#itzbridiebitch

[mortemoppetere]

@itzbridiebitch from here:

[pm] I have never been so happy to have it be quiet. It’s wonderful. Have you done anything to celebrate?

​[pm] Yeah, you and me both. Didn't know how much I missed the quiet.

Other than drinking myself stupid? Not really. I'm guessing you've been enjoying yourself a little more?

[eliaskahtri]

The Cosplay Circle

TIMING: Current

PARTIES: @itzbridiebitch & @eliaskahtri

SUMMARY: Bridie takes a trip to The Mushroom circle and meets Elias. He marvels in her unglamoured form, having no idea that it wasn’t a costume.

CONTENT WARNINGS: None

Elias was still new to bartending. He knew the difference between vodka and tequila (he had gone to college, after all), but how to make those drinks taste like other drinks? Something he was still learning. All he knew was that the Mushroom circle? He’d never been surrounded by so many like-minded people in all his life! Of course, one of his favorite activities was live-action roleplay (LARP for short), and the bar was full of people who dressed in the most intricate cosplay! They only did so behind the first bar, which felt like a secret fantasy nerd speakeasy. They sometimes put him behind, but for the most part, they kept him in front while he learned the ropes. Today they had him in the club area, slowly making all sorts of drinks for the fascinatingly-costumed people that would grace his presence.

As another person walked up to the bar, Elias threw the bar rag over his shoulder, giving the most dazzling smile he could to the new customer. “Welcome to the Mushroom Circle,” he greeted, patting the bartop in front of him. “What can I get for you?” He eyed the book of drinks they served, hoping that he had a how-to guide on it.

_________

Bridie loved her club. It was an endless source of entertainment, with plenty of humans to entertain herself with. But sometimes, she wanted to ditch the silly glamour, and let herself be who she was. 

Flowers tucked into pink dyed curls, she stepped into the mushroom circle. Once the door closed safely behind her, Bridie let the glamour drop with a sigh. That was a million times better. She adjusted her pink crop top and looked down, happy to see honey-brown fur and hooves instead of boring basic human legs. She made her way further into the club, practically skipping her way to the bar. 

Stevie could take a few lessons from this guy, she thought absently as the bartender greeted her warmly. But Stevie only ever looked vaguely annoyed to see her… Maybe it was because she was her boss? “Hiya honey,” she sang in response as she stopped in front of the bar. “That is an excellent question.” She drummed her fingers against the bar as she pondered the question. “You know what, I’m missing home a little extra tonight. What have you got with Tennessee whiskey?”

________

Elias turned around as she requested Jack Daniels. He knew a bottle of it was around on the shelves behind him. As soon as he spotted it, he clapped his hands together and scurried over to it, then looked down at his drink menu. He really needed to memorize this thing. “We’ve got whiskey sour, Manhattan, Old Fashioned. I can also give it to you straight, on the rocks, you name it.” He nodded his head, tapping on the lid of the bourbon a few times. 

He looked at her hooved legs, horns… all of it was so cool! “How did you make your legs look so real?!” He asked, unable to help himself. “I mean, everyone here is so good at their costumes. I need to learn a few things from some of you here.” Elias grinned as he spoke of costuming, the idea that there were people that loved cosplay as much as he did and could give him pointers. The possibilities? Endless. He couldn’t help but stare at the woman, and her cosplay was just so… so good!

________

She hummed in thought, prepping her chin up on her fist as he thought. “Make it a whiskey sour,” Bridie grinned, before pulling herself up onto a seat. She was untangling a strand of hair from around one of her horns when he asked his question.  

Confusion flickered across her expression until he said the word costume. Then her grin doubled in size. A costume? Bridie glanced around at the other fae in the club, realizing that the buzzy sensation that crept across her skin when she was in the presence of her kind wasn’t present for this particular person. Holy shit, they hired a human at a fae folk bar. “Oh you know,” she laughed with a shrug. “I look like this so often you’d think I was born with legs like these.” Not a lie at all. You would think it, and you would be correct. Unless you somehow mistook real legs for cosplay. “Oh we could definitely tell you what looks real. We’ve all got a really good eye for it.” 

_________

Giving a quick salute to the woman, he quickly flipped to the page for whiskey sour (Tolkien bless this book he was given) and began to put the drink together. He was practically vibrating with excitement over meeting someone who was potentially as gifted in cosplay as he was desperate to be. “You mean you wear your look out all the time?” He tilted his head to the side, slightly in awe of her bravery. “I think that we should hold a cosplay convention here so everyone can show off their outfits. I think it’d be fantastic.” He pushed the cocktail over to the woman, grinning brightly. “One whiskey sour!” He exclaimed before grabbing a clean rag to wipe up the mess he had created in the process.

“I love it here. I’ve finally found people that are as creative and weird as I am. Though they’re much better at getting the truth out of me than I’d like.” He paused. Why did he say that out loud? Oh well, he never was good at holding his tongue. Overexplaining himself was practically his middle name. “Zachary makes good company, but he doesn’t like to talk to me about his costume design. Even though he literally lights this place up!” He gestured over to the man he didn’t know was a lampade, who was really just standing around. 

He then smiled as he thought of the possibility of making friends around here who were engaged in his hobbies. Sure, he was from California and went to San Diego for Comicon every year, but he had left that life behind for a new one on the east coast, so he’d need to find new cosplaying friends. And seeing as how he worked at a cosplay bar, it felt like the opportunities were endless. “I’m Elias.” He then introduced, sticking a hand out for her to shake. He was so eager to make at least one friend after all the people he’d angered or confused online, he was starting to get a little desperate.

_____

Did he really think this was a costume? The horns were quite literally growing out of her head. The clip clop of hooves followed her when she walked. “Oh please, babes, I can’t look this good all the time.” She winked. Bridie just had to figure out a way to tell the truth while not making the poor guy’s brain explode with the reality of his job. “Sometimes I have to wear my human costume.”  She said it as though it was some grand joke. Picking up the drink, the faun raised it in a salute. “Sláinte!” She said cheerfully as she took a sip. 

