention to Mack. Cass was checking in on the others and Mack was devouring the brain from the container. Alex quickly grabbed another and shoved it towards the zombie. "Here," she said. She looked for Nora in the crowd and saw her holding a... fox? The fox girl thing suddenly made sense. Huh. And everyone else had a lot of questions that Alex had no idea how to answer, so she looked to Mack, hoping she'd have her fill enough soon to give whatever the PR reason for this would be.

—

Nora, face still pressed to the softest fox she'd ever held, was sad to let Miyeon go. But Nora had always lived by the motto, animals only stayed as long as they wanted. That went with her new friend too. Nora put the fox down. "It wasn't very cool of Mack to bite Cass like that. They should take away her Emmy. Crimes against Cass."

—

"Also, can we address the fact that Miyeon turned into a fox because." Fuck, she had said something about a fox girl at the last party. Milo had thought she was just a furry, he didn't think he meant she was a literal fucking fox!

—

Alex looked around and shrugged, "Uh.... We're all just really drunk?"

—

Milo gave Alex a look. "Bestie..."

—

Alex stifled a laugh under the pressure. "Okay, you got me there," she relented, "But I am very specifically not Mack Ross' PR so I will let her explain her stunts."

—

"I had one cup." She whispered the words, now spotting the fox nibbling on the ghost following her around but Winter wasn't very concerned about that even if he seemed to be. Wait, the fox was biting the ghost? Was that normal?

—

Ray made a face and leaned down to mumble to Nora "Are there other people here that are...like you and stuff too?"

—

Chaisai could feel the anxiety begin to ebb away. “This is a really weird prank.” Something deep in the pit of his stomach tugged at him, told him that something stranger than a prank was at hand here. “Wait, where did she go?” The fox could not be their friend. “I’m not drunk either,” Chai said, agreeing with Winter. “So are we all like, weird here, or is it just…” He let the question hang in the air, looking from Mack to the fox and back.

—

Fox Miyeon was running towards Winter, which seemed like a bad idea. Winter was already having some kind of a breakdown. Cass wanted to tell Miyeon that maybe she should take it easy, but... There was so much going on. It was a little hard to figure out what she should be focusing on. She looked to Mack, chewing her lip for a moment and offering her a small nod. However Mack wanted to play this, Cass would follow along. She owed her that much after tossing her off a balcony.

—

Mackenzie consumed the other brain enjoying all the meaty bits of it. Finally, something more satisfying was happening. She started to feel like her old self. Memories came flooding back. Names started to slowly come back. And when she realized where she was at and vaguely what was happening, she knew she had to go back downstairs. If she didn't eat enough, they were all going to be scrambling for their lives again, except Cass, who was surprisingly tough. Looking around, she could feel emotions again and that sucked harder than the fox sucking on the ghost. Without words, she stumbled downstairs and towards the room with the fridge. The door was gone, but that was okay. It didn't matter at this point. She just wanted the contents.

—

Miyeon trotted off towards the ghost, but it was a little too far away. She leaped onto a chair and then hopped onto the table and was about to take a little nibble of plasmic energy when she heard her name and her ears swiveled towards the source, turning to see that it was Milo. Oh. Right. Whoops. She did sort of shift in the middle of a party, didn't she? She hadn't even thought about it long enough to weigh the consequences. Between the not-dead dead body and the flying lamp and the buzz of the sangria, she sort of didn't have the time. Cool cool cool. She should probably shift back. But her clothes were in the middle of the room. Uh, the tablecloth was going to have to do. She nuzzled her nose under the edge of the fabric and shoved as much of herself as she could underneath it before poofing back into her human form, wrapping the tablecloth around her to try and cover up as much as she could. "Um, don't ask. Can you hand me my clothes, Milo? Please?" She saw the looks she was getting. Yup, okay, this was fine. "Literally don't worry about it. What's going on with Mack? Is she dead? Is she not? What is going on?"

—

"Fair enough, I guess." Though Alex did seem to be the one who knew what the fuck was going on. Seeing another poof of smoke followed by Miyeon poking her head out from under the table just confirmed his suspicions. She had definitely turned into a fox, then. And Mack had just wandered off??? "Seems like we're all weird here, yeah," Milo nodded, a bewildered look on his face as he gathered Miyeon's clothes. His hands were still shaking, but the events of the past few minutes were so fucking weird that he wasn't freaking out as much. That was a plus. As he neared the table, he averted his gaze, feeling incredibly awkward as he held out the bundle of clothes in his hand.

—

Chaisai covered his eyes out of respect, despite this bewildering turn of events.

—

Nora watched Mack consume a brain. Maybe this wasn't acting. Maybe this was. Nora didn't know, but Miyeon was naked now and it felt like a real television party suddenly. Nudity was always included in those.

—

Miyeon said "Thanks," and took her clothes back and ducked behind the counter to quickly throw them back on.

—

Mackenzie made her way through quite a bit of the food she had stored up, and when she was finished everything felt normal again. Well as normal as dying in front of your friends, coming back and trying to eat them, and then consuming brains in front of them could be. FUCK. They had just seen all of that. They knew what she was. Winter knew what she was. Walking back upstairs, she quietly stood at the doorway. With "Dance The Night" from the Barbie soundtrack blasting in the background, Mackenzie knew she had to follow the lyrics of the song and present herself with poise. She had done this before, right? This was part of life in the spotlight. Fuck, fuck, fuck. "Hey guys...so, uh, what'd I miss..." Her smile was uneasy; mouth covered in slime and other things; skin pale; and her eyes still somewhat white and glazed with the skin on her neck bruised from previously being broken.

—

"We're all weird here..." It was all starting to sink in and Winter glanced at her ghost in time to see the fox had turned back into a person. If she had a ghost and he had been told all of her life about mediums it would have been ignorant to think that other things didn't exist, right? It was a lot all at once so she let her body slide down the wall so she could take a seat and breathe a little. "What did you miss?"

—

Milo couldn't help but laugh. "Well, you died, and freaked everyone out so much that someone turned into a fox, so." He snorted. "I'm so sorry. This is just fucking nuts, and I've felt like I've been going insane lately. Came here to get away from that, but I should've known better in this town." He took a few breaths. "Sorry. I'm glad you're okay? I guess? Also, sorry about your lamp."

—

Ray finally let Nora go, taking a deep breath. It seemed Mack was back to...normal felt like too big of a stretch for the moment. Everyone had secrets it seemed. He wanted to go to bed. He didn't quite know what to say to Mack or anyone really. "There's bits of glass on the floor from the lamp watch out?" he offered instead of anything of substance. "Got a brush?"

—

Alex nodded as the group seemed to acknowledge they were all weird in some way. A few years ago, that would freaked her out and even though she struggled with how she saw herself, something about this band of weirdos made her feel a little more okay about it. "Guess we are," she said nonchalantly. She gave Mack a knowing look as she returned and simply nodded. They could discuss *that* later.