“You’ll find we’re a good bunch. We’ll never lie to you.” But they might not be completely honest. It was the price of dealing with the fae for lesser folk. Bridie wasn’t the most cunning fae around, but she knew how the world worked for them. She glanced at the lampade, and had to hold back a snort of laughter. They lit up the corner they were in, looking mildly annoyed to hear their name come up in conversation. The faun wriggled her eyebrows playfully at them before turning back to the bartender. “Maybe he just doesn’t want to share his secrets. It can take a lot of work for us to look this fabulous.” 

A name! Without even having to ask for it. It was an interesting name, and she didn’t have a great deal of fun ones in her possession. But he seemed so genuinely happy. It didn’t feel right to take it. “Do you go by any nicknames?” Bridie asked innocently. “A good nickname can go a long way with people in our circle. And no one would steal it so it would be all yours.”

____

Elias couldn’t help but let out a laugh at the phrase ‘human costume.’ Sometimes he felt the same way. He had to adhere to what was appropriate for his age, and sometimes the best word he could use for when he was working his other job was that he was wearing a costume of sorts. He liked that idea, deciding to hold onto it for later.

“Never lie, huh?” He echoed, taking a moment to wipe down the bartop. “I mean, sometimes it’s nice for someone to give a white lie every now and then. The answer to does this outfit make me look fat should always be no.” He tapped a finger to his nose, knowing that there were some situations where he just didn’t need to be told the truth, or he wanted to withhold it for the feelings of the other person involved. 

He thought for a moment about a nickname. His family had always called him Elias, never liked a nickname. In school, some of the kids shortened it to Eli. He found that either way, it didn’t really matter what he was called. “I’ll go by anything, honestly.” He spoke with a shrug. “Elias, Eli, Hey You. They all work.” He thought for a moment, thinking about her saying someone would steal it, what an odd thing to say. “What do you mean this group would steal my name?” He questioned, unable to let it go.

_____

“Nope,” Bridie said, emphasizing the ‘p’ with a pop. The faun tucked a stray curl behind her horn as she leaned back on her seat. “I can’t lie to save my life. It’s just so much easier telling the truth. Didn’t your momma ever teach you honesty is the best policy?” She teased.

“Elias Eli Hey You.” She said them all together as though it was one long name. “Sounds like Barnabus-Billius-Bently… shit, it’s not one of those either is it?” With the shake of a head and a wave of a hand, she dismissed the thought. “We’ll stick with Eli, I think. It has a nice ring to it.”

A frown notched the corner of Bridie’s mouth for a fraction of a second. How to dance her way around the truth on this one… “Have you ever heard the expression ‘I’m totally stealing that from you?’” She asked innocently, cocking her head to the side. It was answering a question with a question. If he said yes, then he had his answer. She loved a wicked little work around.

___

“Well, of course, my mother taught me not to lie. She’d hit me with a wooden spoon if she ever caught me in a lie.” Elias shuddered at the memories because he sure had gotten in trouble in his younger years for deciding it was time to go out and hunt in the woods for cryptids, and therefore had to lie to his mother about where he had gone and what he was doing. She would be beside herself if she had known the truth, so he had to keep the information to himself, naturally.

Elias snickered as Bridie went through the possible nicknames, shaking his head. “Eli it is, that’s what I’ll be then.” He frowned, thinking back to the doctor that had told him not to give out his name. Still weird wording, but since everyone had been telling him that lately… maybe it was best to go by a nickname here while he was still trying to figure out what exactly he was working with…. and working for. 

Frowning, Elias shook his head. “I’ve never heard that phrase in my life,” he admitted. Now he was confused. “Like when someone says something and the person wants to use it for themselves?” He then asked in an attempt to clarify. “I’m still getting used to the culture of this place, and quite frankly,” he leaned in a bit so no one would overhear them, “I’m not too sure I should be working here at all. It’s starting to feel like I’m in danger or something.” He leaned back again, frowning.

___

She wrinkled her nose at the thought. Bridie guessed if she had to describe what telling a lie felt like, a wooden spoon could fit the bill. If it was a very large wooden spoon. “Well then, it’s a pleasure to meet you Eli.” She made a mental note to call him that if there were any other fae around. It wasn’t her name to give away, after all. 

Bridie nodded enthusiastically. “Exactly!” She sang. “Like if you heard me call someone ‘babycakes’- which I do. Frequently. And you went ‘Well shit and god damn, that sounds fucking cool, I’m totally gonna steal that.” And definitely not that she could just fully take his name if he gave it to her. 

The enthusiasm faded abruptly as he grew worried. No, no, no, a scared bartender wouldn’t do. They were the cupbearers of fun, and having one freaked out was death to a good time. She had to think of a way to spin this, and fast. Bridie shrugged. “I mean, I think this place is like. Just as safe as anyplace in Wicked’s Rest. Ya know? Weird shit happens everywhere. Like have you seen those crabs? Those little fuckers merged into like. A mega crab the other day. Right in front of me. It was like a terrifying remake of the Power Rangers.”

______

Elias frowned, maybe it was safe, and he was reading too much into things. At least, he had to hope he was reading too much into things. Weird shit did seem to happen everywhere, but it didn’t help him feel any less on edge. He then shook his head, deciding that he was going to be done obsessing about his new job and just pretend everything was normal. It was better for his sanity that way. He couldn’t start trying to open a Pandora’s box that he simply didn’t want the answers to. He wouldn’t be able to put it back. 

A bit distracted, he nodded slowly. “Yeah, morphing crabs.” He then shook his head, realizing what he had said. “Morphing crabs can’t be happening.” He decided, a deep frown settling on his face. Had moving to Wicked’s Rest been a complete mistake? Everything that had happened to him lately had him questioning his sanity at every turn. “I mean, that defies nature, doesn’t it? It’s not like it’s a single sell organism dividing itself, or…” he trailed off, clutching his head in his hands. “This place is too weird!” He declared, having half a mind to make a drink for himself, but thought better of it. 

“I think I’m going to need a drink after the week I’ve had,” he decided with a nod of his head. “And preferably I don’t drink at the same place I work at, so I need to find a change of scenery. Maybe outside of the city where the weird can’t chase me.” He thought aloud, thinning that maybe a drive to Portland was on the agenda for him soon. “Wicked’s Rest might be living up to its name a bit too much for me right now.”