—

The fact that this had all been happening while the Barbie movie soundtrack had been playing was just the icing on the disaster cake. Milo rushed to help Ray as the other went to clean up the mess. "I can get it. My fault anyway."

—

Miyeon tilted her head as she looked back at Milo. "Wait, that was your fault?" she asked. She had kind of assumed it was the ghost. "Okay so like you missed a lot. Sort of maybe because you died. I don't know. But like there's a lot going on here. Clearly." She looked over at Milo, Winter, Nora, Cass, Alex, and her gaze landed on Mack last. "Um, but, I guess everyone's okay? Mostly? Are we good? Is it time to keep partying now?" She wasn't sure what she hoped the answer was going to be if she was honest.

—

Chaisai sighed. This night got weird quickly. “Alright. Never have I ever died. Anyone else? Never have I ever turned into an animal. Can we talk about what the fuck is happening? Where’s Ashton, ‘cause it feels like we’re being punk’d. Is this Celebrity Pranks?”

—

Ray dropped to a knee next to the shattered lamp and shook his head lightly "Don't worry dude it's-...your fault? What do you mean..." he trailed off for a second before mumbling to the other "I need something to do with my hands anyway, I'm still a bit spooked to be honest." he showed Milo the slight tremble in his fingers with an awkward smile. "I'm not made for excitement like this..."

—

Winter pointed to Chaisai. "That. All of that."

—

Oh, shit. Well. He hadn't really been thinking when he'd admitted to that. "Uhhh... Don't worry about it?" His voice was uncertain as he repeated Miyeon's earlier words. Milo nodded at Ray, raising one of his own shaking hands. "Me either, dude." Chai's words made him burst out into another fit of laughter, though. "Again, I'm sorry, I don't mean to laugh."

—

Mackenzie was ashamed, embarrassed, but more than anything scared. Would they know that she was the one who killed Brody? If she had a heartbeat, it would be pounding so hard right now. She watched as Milo and Ray went to clean up the lamp, "It's fine...It's uh, don't worry about it." She glanced around the room seeing the mess and chaos that had ensued while she was out of it. Everyone was stressed and scared and laughing? Barbie Sleepover had gone to Barbie Nightmare in a heartbeat. Ironic choice of words of course, "Um...look I know...I know this is probably a shock to you all..." She noticed Nora looking unamused, "some...I just, I'm asking if you guys could not tell anybody...please. My life depends on this being kept quiet. I did some things that I hate myself for, and...it's the whole reason I'm here in Wicked's Rest. You don't have to talk to me...or acknowledge my existence anymore after this, if you never want to see me again, but...all I ask is if you...could just please, please not say anything..."

—

Alex was glad she didn't have her drink on her, though on technicality, she wasn't sure a werewolf counted as an animal. That was definitely more turning into a monster. She chuckled nervously and found her way back to Cass. They were all a little weird, but she wasn't sure she was necessarily ready to broadcast that she was a werewolf specifically.

—

Mack was upset. And Cass still felt a little responsible for it, given the fact that she was the one who'd knocked the movie star off the balcony. If she hadn't done that, no one would know anything at all about what Mack was. So Cass looked at her friends, and nodded. "Okay," she said decisively. "Everyone has to promise. Right here, right now. Look at me, and promise not to say anything about this to anyone not at this party."

—

Nora may have still been drunk, but she trusted Cass. So when Cass gave an instruction, Nora was the first to look at her and make the promise. Nora knew Cass was only asking this for a good reason.

—

Ray looked up with a handful of lamp shards "I promise."

—

Chaisai looked at Mack, confusion crossing his face. His brow furrowed. He didn’t quite understand what was happening here if he were being honest, but he nodded slowly. “Sure. Promise.”

—

Miyeon nodded. She knew that there was no way she was going to put any of this into any sort of journalistic anything. And not even just because they could all blackmail her with the turning into a fox thing. No, this was the sort of secret that you just kept. Supernatural stuff. Her parents may have kept most of it from her but they did tell her that much, that things were safer when the whole world didn't know about the strange things lurking just beneath the surface. And who was she to argue? "I promise."

—

Alex didn't need to be asked twice. She vaguely understood the binding thing, but even so, it didn't matter. Cass was asking her to make a promise and if Cass asked, then the answer was always yes. "I promise," she said without a shred of hesitation.

—

Milo narrowed his eyes, thinking back to the death pit. He didn't want to say anything, not that anyone would believe him if he told them that Mack Ross was a fucking zombie, but whatever magic Cass was using... Mack was clearly anxious and feeling miserable, though. He nodded. "Promise."

—

Winter was staring at Mack while she spoke. She wasn't planning on saying anything about this to anyone anyway but how could she when her friend was obviously very upset about all of this and needed some reassurance. She rolled her eyes at the other asking them to promise, still a little shaky about it all, but she nodded anyway. "Promise."

—

Tears barely came out of Mackenzie's pale eyes as she watched everyone around the room promise not to say anything, "I'm so sorry. I just...wanted this to be soft and fun, and I fucked it up." Stammering and looking down for a minute, she took a beat and made a decision, "You can all go. Just...yeah." Mackenzie was defeated. Looking back down, she left the room leaving everyone to decide if they wanted to leave or stay. She didn't care anymore.

—

"And I promise, too," Cass added, nodding to each of them in turn. She crafted the bind carefully, tying the metaphorical knot around each person who'd said the words. They'd be safe now, just like they had been when she'd used the same method to ensure no one would ever find out about Debbie. Mack would be safe. Turning back to her, Cass ached with the look on her face. "I'm sorry," she said quietly. "I'm really sorry." But Mack left the room, and everything felt a little emptier than it had been before. "I, um... I'll go get Aria and Wynne. Tell them the party's done. I think we should all go home."

[mxrvelouscreations]

[tarnishedxknight] (from Noah to Leah regarding his drinking) "I appreciate your concern, but I can handle it. It's just a way to unwind."

@tarnishedxknight

Leah hadn't meant to cause offence. While she didn't know the full extent of everything that Noah had gone through, she understood enough to know that he was using drink to cope. Even if he was telling her it was just a way to unwind. She had seen it before, hell she even knew that feeling and so, she couldn't judge too much. But she also didn't want for him to end up hurting himself. "Noah.... maybe you don't need to drink as much though..." she muttered, hoping that he wouldn't get mad at her. "I just.. I know that you think it helps... and sometimes it does, but there are other ways to deal..."