_____

“Tell that to the mighty morphing mega crab the size of a small dog I saw on the way to work.” Bridie scoffed. She blinked at his declaration once. Twice. And then snorted loudly with laughter. “Babycakes, everywhere is weird if you pay attention for long enough. New York City has freaking rats that will drag slices of pizza bigger than they are across subway platforms. The state of Florida is a thing that exists.” She took a sip of her drink and shrugged. “You just have to decide if it’s your kind of crazy or not.”

She gestured to the array of bottles surrounding the human. “Pour yourself one, and I’ll pick up the tab. Or, after you clock out, head over to Tír na nóg. You can drink, dance, have a good time, and not drink where you work. And once again, I’ll pick up the tab. It’s downtown, so you don’t have to leave the city. And if you do it right, it’s easy to forget the weird.”

____

Elias blinked at the idea of a crab that morphed with other crabs to form a bigger crab. He then shook his head, realizing that he completely hated that idea and wanted to shove it to the back of his mind as quickly as possible. Nope, no way. He couldn’t help but laugh under his breath at the picture of pizza rat popping into his head. That had been a good moment on the internet, he thought to himself. Still, she had a point. “Maybe I just need time to process the flavor of weird that this city has to offer.” He then rephrased, drumming his fingers across the bartop for a brief moment. “I’ve met some nice people here, it would be a shame to leave just because I got spooked by a few unexplainable things.” He thought aloud, nodding his head once. Yes, he decided. He wouldn’t leave. 

As she talked about her club, he smiled. “Well on my off hours, I would love to stop by.” He frowned, looking around for any listening employees. “Just don’t tell my employers that I went to the new competition, yeah?” He then asked with a sheepish smile. In truth, he had never been to a club as a patron before. The entire atmosphere he found himself working in was a completely new one. “I’m here for another…” he trailed off, checking his phone for the time. “Two hours.” He concluded, tucking his phone back into his pocket.

____

“Yeah,” she said nodding as he blinked, appearing horrified at the thought. “Be super happy you didn’t have to bear witness.” Bridie grinned when the legendary New York pizza rat warranted a laugh. “If you ask me, New York pizza rats are way scarier than Wicked’s Rest’s brand of weird. Plus Florida? Hungry gators and crazy headlines every other day? No thanks.” Her grin widened, and she raised her glass in celebration. “That’s the spirit Eli! Never say die!”

She laughed a little, shaking her head. “It’s okay, we cater to very different clientele. They probably don’t mind Tír na nÓg’s existence… probably.” She nodded, polishing off the last of her drink before setting the empty glass back down on the bar. “Well then babycakes, I will see you in two hours. Remember to ask for Bridie. I am a woman of my word, so you have a free tab there tonight.” Sliding off the bar stool, hooves clicked against the floor. “See ya later, Eli.” She waved her fingers before heading for the door.

[canis-or-cannotis-lycaon]

The Small Talk Between the Voices

TIMING: June 8th PARTIES: Bridie (@itzbridiebitch) and Gael (@lithium-argon-wo-l-f) SUMMARY: Gael wants some half-price drinks and finds a very distracted Bridie. Turns out having voices in your head isn't all it's cracked up to be. CONTENT WARNINGS: None

Alone at the bar wasn’t typical for Bridie. 

Bridie was typically the one who would be in the center of a group, or wrapping someone new around her little finger at the bar with ease. 

But she typically didn’t have voices rattling through her mind. She hadn’t noticed it before that first night, but it didn’t sound like they ever really stopped. There was a noise like incoherent whispers in her mind that she could hear in the silence. It was the voices- three now instead of just the one. They seemed content to be soft cacophonous whispers until they had something to say, when their voices sounded out clear as day. So instead of listening to their jabbering, she sat at the bar. But she couldn’t bring herself to do what she usually did. Not until she was so lost in intoxication that the voices would hopefully be a distant memory. 

She stared down into the rocks glass of Tennessee whiskey when she heard something outside her head other than the music, and she startled. Looking up, Bridie realized it was a person, and not a new voice to join her descent into madness. Thank fucking god. She thought. A dark chuckle rang through her mind, and she fought a flinch off. “Sorry,” she said, forcing her usual smile onto her face. “Did you say something?”

—— Half-price drinks at Tír na nÓg? Sign Gael up. He wasn’t one to turn down a good offer and as he made his way into the unusual-looking nightclub, his keen eyes scanning the darkened area that was highlighted in neon and ultraviolet. While normally he wasn’t opposed to just finding a spot to sit in general, he tended to be gravitated towards loners - a stranger was a friend you just hadn’t met yet. Sure enough, she saw a woman sitting at the bar, slouched and keeping her gaze focused on her drink. Maybe Gael should play cautious so he did, approaching her slowly and leaning to be seen in her field of vision instead of touching her. “Afternoon,” He said gently but clearly enough for her to know it was him that said it. She reacted by looking up at him and he smiled, straightening up. “No apologies, I just said ‘afternoon’,” he repeated, putting one of his hands in his pockets and pointing to the empty stool next to her. “May I?” He asked. “I… didn’t mean to interrupt anything.” She was attractive but he wasn’t surprised by that anymore in this town.

—— Afternoon. Right. He was just being friendly and greeting her. Bridie typically would have been the one greeting. The one setting out after people and making new connections. Now she was so lost in her mind she hadn’t even heard something as simple as afternoon. She should have been grateful she’d fed recently, otherwise the fear of what would happen if she couldn’t properly endure euphoria would have her in a chokehold. 

She nodded, gesturing to the seat. “Sure thing.” Bridie’s eyes grew vacant a moment as one of the voices rose in her mind, hissing about where they’d buried the person they’d murdered. Shut up, shut up, shut up. The faun’s eyes screwed shut a moment, until the voice had ebbed back into the background. She let out a sigh, before realizing he’d asked a follow up question. “Oh. Oh! No, no you’re totally fine, you didn’t interrupt anything at all. Just sitting. Nothing crazy.” Ha. Crazy. Ironic choice of words. She held out a hand to shake, forcing herself through the normal routine of it. “I’m Bridie.”

—— She seemed… distracted, Gael thought as he sat down next to her and he felt his brow furrow slightly with what could’ve been uncertainty. Then a sigh before she regarded his statement with her own though he got the impression that she was… No, he was already assuming too much of her. Nothing crazy. People often frequented bars when they had something on their mind, she was probably no exception. Gael took her hand and gave it a firm shake accompanied with a soft smile. “Gael.” He replied. “What’s a lovely lady like you doing at a bar by yourself?” He found himself asking, keeping his studied eyes on her. “Not to intrude but it seemed like there was something on your mind.” He then turned to face the bar, leaning against it casually. “Not that it’s even remotely my business. Obviously you don’t have to disclose anything to me. I’m just here for the good deal on drinks,” He grinned to himself.

——

She finally looked at him- really looked at him. Nice smile, Bridie assessed, pretty eyes. She was a sucker for pretty eyes. If this little exchange had happened even a little earlier, maybe a few weeks prior, she would have oozed charm. Would have been dedicated to ensuring this man had the best night of his goddamn life. Instead, now Bridie was just trying to make it through the interaction without scaring off a patron by making them think she was batshit insane. She was sure the aura that caused people to lose their inhibitions and dive headfirst into their euphoria still hung around her. It always did. But she was too lost in her mind to help push people along the right path. “Pleasure to meet you, Gael.”

Shit, so much for no one noticing. It wasn’t entirely surprising. Bridie had never had much of a poker face. It sort of went with the territory of not being able to lie. “I’m not technically alone- you’re sitting next to me now. And the bar is full of people.” It was easy enough, falling into her usual bubbly cadence. Laughing a moment, she nodded in approval. “Well if you like half priced drinks, I can do you one better. Stevie!” She flagged down the bartender, who’s expression translated to what now? “Stevie, babycakes, this is Gael. Gael does not pay for his drinks today. Capiche?” The bartender nodded, grumbling something about the pink haired woman never letting anyone pay for their own goddamn drinks, and how that was a terrible business model.

 She would have loved to tell someone what was going on. Would have been so relieved to get it off her chest. But you couldn’t exactly say ‘Hi, my names Bridie, I’m a Pisces, I enjoy long walks on the beach, parties that go far too late into the night; and oh by the way I think I’m losing my mind because there are voices in my head now that aren’t mine!’ But she had to say something in response. “I haven’t been getting a lot of sleep lately.” She said by way of an explanation. It would hopefully explain the thousand yard stare she’d had when he’d approached. “I don’t think I’ve seen you in here before. I think I’d remember you.”

—— “Touche, madam,” Gael replied casually, glancing around as Bridie called for the bartender to– make his drinks free. “Wait, you–” He cut himself off, having a feeling that insisting that he could pay for his own drinks was fine and not an insult to Bridie, who was… was she the owner? She was obviously a higher up if she could just make it so that he didn’t have to pay for drinks. Then again, the shift put him a little on edge - he was usually pretty go-with-the-flow but there were a few instances that gave him pause when things suddenly shifted like that. However, Gael played it casual and though he hadn’t ordered a drink yet, he kept his dark eyes on Bridie as the latter spoke. She hadn’t been sleeping well either? He made a note to bring that up but first… “Oh, I’ve never been here before,” He explained. “I moved to town about five months ago and I have more free time than I did like a month ago.” He glanced around at the location briefly before he gave the woman a sympathetic smile. “But I know what you mean. About… not getting good sleep.” His expression softened. “I know we just met but is there anything I can do to help?” He asked.

She couldn’t help the soft laugh the escaped her at his surprised expression. It never got old. Whether it was the delight of free drinks, or the surprise that came with a stranger buying you something for little to no reason, the surprise always made Bridie happy. She liked surprises. Or at least she had. Until she woke up in the middle of the night with an unwelcome surprise in her mind. An almost serpentine voice hissed in her mind and she shuddered. At least she could play that off as being cold.

“Well that explains it. Welcome to Tír na nÓg!” Her usually peppy voice was much more subdued. Bridie knew it was due in no small part to the exhaustion she was feeling. But this was still her club, so she still had to make an effort. “Settling in can always be busy. Where did you move from?” She blinked a moment, focusing on the words spoken outside her head. “No, no you don’t need to help. I’ll sleep eventually, I’m sure.”

—— As to be expected, she declined his help, not that Gael knew what he could’ve done but he always tried to make the effort to extend the arm. He reciprocated with a small nod and folded his arms over each other as he leaned against the bar, looking sideways at the women. He almost said “Thank you” but after getting mentioned several times that it wasn’t a good custom in the town, he stopped himself. “It’s good to be here,” He responded instead, smiling. “Most recently, I moved from Massachusetts,” He said mildly, raising his brows slightly. “But originally I’m from Guatemala.” She didn’t ask that part but Gael decided to throw that in for good measure. He picked up one of the fanciful drink menus and started to peruse it. “How long you been here?” He asked her now. “I’m assuming… do you own this bar?”

“Massachusetts and Guatemala,” she echoed, nodding her head slowly. “Very nice. I moved here from New York, but I’m a Nashville girl originally.” Bridie watched as he looked over the drink menu before a voice caught her attention. She glanced over her shoulder, still half expecting to see someone addressing her. But no… she turned back to Gael, trying to let the worry roll off her. 

“I’ve been in town… maybe almost a year now?” Bridie scrunched up her nose as she did the math. “It took a few months, but I got this place up and running.” She gave a sharp nod. “Yep! Owner, promoter, partier, occasional mix master, and cocktail connoisseur. If you like margaritas, Stevie makes an incredible one.”