[bitterseadrop-a]

alcohol is just one of milou's biggest, if not THE coping mechanism for practically everything. she's well aware that it's not healthy but could give zero shits about it. she doesn't grow violent nor directly impacts other people around her — she really just wants to grow numb and for other people to mind their own business.

it doesn't concern them, so what gives them the right to dictate what she should and shouldn't do? usually, milou really does not care what others think about her, but this is different.

it takes a great amount of trust between her and another person to even hear them out and not grow hostile or outright lash out at them (both verbal and physical) if they try to intervene. weirdly enough though, her stoic demeanour persists if a complete stranger decides to comment on her habits. it's only when there's at least some rapport between her and the person in question that she grows increasingly hostile.

the sheer audacity that you think you're entitled to broach the topic of something that makes her feel so vulnerable — something that she thinks has become such an integral part of her by now.

[defectivexfragmented]

The first moment he got the chance, when Natasha wasn’t watching him like a damn hawk - he did not miss the irony there, he ran. As far and as fast as he could manage. Using every trick he knew to throw the Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D. off of his scent, taking only what was absolutely necessary to survive, which was mainly several changes of clothes and his bow. It was the one thing he couldn’t leave behind, the only thing that helped stave off the panic attacks. He didn’t trust himself after what Loki did to his mind, how could he ask anyone else to?

Two years. For two years, Clint somehow managed to avoid being caught while making his way up and down the California coast, staying in an almost constant state of drunk while doing so. Being drunk was the only thing now that kept the panic attacks and nightmares at bay. Kept him from feeling Loki’s presence as if he was standing behind him with a hand on his shoulder, just waiting to whisper orders into his ear again. Kept the image of Phil Coulson lying dead out of his mind.

Another gulp of his beer. The burner cell phone on the bar countertop pinged as the screen lit up.

[text]: Clint, it’s time to come home. Tell me where you are and I’ll come get you. Please.

Nat. It had been three months since she last texted him. But in her defense, he  had also gone through four burner cell phones in that time just to try to throw her off. Somehow she caught up to him again. A heavy sigh and he finished off the beer, threw down a twenty on the countertop for the bartender, scooped up his cell then reluctantly slid off the bar stool. His legs felt disconnected underneath his weight, as if they were only receiving half of the signals from his brain. He stumbled a bit but  righted himself, relieved to find himself in such a blissed out state of numb. This was exactly where he wanted to live, detached and anesthetized to the world. The television on the wall in the corner of the bar suddenly picked at his wound, a reporter bringing up an old story of the missing Avenger.

At first when he disappeared, it was all over the news. “The Missing Avenger”, with his face plastered right next to the headline. It was everywhere. He didn’t know how no one spotted him the first six months. Though over the past two years, the story had become less popular and in poor taste, most now believing he was dead. Except for Nat, apparently. It would have been for the best if  everyone thought he was dead because it was how he felt. For what he did…There were somethings that should just stay dead but every once in awhile, some news station brings up the past about how he was still missing despite the Avengers’ efforts to find him.

Somehow Clint found himself in the parking lot of the shit hole motel he had been staying at for the past week. Or at least, he thought it was a week. It could have been longer. Another ping from his phone but this time he didn’t bother to look at it. Instead he let it slid from his fingers and into the gutter, watching it bounce slightly before falling between the metal grate and into the sewer. Let Nat chase that for awhile.

It took longer than he was willing to admit, along with falling down several times along the way, but he managed to make it to his room, struggling with the key to the point where it was borderline embarrassing before finally making it inside. He unceremoniously fell face first onto the bed and closed his blurry eyes. Did he remember to close the door behind him? To lock it? There was a resolve that he needed to get up and check it, yet his body refused to agree with him. The heavy call of sleep was too demanding to deny, wholeheartedly giving into it as he allowed himself to be lulled to sleep.

@vvaywardangel

[ofloyaltiesvhearts]

࣪𓏲ּ  ֶָ  𝑤𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑜𝑠𝒕𝒗  ⁝         meng ziyi,  33,  cis woman,  she/her.    announcing  the  arrival  of  ZHEN XIANG  of  house  STARK NEE MANDERLY,  the  LADY of  WINTERFELL .  whispers  among  the  court  name  them  to  be  both  COMPASSIONATE  and  SECRETIVE in  disposition,  and  those  closest  to  them  speak  to  their  interests  in  creating healing potions and ointments.  if  we  bards  could  compose  a  song  for  them,  it  might  tell  stories  of  ; the assortment of diffusing scents waffling through the air from a variety of flowers and medicinal herbs, ; hushed whispers following a galloping and mysterious rider, ; a quietly clever mind holding together an untiring and unshakeable spirit .  the  seven  whisper  to  their  most  devout  queen  as  she  sleeps,  making  her  question  where  their  loyalties  truly  lie.  are  they  right  to  whisper?  for  their  loyalties  truly  lie  with  THE STARKS.   

tw: mentions of bullying, depression, alcohol abuse, death, trauma,  child death

A lot of wonderful things happened on the day Zhen Xiang was born as the very minute she was born, the first sounds of spring broke the air with the chirping of birds and the sprouting of new shoots began to manifest. The house of Manderly had been assailed with wonderful news throughout the day. One of their members had been chosen as Kingsguard. A tense betrothal with another renowned noble house came to fruition with the two quarrelsome lovers finally deciding that they wanted to be married on the morrow. Zhen Xiang' maternal grandmother suddenly awoke from an ailing illness as her fever finally broke that on that evening of that day. And a prodigal son of the Manderlys also happen to choose that exact same day to return home and beg for forgiveness and a chance at redemption. As everyone looked at the cherubic little baby who slept peacefully, blissfully oblivious to the pomp and celebrations  around her, they all murmured among themselves that it was likely her birth was a magnificent blessing in more ways than one and she might likely turned out to be the greatest Manderly of them all. 

However, as the years went by, to everyone’s surprise, she turned out to be quite the opposite of what everyone had idealized her to be. Instead of being a gaily, charming, outgoing girl, she was a quiet and very introverted one. Instead of being fascinated by embroidery, pretty dresses ( which was very generously bought by her enormously wealthy parents ), ornaments and making flower crowns, Zhen Xiang was more absorbed into books and was restless and fidgety most of the time. When the time came for parties and feasts and her proud parents wanted to show off their beautiful little girl, she was nowhere to be found. 

Instead Zhen Xiang had found her peace and true home amongst nature. Being surrounded by all kinds of flora and fauna deep in the forest, along hidden trails and picturesque clearings, rivers and lakes was where Zhen Xiang thrived the most. Her large, uniquely doe-shaped eyes which were usually downcast amongst general company, sparkled like dark diamonds and laughed. Her thin and soft rosy-cheeked face, shone so brightly and her petal-shaped lips smiled animatedly. Her entire being took in the sights, sounds, smells and  different touch sensations around her, enveloping herself with the aura of it all and being one with nature. So attune she was with nature, that her botany and herbology lessons came so swiftly with her whenever her septa taught it to her and with great eagerness, she devoured every book, manuscripts and findings she could get her hands on. And after one day crossing paths with masterfully skilled healer in a port in White Harbor was when her destiny truly began. 

It was under this travelling healer that the little Manderly girl learnt a wealth of new knowledge which none of the maesters or septas at home were allowed to teach her under strict orders from her parents, who were already frowning at the  “oddities “ they deemed their little girl seemed to be displaying. She secretly began paying the healer to teach her more and more about medicine and healing practices, mostly using herbology and apothecary  methods at first but as her master ( for she quickly became his apprentice ) , introduced her to another apothecarist from a far away land, her brilliant mind soaked in a variety of other slightly unconventional ways not usually seen practiced in Westeros. 

As her knowledge expanded rapidly and her variety of skills grew, she soon found that she an uncanny natural talent for being an astonishing healer / maester. Her innate bond with plants, herbs and flowers made her extraordinary skilled & sharp minded in knowing exactly which ones could be used best in a mixture to make healing ointments, drinks, food, brew all sorts of effective concoctions as well as quick almost painless remedies, and rarely was Zhen Xiang ever wrong when it came to these. Her sharp eyes and meticulous attention to detail had secretly helped saved many lives of the smallfolk as the years go by and she often refused any sort of payment for her services. Being a noble lady and slowly learning the skillful art of stealth and deception from some of her friends she had made amongst the commonfolk, she managed to use those skills along with some wiles & connections, to gain access to more private documents about medicine from the faraway Citadel as well as to obtain more rare and substances of high quality from her maesters back home.

As she grew older, she picked up more treasured knowledge from other travelling healers/maesters from different parts of the world which came to the White Harbor port, soon knowing how to most effectively set bones as well as midwifery. She even learnt from people which she knew most of the other noblefolk would look down upon such as wood witches and hedge wizards. 

However as much as her happiness grew at her found passion in life and her ever-growing loving and sensitive heart went out generously to the plights of the poor and outcasted, at home and among the noble society , she was increasingly being seen as an eccentric, mysterious and the oddest duckling amongst the current batch of Manderly children. However with the Manderlys wealth, power and influence, her parents managed to cover up most of her flaws the best they could.

Devoting her fullest attention to her healing work in her burning and unyielding desire to help others though her talents, she ignored the criticisms and gossip thrown about her and when she was found exhibiting great swordsmanship, something she had secretly learned from one of her brother’s trainers ( so that she could defend herself whenever she  wandered the streets in the dark of the night ), it was the final straw that broke the camel’s back of her parents. They finally managed to forced her through a wedding to the eldest son of house Stark.

However even a marriage to such an ancient, great and proud noble house, could not shake Zhen Xiang’s devotion to her passion of helping people through physical and sometimes even psychological healing. For Zhen Xiang was a great listener and wise beyond her years. She had tact and deep empathy, which very few people were aware of. This was another reason why she became most of the commonfolk’s favourite healer, besides her free services and extraordinary gifted healing hands. However to this day, only a small percentage of people of the smallfolks knew the real identity of the good Samaritan swiftly riding through their streets in her mission to aid others and as for the nobles they haven’t really got a clue. For Zhen Xiang always used disguises and moonlighted in this path of hers, due to the fear of any powerful nobles taking this life away from her.

tldr ; 

Zhen Xiang's  pretty quiet, prefers the peaceful solitude of her plants, herbs and all kinds of flora & fauna, is secretly moonlighting as a healer, ( SHE IS EXTRAORDINARILY TALENTED AT IT AND IT’S HER NUMBER ONE PASSION & ABSORBED INTEREST )  her disguises is very plain, smallfolk fabric and practical clothes with zero makeup, ( unless it is necesssary for further disguising her face with fake scars and what not ) ,  and just a very simple ponytail. Thus, all who meets her treating the ill, especially the commoners and whichever lower ranking noble or knights that don’t have sufficient funds/ means for quality treatment and medicine , they call her “ Aurora “, as she never gives a name. Those are the people she smiles most often too, and she has the best bedside manners and she will fight for their lives with everything she’s got so that they can live to see a new day. She’s also a more than excellent & swift rider and goes about with a black cloak, wide brim hat and veil to further disguise herself. She also carries a sword around for protection when she is doing her secret occupation in the dark of the night.

 She’s not good with general nobllity EQ & social butterfly skills one would expect from such a prominent house , as she is quite the introvert and is always nowhere to be found. Graceful but awkward with small talk or flirting , not that romance really crossed her mind during her youth due to being so consumed by her passion. Deep down she secretly wants to be loved one day. And fate smiled upon this Manderly when she found herself falling in love with her arranged intended and him for her as well. Hence her marriage thus far has been nothing short of blissful.

She is also very skilled with her flute & swordsmanship. 

Due to a bit of bullying every once in a while growing up by the more popular youth of her age and being pitied for not being a more golden girl like her sisters, has left poor Zhen Xiang to have depression once in a blue moon. And eventhough she is most of the time too busy to let her loneliness get to her, only the few occasions she is unable to stop all those horrible thoughts, she turns to the number one thing her family is known for as a way of comfort and numb herself : Wine…or any other strong liqueur too if wine just so happened to be unavailable. being a doctor, she more than very well knows, that drinking too much is bad, but everyone has their vices and this was hers, something she could easily get her hands on. Most especially during those nights. The nights were thunder & lighting raged in the sky and she was brought back to the most traumatic memory of her life….sobbing all over the face of her beloved youngest brother and pleading him to come back to life. (( hmu if you want to know more on that bit of backstory ))

[scorpionae]

i've really been thinking lately about dohwa and physical touch and just general vulnerability in emotions. i'm putting my thoughts under a read more, and going to give the heads up for mentions of abuse ( physical & alcohol ) as well as tag appropriately.

i think a lot about the impact dohwa's childhood had on her, tbh, and all the trauma that came with it, and how it has such an effect in how she reacts to the world around her. maybe i'm looking too deep into it. but dohwa grew up for a time with an abusive, alcoholic father. she would go between the orphanage & him ( as she would be taken away from him only to later be placed back in his care -- or that's how it sounded in some of the episodes. ) back then, dohwa was timid and very meek, as well as scared of her father. there's not been much more divulged about her past in terms of family, or the time between when she received her complex to the present.

anyway, it was only when she received her complex ( still, as a child ) that she finally seemed to become stronger and stood up to her father. her father no longer had power over her, as he finally backed down ( to be specific, dohwa struck back with her tail, to his horror ) and that in combination with the abuse, i feel .. well, that was an impactful moment for her as she finally started to stand up for herself more.

of course, like i said .. they don't go into detail about her life from then to her introduction in j.ungle ju.ice. but i feel it's safe to say that h.yeseon.g's remark about her not having had much contact and struggling to show her affection isn't that far off from the truth. the contact she had was that of her father's, and because of that, she never really had actual affection, and doesn't know how to accept it ?? it's foreign to her, and she doesn't know how to react.