—— “All of that?” Gael asked, raising his eyebrows and pushing past the fact that she looked over her shoulder expectantly, as though someone had called for her attention but opting out of saying anything about it right then. “You’re a lady of many talents and you know what, I’ll take you up on your word that Stevie makes incredible margaritas.” With that, it was his turn to call over the bartender, where he ordered the drink with agave syrup and, of course, salt around the rim. As the drink was being prepared, Gael kept his eyes on Bridie, almost as though searching for something but he didn’t know what it was he was looking for. “It looks really good,” He complimented, gesturing to the room. “I think the reason why I never came by was because I couldn’t pronounce the name,” He laughed at his own shortcoming, but the laugh didn’t last too long before his expression softened. “Did I bother you at a bad time?” He asked the same question in a different way. “It just… seems like you’re waiting for someone.” He paused. “Am I making you uncomfortable? If I am, I apologize; I can go sit somewhere else.” Suddenly tensing up, he made a motion as though to rise from his seat and he pointed over his shoulder at– he wasn’t even sure where but the last thing he wanted to do was make her uncomfortable.

——

She grinned at the compliment. “All of that. I have to keep busy if I’m gonna make sure everyone has a good time, right?” Most nights she did a good job of that. But most nights she wasn’t losing her mind. 

Bridie laughed, as close a laugh as she could manage to her usual one. It was a duller sound than usual, edged with exhaustion. “I get that a lot. So it’s ‘tear’, like you’re crying ‘na’ like exactly how you would think it sounds, and ‘noog’. Tír na nÓg.” One of the voices decided it liked the name of her club, chattering it incessantly until it became one long word. Her eyes dimmed a bit, but she managed not to wince. She blinked as she registered what he said and her heart sank. “No! Ohmigosh, no, you’re fine! I’m sorry, you’re totally fine, please, sit!” Great, now she was making customers think they were bothering her. How much worse could this get?

—— Gael, after considering maybe getting out of the beleaguered woman’s hair so she wouldn’t have to keep entertaining his inquiries, adjusted in his seat once more and turned to face her again; he wasn’t sure what was wrong but he felt bad that whatever it was, he couldn’t help. So instead, he did what he could and he listened intently to how she was saying the name - far be it for him to purposely mispronounce things. “Tír na nÓg.” He repeated unsurely, his brow furrowing in the middle slightly. “It’s a lot different than Spanish, I’ll give it that much,” Gael leaned back in his seat and rubbed one of his temples - Spanish and Latin were one thing but he didn’t do well on the languages that weren’t from the same root. “You said you’ve been here a year; mind if I ask where you hail from?” He opted for small talk - get the conversation away from whatever was bothering her, break the ice. Be kind.

Whether or not Gael realized he was helping, he was. Even if she was struggling to get through a social interaction with the current state of affairs in her head,  he was letting Bridie pretend everything was fine. Pretend the hellish crusade in her head wasn’t there, even as it actively whispered in her ear. 

“Yep, you’ve got it!” She chirped, pleased with the attempt. “I’ve heard a lot of variations from people coming through. I don’t mind, so long as they pay the cover.” Bridie smiled, a stilted attempt, but it looked better than some of her previous tries. “I am from Nashville, Tennessee. Born and raised. I had a brief stint in New York though. Had another club there- Avalon, it was called.”

—— Oh duh, she already told him that. His expression reflected that and he couldn’t stop himself from saying “I’m sorry, you already said that”. Gael recovered quickly though and he laughed at his own lack of listening. “Tennessee to New York to here - one of those is a little different than the others.” He paused. “I’ve heard of Avalon though, that’s from… that’s from like all the fantasy stuff. Arthurian?” He had no idea if that was correct, he just knew it was a popular set piece for fantasy. “What brought you to Wicked’s Rest?” Gael asked. “...And if you’ve already answered that then feel free to give me a look and make me pay for my drink - I think I just got distracted by how pretty your hair is.” He attempted to pass off his fool question, hoping she wouldn’t take offense.

“No worries,” she said. It was practically her mantra. Or it was, before her head became all worries, all the time, always. “Yeah, Wickeds Rest is definitely different.” She shrugged. “But I got the place for a song. I couldn’t resist.”  Bridie nodded happily, hoping the voices rattled around in her head with each movement. “Yep! I have a bit of a naming theme. What can I say, I like stories.”

The first real smile of the night crept across her face. She raised a hand to her hair at the compliment. “Flattery will get you everywhere, babes. Your tab is still free.”  The smile slipped a little. “It is a long story that ultimately ends in business legal people of the big apple and I disagreed on some things. So I got a new place up here.”

—— “Wait, you got it after a song?” Gael repeated, hearing the rest of what she said but that part caught his attention in general. However, she mentioned that it was a long story so he cleared his throat and decided to move on. “Good to know my tab is still free,” He attempted to fill the space with small talk as Stevie brought the margarita to the bar, where he thanked the bartender and pulled the drink closer to himself. He took a sip, letting the feeling of the alcohol warm his features and he raised his eyebrows, looking over at her. “This IS really good!” Gael’s expression brightened and he took another drink as thoughts got going in his head. Strangely, he found himself insufficient on small talk but he could also tell that something else was on her mind. Surely she wasn’t usually like this - Gael was under the impression that it might be difficult to own a bar if one wasn’t a fan of participating in said bar. What did he know, though? Well, one thing he did is that his head tilted subconsciously as a familiar song started chiming through the building, in the air and dancing through his mind. “Hey, I love this song!” He said with enthusiasm in his tone and he was struck with an idea, something he could offer to Bridie to maybe help distract her, if only temporarily, from whatever demons she might’ve been fighting in her head. He stood up, keeping his eyes on her and he leaned slightly, offering a hand out to her. “May I have this dance, my lady?” Gael asked, putting on a playful but genuinely gentlemanly tone.

——

“Figure of speech babes. Though I probably was humming while signing all the bullshit paperwork. I got it for cheap.” Buying a club with a rickety old music hall with a haunted bathroom certainly drove prices way down. Bridie cocked a knowing eyebrow as he took a sip, and she waited. “I never lie, babes. Especially not about something as important as a good margarita.”

The dj had a solid set that night. She couldn’t remember their name, but they were one of the few people who’s sets she wouldn’t interrupt to change the music. They had excellent taste, and there was no shortage of bodies moving on the dance floor. 

Any other night, Bridie would have gotten shots for this man. She would have half dragged him onto the dance floor already. She wouldn’t have waited for him to say he liked a song, and she definitely wouldn’t have waited for him to ask her to dance. But here they were. Him with his hand extended, and Bridie with stupid fucking voices making her life a nightmare. She wanted to ignore them. To keep going like nothing was wrong. 