also, i'm thinking about how she was probably perceived at the orphanage. she was stated to be a timid, gentle child .. but they show how ju.nhyeo.ng is treated at the orphanage, and bullied -- dohwa was the one friend he had, and without her, he would have been completely alone. i feel like by proxy, dohwa could have had that same treatment, although she would have cared less how people perceived her in terms of her friendship because jun.hyeo.ng is her friend, and is very important to her.

i feel like having the group around is slowly helping her heal, maybe ?? and grow ?? even if not completely, but i don't think in the latest chapters, she's being as rough with h.yeseo.ng. idk where i'm heading with this thought, but she's definitely felt like she's not as like, ' rough ' as she used to be, although she still has a fierce temper. but i feel like maybe it's because she's finally feeling safe around her friends. she's never been rough with j.unhyeo.ng outside of their fights afaik. and i feel a lot of that comes down to trust and the fact she feels safe with him, and she's beginning to feel that same safety with the group.

but also, i'm thinking about her emotional vulnerability. dohwa is an emotional woman. she's quick to react if provoked, and even the professors take notice that she's someone who acts on emotions. but i also sit here and think about vulnerability and how she's not one to display it -- again, i feel maybe her childhood and her father had a direct impact on this ?? because the only time she felt ' free ' was after standing up for herself .. showing her strength and power, and because of that, i feel she fears showing vulnerability because she's ' giving ' power to another and trusting them with it, which is probably difficult with the life she had ??

idk i've just got a lot of thoughts. i'm sure this is all incoherent, but the fact i just so often think of dohwa and how she has so few friends and all, and just .. idk, i just have thoughts and wanted to get them out.

[wildxcardrebel]

||♢|| So, yeah. I didn't wanna talk about it because I didn't want people to worry about me, but... well, I'll discuss it under the cut so my more sensitive followers don't have to see it.

My mother is dying.

For the past three years, she's been dealing with an illness known as Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome. Basically, alcohol abuse in combination with her diabetes caused thiamine deficiency that gave her brain damage, which affected her cognition and memory. It's very similar to dementia.

Last month, we moved her to hospice because she wasn't getting any better, and the past week or so, they believe she's reached end-stage dementia. Just yesterday, one of the hospice workers told us they believe she's in terminal decline. We have no idea how long she has left.

[milkteafaeriie]

My stepfather is already starting to have issues with me night one of me living here but my mum has been honestly incredible, she stood up for me and then took me outside to let me vent it out, something she never let me do in the past and it is very refreshing to realise she has changed. The thing is, my stepdad is fine most of the day but then 5pm rolls around and he drinks alcohol and just turns into an asshole sometimes and it's just unfair to deal with. I wish he could just give up drinking all together, but at least he is no longer day drinking, I am very thankful for that at least

[merrock]

CHARACTER INFORMATION

face claim: Aaron Taylor-Johnson 

full name: Callum Mendes 

nickname(s) / goes by: Callum

pronouns & gender: he/him, cis man

sexuality: bisexual 

birth date: 17/12/1990, 33

birth place: Barcelona 

arrival to merrock: 5 years ago 

housing: historical downtown in apartment 

occupation: tattoo artist 

work place: mods tattoo shop 

family: Mother Sophie and Father Juan, living abroad, sister Norah and brother Lucius 

relationship status: single 

PERSONALITY

Callum has always been kind of perfectionist, so he can easily get annoyed if something is not going his way. 

He is a perfect kind of friend as he is very understanding and supportive. 

Callum is usually very stubborn so sometimes it might be hard to convince him otherwise, even when he's not right. 

WRITTEN BY: Tina (she/her), gmt.

BACKGROUND / BIO

triggering / sensitive content: alcohol/drug abuse in past.

Callum was born in Barcelona and lived there for a few years. Then his parents decided to move to England, where he was actually growing up. He liked to live there, despite of the weather, at least when he was younger. He was good in school even though he wasn't  really ambitious. Callum was showing his perfectionism even when he was a teenager. He was very talented for the arts and music, so he always knew he will do something close to that.

When he was in school, he used to go to the classes of singing and he knows how to play piano and guitar. Although he liked the music and playing the instruments, it was more of his mother wish then his own. His mum was always dreaming about being a famous singer or pianist, which wasn't Callum's dream at all. He was still attending the classes and played in the school as well as long as it will make his mum happy.

Callum really grew up being very close to both of his parents, as well as his brother Lucius and sister Norah. His childhood and school days were more than happy and he couldn't ever ask for more. Despite of that, he did have drug problem as well as alcohol problem. It happened because of people who were hanging out with him and he just didn't want to be different. That really disappoint his parents in a way, although they are still there for him.

He never went to rehab, but he stopped it as it wasn't doing any good for him. Then he decided to attend the classes to become a professional tattoo artist. As he was very talented in arts, he found it very easy and he loves to do tattoos. His mum thought he would go on a music path, but Callum really thought this is the best decision for him.

He moved to Merrock 5 years ago, together with his brother and sister. He is now planning to open his own tattoo shop and live his life to a fullest. The job is going great, but his love life is a kind of a mess. Before he moved, he was in a long relationship with a guy who hurt him a lot. That is why Callum doesn't want to get involved with anyone, unless it is a friendship.  

[oftatteredwings]

⸻  NICK ROBINSON. HE/THEY / have you ever heard of RADIOACTIVE by imagine dragons, well, it describes EVAN PHILLIPS to a tee! the twenty-eight year old, and BARTENDER AT THE WOLFE’S DEN was spotted browsing through the stalls at portobello road market last sunday, do you know them? would you say HE/THEY is/are more quick-tempered or more BROADMINDED instead? anyway, they remind me of a fresh start, running away from almost everything, tobacco stained nails, an honest smile and scuffed up timberland boots, maybe you’ll bump into them soon! 

time in notting hill ; 9 years.

tw: body dysmorphic disorder, alcohol abuse, violence, enbyphobia

ABOUT.

Name: Richard Evan Phillips Age: Thirty-eight Date of Birth: 10th May 1995 Birthplace: Mayfair, London, UK Occupation: Bartender at the Wolfe’s Den Romantic/sexual orientation: Biromantic/bisexual

Evan, or Richard as he was known then, was brought up in London’s Mayfair to a family that had more money than they knew what to do with. Every single one of the Phillips children was spoiled beyond belief, growing up thinking that they could have whatever they wanted. It didn’t make for the most polite of people.

High school age meant Eton and the point in Evan’s life where they began to start questioning things about themselves. They didn’t feel entirely comfortable in their skin, but the place they were living now probably wasn’t the best place to voice that.

So instead, he acted out, became callous and cruel, developed quite the attitude —- something he had very much picked up from his father. He used his money for absolutely everything and as a way to get ahead in life.

In the end it didn’t work, it wasn’t the person that Evan wanted to be, so instead they began to focus on their school work.

By the time he reached sixteen, he’d found a new passion: partying. Okay, not exactly partying, more drinking himself into  oblivion. He would be left unconscious ( as good as dead ) by friends, who didn’t care for him, only for his money. It was no life, not really. He drank to forget, to curb the confusing thoughts swimming around in his head.

Their destructive behaviour continued on over a couple of years. Word getting back to their teachers, senior staff and his parents, trouble following them absolutely everywhere.

Things got out of hand shortly after that and nights out ended up violent. His friend was caught up in a lot of unsavoury stuff and Evan found themselves in a mess, the police knocking on his family home’s door. Shortly after that his parents began to pull away, there was talk of his trust fun being cut off.

During the Easter holidays that followed, they made the choice to speak to their family about some of the thoughts they’d been having while away, the confusion about their gender that seemed to be taking over. Rather quickly they were shut down, both of Evan’s parents keen to move the subject on. There was no support there.

By summer an incident and a major misunderstanding during a night out left him with someone else's blood on his hands. He was kicked out of Eton, his was kicked out of his home, trust fund taken away entirely. For his father this was the perfect excuse to get rid of the child who went against everything that he believe in. Quite simply, Evan was no longer wanted.

For a short while they lived from couch to couch before eventually settling down in their cousin, Andy’s place, very gradually making a new life for themselves. They’ve been in Notting Hill ever since.

There is still a small part of him that screams spoilt rich kid, but he is trying to break away from that, to really discover who he is —- something that finally seems to be working now he’s twenty-eight.

WANTED CONNECTIONS.

- siblings (0/4). - cousin who took evan in. ( andy imanuel. ) - roommate. ( rory conor. ) - close friends. - old school friends from eton. - exes.

[mxrvelouscreations]

[tarnishedxknight] (from Noah to Leah about substances) "You've been self-medicating."

@tarnishedxknight

"It's nothing serious, just a little weed every now and again... maybe a little alcohol. I'm not doing it to excess, so it's ok." Leah was a little shocked at Noah bringing it up, having thought that she had been pretty clever in hiding when she was using to perk herself up. Things had been going pretty well until the robbery though, when it had caused some old memories to resurface that she was now trying to bury deep again. "There's nothing to worry about Noah, I promise you."

[bitterseadrop-a]

ahhah ok thank you serin for starting this brain rot …

thinking about how the fact that two gods have ‘blessed’ her with their gifts of power and how much of a toll it actually takes on her — both phyically and mentally.

the elders can only give their chosen ones so much power, as at the end of the day they are still mortal vessels for a god‘s might. so to not only contain one but two? needless to say, it‘s unclear why the fuck her body didn‘t immediately shut down on her when she received alatreon‘s blessing on top of velkhana‘s — it‘s most likely due to the latter trying its best to keep milou from bursting at the seams and doing damage control.

in reality though, it‘s certainly not a permanent solution and also a reason why she consumes so much alcohol in order to cope. being numbed through intoxication makes the toll on her body more bearable — especially on the bad days.

to top it all off, it‘s not only her body that needs to withhold a burden. it is her mind as well. milou doesn‘t know how to properly describe the phenomenon as it lays behind her understanding. she wouldn‘t describe it as a voice in her head, trying to take control and to make her its puppet. rather than two grand forces battling for dominance and on who may ‘own’ this mortal person.

then there‘s the third one, which is milou herself who holds her walls up high. an impenetrable bastion in her mind that refuses to succumb to either side, which is suffice to say and incredibly exhausting feat. her biggest fear stems from that as well, which is the fear of losing herself and the sight of who she is.

anyway you wanna know how else she combats that — aside from drinking enormous amounts of alcohol? tune in next episode then! i have an idea of what it is ok but i‘m tired so i will sleep now gn

[perytonpred]

kester is an alcoholic btw. their drink of choice is vodka because it can be hidden easier.

[talandros]

CHARACTER INFORMATION:

FULL NAME: Tallahassee Andros

NICKNAMES: Tal

FACE CLAIM: Peter Gadiot

PRONOUNS AND GENDER: Cis man, he/him

BIRTHDAY: September 27,1987

BIRTH PLACE: Tallahassee, Florida

HOW LONG HAVE THEY BEEN IN TOWN?: Eight years

SEXUALITY: Fluid

HOUSING: Coral Coast

OCCUPATION: Freelance songwriter

TL;DR:

TRIGGER WARNING(S): DRUG USE, DRUG ABUSE, BLOOD MENTION, ALCOHOL ABUSE

has-been washed up musician in a band that comes back on throwback playlists and people go ‘oh hey what happened to them’ (the goal and the vibe is like… del amitri meets nine days meets a much less successful third eye blind)

(really though absolutely no one is gonna recognize this dude for that anywhere ever lmao) but don’t worry he will tell you all about it. sometimes he has the grace to hold off until someone asks why he was like 150k followers on twitter [after saying it’s because he’s really funny and insightful]

florida native who left home when his band got signed after years and years of playing dive bars, bowling alleys and birthday parties

minorly and mostly peripherally successful but that was all tallahassee needed to absolutely rip his life to pieces

developed a drug problem on tour, got carted off to rehab (twice). the second time was the last straw and he was kicked out of the band. (that he named and started, but whatever, he swears he’s let that go)

moved to fairford for a fresh start roughly eight years ago and my dude has done NOTHING with that

living a good and california sober life, which suits him just fine

he is genuinely annoying but maybe in a way that’s endearing in select circles

FUN DUMB STATS:

Birthday: September 27,1987

Zodiac Sign: Libra ☉ | Sagittarius ☽ | Gemini➶  

MBTI: ESFP

Enneagram: Type 7w6

Temperament: Sanguine

Moral Alignment: Chaotic neutral

Element: Air

WANTED CONNECTIONS:

absolutely anything

ESTABLISHED CONNECTIONS:

tbd

FULL BIOGRAPHY:

OKAY THIS IS THE FULL BIO BUT FOR THE LOVE OF GOD YOU DON’T HAVE TO READ IT it’s here for posterity

All Tallahassee Andros’ life had been a vacillation of falling in love. First, it was music. The instant his uncle had put a guitar in his hands, that old Fender with nicks and dings that could barely hold its tune, a part of him never put it down. It was all he thought about during school days and baseball practices — getting home and playing that guitar. For a long time, the sound was unbearable, something only made worse by his tenacity. But he started to get better. Started to understand how to wrap lyrics around a melody — stupid little songs about missing the bus and hating homework and loving the girl who sat in front of him in math. He had heard his uncle say music brought him peace, but that wasn’t the truth for Tallahassee. Tallahassee felt this frenetic need for it, an all-encompassing, jonesing sort of itch. Later he would learn it was in his bones to need things, and music would be his bridge into the land where no one ever said no.