Bridie took his hand. “I would love to.”

—— He waited, holding his breath even though he wasn’t going to be offended at all if she said no. If she had, he might’ve gracefully excused himself from her presence to go… anywhere else or maybe even dance by himself even though he couldn’t. Speaking of, when she took his hand and his expression lightened, Gael carefully but enthusiastically pulled her onto the wide, sparsely-populated dance floor. “By the way, is this a bad time to mention that I’m terrible at dancing?” Gael made himself heard over the music, a more genuine smile covered his face - he wasn’t being disingenuous before, of course, but it felt clinical, like he was just smiling out of obligation but now he felt the beat pulse through him, her warmth in his hand, her body against his. She was alive, he was alive and even if she had something on or in her mind, he could help alleviate some of it, if only for the next few minutes.

[eldritchaccident]

@itzbridiebitch replied to your post “Good citizens of Wicked's Rest, Who would you...”:

I am in like… desperate need of a vacation. Due to some personal issues that will hopefully be resolving themselves soon. But also vacations are expensive, so can I just sit on your boat and sun tan and *pretend* I am on vacation?

​Oh hun, absolutely. Might be better than you even know cause of the-- Maine weather permitting.

[faunandfl0ra]

[pm] so do you do flower crowns?

[pm] I do, what did you have in mind?

You doing better?

[totally-not-a-dod-agent]

Professional opinion? You wouldn't happen to be the owner of that place, would you? Because I love the confidence and I can't wait for you to live up to your word ;)

Well in my professional opinion, going out and meeting new people is the way to go. There are some fun ones- Tír na nÓg is a good one. Plus the owner is super nice and comps people things sometimes.

[faustianbroker]

@itzbridiebitch replied to your post “[pm] soooo fun fact: it was a curse. 🎉”:

[pm] a very tacky piece of jewelry owned by The Worst Lady (tm) who was very content to just let us die. [pm] so we broke into her house, stole it, and then broke it. [pm] the voices are gone, so I *think* it’s fixed?

​[pm] Interesting. But also awful. Well, glad to hear that the voices are gone! Did you kill her [...] What was her name, do you know?

[mayihaveyournameplease]

@itzbridiebitch

… bestie, what in the ever living flying fuck is going on over there? Blink twice if you need help.

The BMV had a little problem, but it's been handled and we look forward to everyone coming back. A few days not being able to help the citizens of Wicked's Rest is too much time. I told them, we should set up shop outside, that way busisness doesn't have to stop, but they said that would be too much effort, and we couldn't bring our computers outside, but I tried so hard to make cure our lovely townsfolk could keep coming in. No one wanted to do it. You know, they aren't lying when they said this generation is lazy. My boss is younger than me, totally lazy. Just wanted to shut down shop instead of trying.

[closingwaters]

PARTIES: @itzbridiebitch @closingwaters

TIMING: Last Week

SUMMARY: Bridie is having fun making someone dance for her, and Teagan joins in to make the fun a little bloodier.

WARNINGS: Talks of torture

There was simply nothing Bridie hated more than assholes. Unfortunately, in her line of work, they always seemed to find their way into her club and make other peoples nights miserable. 

Fortunately, she had ways to deal with these things. 

Chad (at least, she assumed his name was Chad. No one who was as much of a jerk had a name that didn’t sound like something out of a stereotypical frat house) had been a fucking menace all evening. And not in the cute endearing way. After watching him absolutely kill the vibe for so many poor people just trying to enjoy their evenings, she decided she’d had enough. So Bridie did what Bridie did best. 

And that was how she’d gotten there. In the dark corner of they alley outside, a wicked, feral gleam of a smile on her face, watching into the twentieth straight minute that Chad had been dancing the Cotton Eye Joe. Bridie laughed as he stumbled over his own to feet, hopping back and forth like a man possessed. Well, not possessed. But definitely compelled. And she had no intentions on letting the man stop. “Pick up the pace, Chad, you’re falling off tempo.” The man’s face was a dazed, vacant smile, but he did as he was told. 

She had been so lost in the reverie of watching her handywork, she hadn’t heard the footsteps. She saw a shadow on the ground beside her, and she spun around. “Oh hi! We’re um. Just having a little outdoor dance party! See?”

Wicked’s Rest, as small as it was in comparison to other cities Teagan had been to, seemed so vast at night. Maybe it was the way certain things were able to trapeze around with no sun as a threat. Or maybe it was the fact that darkness was so vast and endless.

Regardless, Teagan didn’t mind. She adored the sun, the way it warmed her skin, but under the veil of Mother Night, her cousins—the lampade’s home, there was a kind of freedom that light didn’t bestow. Things were easier to cover. Much like the scene Teagan walked in on in that otherwise dismissable alleyway. She felt it before she laid eyes on it. The lovely and familiar buzz that crept into any fae’s skin when another was near.

“Hello,” The nix smiled devilishly, eyes scanning the fae woman in front of her. Given the way she was laughing and making the idiot dance for her, Teagan could only guess she was a faun. How fascinating it always was to watch a cousin in their element. “No need for that, lass,” Teagan stepped forward with a giggle. “Don’t you feel that buzzing? One of the family. You’re safe ‘round me.”

The skittishness of being caught red handed when she was in the process of a very amusing kill had temporarily eclipsed the little zip of electric, magical instinct that said the fae were close by. Bridie paused, taking in the little details of the other fae, trying to gauge just what they were. She couldn’t quite be certain. All Bridie knew was the smile on their face spoke of the fun kind of trouble that could be had. 

“You took me by surprise, honey. I’m not used to an audience. Though I think Chad is deserving of an audience. Hey, Chad, babycakes, I think it’s time to switch songs. Time for the Cupid Shuffle!” Bridie was gleeful, snapping her hand to indicate an inaudible, imaginary change in songs. “I want those kicks nice and high, Chad!” Ignoring the man as he nearly split his jeans trying to kick his leg as high as he could, the faun turned back to the unidentified fae.

A wild, yet somehow warm smile crinkled the corners of her mouth. “I promise, I’m usually way better about noticing folks and saying hi to y’all. But this one has my full attention at the moment.” Or at least he did until a pretty new friend walked over. “What are you called?”