He started his first band when he was 14. A garage band with neighborhood kids who didn’t have much skill between them, but they were still willing to spend every day writing and rehearsing and trying to make something of themselves. Even the members remained in a sort of flux, one kid tagging out and dragging another in. By the end of it, they had only played at the bowling alley and the pizza shop across the street, and the only member who had stayed was Tallahassee  Andros. He was, after all, the front man. A position he both decided on, and clung to. He wrote the songs, after all, and his parents cared the least about a ragtag group of kids playing discordant noises late into the night. Tallahassee’s parents were two people who, at best, tolerated each other – but wanted to do right by their kids. Doing right meant a lot of letting them do what they wanted, as long as they were out of their hair. That meant, for the Andros family, a lot of late nights and loud music.

By the time he graduated high school, their still unnamed band consisted of   Tallahassee on vocals and guitar, his lifelong best friend Will on drums, a friend of a friend from down the street called Kurt on drums, and his brother Dover on rhythm guitar. They weren’t great, but they had been featured in the paper, and their gigs paid. It was barely enough to gas up the van to get there and back, but money was money, and that made them feel real. A real band needed a real name, and after spending months kicking around the first thing that came to mind, the landed on something. They were all sitting around the garage smoking — shitty, dirtbag weed that Dover had pocketed from their uncle — when they landed on something. Far more pretentious than an early 2000′s bowling alley band had a right to be, but they didn’t know it at the time. Kurt had been flipping through a Nat Geo magazine, one his dad had left from his days of hoping to be a wildlife photographer, when he started reading about this cluster of sharks off the coast of San Diego. Requiem sharks, the author called them. The Wild Requiem.

As much as the boys agreed on anything, they agreed on that name. Later, people would ask how they’d decided on it — and every time, every member of the band came up with a different lie. Tal liked the sound of it — liked that experts seemed to be torn on whether the name came from the French word for that old final rest, or the word for a grimace that showed teeth. It didn’t match their sound, not really —  but he liked that too. They started to work on an EP – their best songs to shop around to any label they had the gas money to get to. They burned it onto CDs and slid them unceremoniously under the door of every record shop and radio station in a 50 mile radius. They all had to get other jobs, real jobs, while they waited for something that felt like a break. They’d gotten a few bites, and continued to play in bars and small venues, but they weren’t successful — they weren’t paying bills.

Not until her. Their final addition, the one that would elevate them from a shitty little band to something with potential, was Laurel. She saw the Wild Requiem playing at a basement party, and she immediately started giving them advice as soon as they were off stage. She was pretty, so Tallahassee  pretended to listen. She was also smart, so Dover actually listened. It was a mercy Tal Andros had stars in his eyes, or he would’ve kicked up a fuss at receiving unsolicited advice from someone who had only heard 23 minutes of their material, and what did she know, anyway? A lot, as it turned out. Laurel’s dad was the head of Guilty Pleasure Records, and even if she didn’t have a foot in the door, she was a talent on her own.

Finally getting bored of her advice, Tallahassee asked her to prove herself. At their next practice, the room felt impossibly cramped with the new body, and he’d never realized how messy the garage was until there was a pretty girl standing in it. Laurel cast a disdainful look around the place, nudging an empty beer can out of her way with her boot as she stepped inside. He knew right then, she wasn’t going to try and blend in with them. She was going to try to change them —  fix them. He wanted to stand in front of her and say this had all been a mistake, they didn’t need help, and they didn’t need her. He would’ve been wrong. She sang for them, a song of her own that was far more eloquent than anything they’d managed to write. She guided them through playing it behind her. She and Tallahassee fell into a harmony, and the room seemed to come alive with it. With her, their sound changed entirely. They were firing on all cylinders. They needed Laurel in the band, and Laurel wanted to prove herself in her own right. They put together a new demo, and despite her connection, they were not picked up by Guilty Pleasure. Instead, they were scooped by one of their competitors — a nothing little studio that spawned out of GP Records, and picked up the studio head’s daughter out of spite. That was alright by the Wild Requiem, and more than alright by Laurel.

They spent almost seven months on that first album, every second that wasn’t spent writing was spent recording. For all their differences — and Tallahassee was learning there were a lot —  he and Laurel knew how to make a certain kind of magic together when it came to music. She knew how to get on his goddamn nerves, but she also knew how to fine tune his ideas. The album, for all it’s faults, was a success in a way none of them prepared for. They had received a fair amount of local buzz, but being excited about the neighborhood band that kept you up with their late night practices was nothing in comparison to what they would get. Required Listening was a sort of alternative rock, pop rock album that was easy. Windows down, singing with your friends on a July afternoon music. It wasn’t what any of them wanted to be in the end — but they knew it was a sound that would give them a beginning.

And it did. They were booked as an opening act for a three-band tour, and their set time was roughly all of fifteen minutes, but that was fifteen minutes they got to perform in big cities all around the country. They were out of Florida, and onto a lifestyle that was entirely different than bowling alleys and dive bars. When he read about how rock stars lived, how freely drugs were passed around backstage, Tallahassee believed it, but in a distant way that he didn’t think he would have to learn to deal with. He gave into it, at first not wanting to look like an amateur, like some Florida dirtbag who was out of his depth. First it was coke, and that could’ve been enough for him. It should’ve been. How quickly it sunk its teeth in, and how much more alive he felt was something he couldn’t ignore. Before he knew it, he was staying awake for days at a time, one city blurring into the next, the second leg of the tour becoming nothing but a feeling. In that time, he and Laurel had started sleeping together. She was only a half step behind him on the blow, both of them letting long nights of hooking up turn into writing songs that were nonsense in the daylight.

Their album had started to chart during that tour, and even if most of the country didn’t know they knew the Wild Requiem, they would find themselves humming their songs. No one was coming to shows for them, not really, but they were still getting attention. Tallahassee’s recreational drug use had started to turn into a habit, and they all knew he was going to have a problem by the end of the tour. He had started taking uppers in the mornings, and needed downers to get anything close to sleep. He had started to balance a combination of them during the day to keep himself running at a level, riding that high. But if anyone cared, that was eclipsed by how worried they were about Laurel. At the start of the tour, she had been right behind him. But she had surpassed him somewhere between Tempe and Seattle, and she was already getting into the shit that came from street dealers in dark alleys. Her family was intervening, and they were setting her up for a rehab stint at the end of the tour. The end of the tour was important, because despite getting in their own way, despite being on a bender reserved for business veterans, they had written some solid music. The band agreed, the label agreed. The tour would end, Laurel would get clean, and they’d meet up in four months to start on the next album.  

Tallahassee wasn’t worried about her. Not even when she would wake up with dried blood under her nose, and she had long since stopped feeling like the level-headed decisive woman he’d encountered just a few short years ago. They’d all changed on that tour, though. Shy, quiet Will had a different groupie on the bus every night. Where Tallahassee had given in to the harder substances, Dover had started to get just short of falling down drunk before every show. Tallahassee himself had, by almost all accounts, become an absolute dick. Before his tenacity had been to the band’s benefit, but somewhere in the time he started snorting Dexedrine, it was to their detriment.

They were still a fairly small band. They didn’t have room for his ego.

The tour ended, and The Wild Requiem was still riding high. Laurel was carted off to rehab, and the rest of them went their separate ways, for the time being. The band had already agreed on a house outside of Los Angeles for when recording time rolled back around. It was this ramshackle place in Pomona, five bedrooms and one bath. It was a dream home for none of them, but they wanted to grind their sophomore album out in the right place, in record time. Tallahassee headed there instead of back to Florida, living out those three months ‘networking’ for the band. It was during that time that he did heroin for the first time. Bad shit, he knew, and the one thing he’d promised himself he wouldn’t fall into. It had been a bad look on Laurel, even he’d seen that.

That, it turned out, to be his second great love. And oh, how it eclipsed the first. Music was secondary to that feeling, to the extent that he wondered how he had ever loved it at all. By the time Laurel got clean, he was anything but. Recording their second album came with none of the ease of the first. She couldn’t be around him, and he was having difficulty tolerating her sanctimonious attitude. All of the fun of the first album turned into grit, but it didn’t suit their sound. It was sand in your clothes after a day at the beach grit, and it was hard to salvage, even with the push of the label. Their second album felt like a draft, and their label had even less faith in it than the band did. There was maybe one single worth listening to on it, but that single pushed them through. It even charted, and got them their own headlining tour. No big venues, no sold out arenas, but it was enough. They just needed to work through the rockier parts. By the time they left, Tallahassee was all rocky parts. No one told him how short the high lasted – how everything after turned into that need. When he wasn’t using, his blood felt like battery acid. He woke up with his teeth clenched, every part of him crying out for it. It became survival.

He and Laurel had long since split, if they’d ever been together in any real capacity at all. But they couldn’t stand to be around each other. They started to travel on two separate tour buses. Even in his addled state, he knew this would be the end of the Wild Requiem. Their album was critically panned. Two albums in, and crowds already demanded their ‘old stuff.’ What Tallahassee didn’t know was how it would end. He overdosed in Phoenix, but not before taking a nasty header off the stage in Austin. He thought he would get a grace period to work through it himself – he hadn’t. His team put him in a rehab facility, tour be damned. Dover stepped up and took his part, and they hired a new guitarist.

At the end of his 90 days, the tour had ended – and so had his time with the band. He pretended to understand it. Pretended right up until the moment he got high and tore their Pomona house to pieces with his bare hands – doors off frames, furniture in the yard, holes in the walls. He was a one-man wrecking ball, and when he came to in the yard with bloody knuckles and surrounded by debris, he checked himself back into rehab. Another 90 day jaunt for Tallahassee Andros, and a new album for the Wild Requiem.

They could’ve at least changed the name, he thought. He wondered if he had grounds to sue. Probably. But his only visitor had been his brother, and when he saw the worry in Dover’s face, he knew they thought they were saving him. And saving the band. The new album was good. It wasn’t great, but nothing they’d done had ever been great. It returned to the easy sounds of their first album, and Dover thought they had the start of something. Tal did too. He decided then, to let it go. He wasn’t meant for that life. He’d lived it for three years, and it had all but turned him inside out. The other thing no one mentioned when you got sober, is how much goddamn time you suddenly have. He stayed in California for a while, moving up the coast to San Francisco. In San Francisco, he tried to be a lot of different people. So many hobbies under his belt, all because he needed to replace one addiction with the next. Woodworking, gardening – the worst of them all had been when he decided to be a runner. That one lasted until he tore his ACL, because Tallahassee still hadn’t learned to do anything moderately.

While he was healing, he dared to get back into songwriting. That tapped into the very center of him, releasing something he hadn’t known he was still holding. His guitar remained untouched, gathering dust in the attic where he didn’t have to look at it, but the idea of setting something to music was enough. He left California when he turned twenty-eight. After all, he’d been a has-been by the time he turned 23, by 25 he felt like a relic. He tried Seattle for a while, but Seattle felt like Los Angeles in a suit. The novelty of ‘aren’t you that guy?’ wore off quickly, and he was craving a sort of anonymity. It was only then that he remembered the town in Washington that felt like a unique little something. Maybe it was a need for something peripherally familiar without being familiar at all – the feeling of being a strange man in a strange land.

For weeks he tried to remember the name of the town, and for weeks he landed on nothing. He looked at old tour schedules, old pictures, anything. He finally relented and texted Laurel to ask. The band had broken up, and last he’d heard, she’d gotten married. Some British dude that Dover said was an asshole. Laurel, instead of answering, asked to meet for coffee.

They met up in Redding, California – the almost midpoint for them both. The first and last time they ever agreed to meet each other halfway. She wasn’t wearing a wedding ring, just as he’d known she wouldn’t be. Their meeting was filled with apologies and awkward reminiscing, something he hadn’t considered when he imagined how it would go. The terrible thing about them both being sober is they had no choice but to be present. She admitted only after they’d slept together that she was still married, she had just wanted to see if there was still a spark. Neither of them were sure if there had been. She told him the town had been called Fairford, and she only remembered because they’d impromptu played a gig at a dive bar while they were there, and because of Tallahassee, they’d wound up paying damages instead of actually getting paid.

She wished him luck there, as though his bags were already packed. Maybe they all but were. She was glad they’d had this last time, she said. He supposed she wanted it to feel like closure, but he didn’t think it had. It felt like opening up a book he’d once loved, but only remembered the high points. Still, he smiled and agreed.

He did pack his bags. He spent two months living out of motels and hotels while he tried to figure out if this was, indeed, the life he wanted. He liked the pace of things here. Liked the person he felt like when he went for his early morning run, followed by a coffee on the way back. He liked that the nights were slow and quiet. Most importantly, Tallahassee liked the person he felt like he could become here. He started to find his way back into music, even if it was no more than playing his guitar at sunset. The way the soft chatter in the down the hall would fall a little quieter if he managed something that sounded like he’d once been someone with talent. He would stay, he decided.

He moved out of the motel, opting to buy a house. The kind of roots that could, in darker moments, reach up and wrap around his neck if he weren’t careful. He was, after all, still in the business of replacing addictions, and he had gone a long way from anyone who was willing to stop him. He hadn’t relapsed since moving to the Washington, though he had adopted a California Sober lifestyle. And after 10 years, Tallahassee learned to stop changing the station when the Wild Requiem came on the radio – even if he gritted his teeth at being called a one-hit wonder.

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