A devilish smile tugged on each side of Teagan’s lips. Oh how she missed partaking in mischievousness with her fellow fae. She couldn’t help herself, closing the distance and securing her own seat to a show of her new friend’s making. Her eyes danced between the one named Chad and whoever this faun was. Teagan thought she was pretty, gorgeous even. 

Flashes of an evening filled with playing with the poor dwt who had the audacity to bother the fae danced in every flutter of thought. Teagan grazed her fingers down her companion’s arm, plucking her hand into her own. “My name is Teagan.” She placed a soft kiss on the back of the woman’s hand. “And you, darling? Who am I going to spend the evening with?”

Oh, Bridie liked that smile. That wicked, impish, playful smile. Like an agreement to revel in the maenad’s little games, whether they be bacchanalian delights, or treating an irksome mortal like the silly little plaything it could be. 

Gentle fingers traced down the faun’s arm, and the wild smile on her face widened, her cheeks causing her eyes to crinkle. Warm lips brushed over the back of Bridie’s hand, a soft delighted hum catching in her throat as her focus shifted fully to the pretty fae before her.  “Teagan is a pretty name,” The faun said, looking her new friend up and down. “It definitely suits you.” Twisting their hands so Teagan’s was on top, Bridie mirrored the gesture as she brought Teagan’s hand to her lips, brushing a gentle kiss over her knuckles. “You’re spending your night with someone called Bridie.” 

It was such a delight to watch the gleam in Bridie’s eyes brighten. How could it not? Not only was she in her element, but she was being joined by a fellow fae. That always had a way of sparking even more fun. Personally, Teagan preferred a wetter and bloodier approach, but she could make due with what was in front of her. She was always rather good at adapting. Besides, if the toy proved to be boring, she could always focus on the faun. 

“Bridie suits you as well.” Teagan dragged her finger along Bridie’s jaw, ending at her chin to tilt it upward. She leaned in, placing a small peck to the faun’s cheek before looking back at the dancing man. “What’s next for this lad? I like to make things a little bloody, but you’re the director. I’ll follow your lead.”

If Bridie had any concerns about her night being boring with the man slowly dancing himself to death in the alley, she was quickly being proven wrong with the sudden appearance of Teagan. She bit her lip as the fae titled her chin up and kissed her cheek. God, she missed partying with the fae. 

“Ooh, that is an excellent question my pretty friend.” Her gaze shifted back to Chad. Ugh, Chad. “Death by line dance is usually a lengthy process. It’s endlessly entertaining, but I love to shake things up once in a while.” The faun cocked her head to the side, an eyebrow raised. “What’s your idea of a good time babes? I like seeing what other people find fun. I don’t mind a little mess, as long as it doesn’t get tied to this place,” she jerked her head toward the club. “It’s an all you can eat buffet in there, and I’m not about to jeopardize that.”

“Hmm…” Teagan tapped on her chin, looking around to find the best course of action. It was a pity they couldn’t make a mess. Spattering blood across the ground was always such a pretty sight. She hardly even minded the burn it caused her skin. The sensation excited her, even. Perhaps a change in scene was in order. If the two of them were going to have proper fun, they needed a secluded area where they could be carefree. The woods weren’t far off, Teagan didn’t think. And the fellow didn’t look terribly heavy in case things went sour. 

First things first, though, the nix wanted a small taste of her new friend.  

“Why don’t we venture to the woods then? Just a short walk.” Teagan leaned into Bridie, maneuvering around so her hands were on either side of the faun. Her lips found a soft piece of flesh on her neck, and she nipped at it gently, kissing it immediately before trailing up to meet Bridie’s lips with hers. “Then I can make that blood pour out of him with no worries at all.”

Bridie hummed along to nonexistent music as Teagan thought. She glanced over at Chad, stumbling his way through the ‘now kick’ section of the Cupid Shuffle. Poor bastard was in for a rough night. Well. Rough for him. Fun for them. 

“A short walk to the woods,” Bridie echoed. Her breath hitched in her throat at the teeth that grazed the delicate skin of her neck before lips brushed over it in a kiss. Wide doe eyes watched carefully before fluttering shut as lips met hers. The supposed innocence her eyes may have portrayed was gone in an instant as the maenad chased after Teagan’s lips, pulling her back into a hungry kiss. “That sounds like a perfect plan. I think you should lead the way.”

Without hesitation, Teagan took Bridie’s hand, beckoning Chad to follow with the other. It all felt so familiar, so innate and easy to fall into such a role. As if the fae had known each other for years and they were simply picking up where they left off. In some ways, that was true. Teagan believed in past lives, souls recognizing each other despite eons of time passing. Perhaps that was what was happening. 

The very thought made her happy, relief filling her. Despite her efforts to isolate in her current form, there was comfort in knowing other versions of herself weren’t so terrified of connection. Bridie, be it as it may that she was fae, likely wouldn’t be a venture Teagan would pursue again. Or maybe she would. She’d been surprising herself lately with Leticia and Arden. Only time would tell, though.

“We’re here.” The trio sauntered into a woody clearing, a perfect place to splay blood any way they wished. “Now Chad, why don’t you continue to give us two a show while I tend to Miss Bridie a little longer?” Teagan waved Chad off, pulling Bridie into her as she retrieved a small blade from beneath her shirt. She brandished it for Bridie to see, kissing the faun deeply with a giggle. “Think we can manage a thousand cuts on the lad?”

Hands laced together, the faun practically skipped alongside the other fae. She still wasn’t quite certain what kind of fae Teagan was, but Bridie knew with their kind, like called out to like. That buzz of familiarity that let them know they were safe, that they were with their own kind- feeling that was like another fae calling out and saying I am here, there you are. It had always been a comfort to the faun. 

It had been far too long since she’d found herself in the comfort of the woods. Bridie let go of Teagan’s hand a moment as she twirled in the moonlight, taking in a deep breath. She delighted in watching the other fae give the man orders. “High kicks, Chad. High kicks!” She demanded as Teagan made her way back to her. 

Bridie’s eyebrows raised as the knife gleamed in the moonlight. She wriggled her eyebrows a moment before Teagan pulled her in a deep kiss. The maenad tangled a hand in the other woman’s hair before she pulled herself away to take in the knife. She ran a delicate finger along the blade, careful not to hurt herself. “That’s a great song. But I think we can manage a thousand and one at least.” She’d lowered her head to the fae’s neck, nibbling at the skin below her ear. “What do you think?”

How could anyone focus with their skin buzzing and Bridie’s insatiable nature? She was just as hungry as Teagan was—maybe hungrier. The Vite at her neck did nothing to help the nix’s focus, but with the help of her self-restraint, she got her mind to dedicate itself to another source of fun. 

Right. Chad. A thousand and one cuts.

Teagan leaned into Bridie one last time, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. She grinned, the expression far too soft for the violent nature of her next action. “We can go as high as we want, dearie.” Teagan made the first cut on Chad’s shoulder, the laceration small and seemingly inconsequential. A thousand more and how would that feel? It certainly had to break that empty smile of his, didn’t it? Guess they’d have to see. 

“How about you take the next few, lass? Love watching a woman have her fun. Show me what you can do.” Teagan chuckled as she flipped the knife, catching the blade to hand it over to Bridie. “Or should we do it together? Lady’s choice.” 

This was becoming a habit with Bridie. Following people down rabbit holes of their darkest desires. There wasn’t even euphoria to feast on. Not among her fellow fae. No, this was just for the other fae’s enjoyment. Well. Teagan’s enjoyment, and Bridie’s enjoyment, and Bridie’s determination to not have a fucking creep bothering her patrons. 

She studied the knife, her eyes trailing up from the tip of the blade, up the arm that held it, and finally to Teagan’s face. The faun’s tongue flicked out as she licked her lips, her eyes continuing to flicker over the woman. 

“Hmm,” the hum rumbled in her chest as she pretended to contemplate her options. “Maybe you teach me? Show me how it’s done?” She batted wide, doe like eyes at the woman in a manner that was anything but innocent. “Doing it together just sounds like so much more fun.”

Wicked’s Rest was just so full of surprises. With so many things to be found, the town a beautiful beacon for people like Bridie and Teagan. The nix had found a faun, and in turn, she discovered that most of everything she wanted or needed was there. With a smile, Teagan pulled Bridie in, eyes closed and foreheads connecting a final time before letting herself fall into night of fun the fae had planned. 

“I’ll teach you.” Teagan nodded, wrapping her hand around Bridie’s wrist to guide it. “We’ll have all the fun together.” Another kiss, and she pulled away, the faun in tow. Another slice, and Teagan chuckled, her heart full. Another fae found, and she was home. 

[faunandfl0ra]

Wait I'll just...

@itzbridiebitch Do you need someone singing at your club?

I'd think so too. Glad to be of help.

I would love that! It couldn't hurt to make as many connections as I can, right? Thank you so much

[mortemoppetere]

TIMING: current / evening LOCATION: axis investigations + a mean old lady's house PARTIES: @honeysmokedham, @itzbridiebitch, & @mortemoppetere SUMMARY: after emilio reaches out to his breaking and entering expert (nora), she and bridie go on a mission to retrieve the cursed necklace. CONTENT WARNINGS: none!

If he’d thought the curse was bad when Teddy found him on that rooftop, it was a thousand times worse now. Emilio couldn’t hear himself think anymore. He figured this was probably the height of it — if he let it go on much longer, the physical effects would start. Already, his body was beginning to break down due to lack of sleep. Another day or two, and he’d go the way of the pawn shop owner who’d bought the stolen necklace.

But that wasn’t going to happen. They knew how to stop it.

He had both Bridie and Nora meet him at Axis. The place was even more a mess than it usually was. Windows blocked off with heavy curtains, faucets running just to provide some kind of noise. It didn’t help, but the thought of getting off the fucking couch to turn them off was a little much. The door opened — he wasn’t sure if they’d knocked before, or how long they’d knocked if they had — and he glanced up.

“Be ready in a bit,” he mumbled, making no move to get off the couch. His eyes darted around, not focusing on anything. In his head, a thousand voices said a thousand terrible things.

Yeah. He was fine. This was going to go great.

—

Nora had returned from her impromptu vacation to find her boss couldn’t last a few days without her help. Cursed. It would be funny if Nora wasn’t so worried about the old guy. The summons to the office had included a message about talking about the curse and making a plan. Apparently someone else was cursed? Nora probably should pay more attention to the things Emilio told her. 

The desk was a mess. Nora cleared up the bottles and other trash, dumping them in the empty trash can before she settled herself on top of the desk, examining Emilio. “Oh bother. You look like shit.” She told her boss. In a loving way. The monotone voice may sound judgemental, but their thing wasn’t words. 

“Where is Bridie?” Nora asked, pulling out her phone and double checking the messages. “You think the voices got to her already?” If Nora had to guess he’d made himself a fixture in on his couch for a day or two. Why did he expect Bridie to be different from him and actually show up? Nora started rifling through the papers on the desk in front of her. Anything for a hint of what they were doing today. 

—

It was Nora. It took a moment for Emilio to recognize even that, his eyes darting over her face for a moment before settling on her just long enough for the recognition to stick. He glanced away almost immediately, eyes following the voices even though he knew they weren’t physically present. “That’s nice of you to say,” he said dryly, though there was an edge to his voice that wasn’t usually present. Stress, maybe. Or fear. Wouldn’t that be a nice treat for her? It was almost funny.

As she questioned Bridie’s absence, he glanced to the door. “Not here yet,” he said, as though it weren’t obvious. “She’ll probably look like shit, too. You should make sure to… tell her.” Had he been more aware of himself, he might have griped at her for going through the papers. As it was, he hardly seemed to notice. “We need to break into an old lady’s house. And steal a necklace. And break it. Did that —- Did I tell you that?” Maybe he had, maybe he hadn’t. It was hard to keep track of what he’d said now. “You’ll like it.” Perro stood suddenly, looking to the door with a quiet bark. He’d been doing that the last few days, since things got bad. Like he knew, somehow. “Guess the voices didn’t get her.” Or someone was breaking in to kill him. Emilio wasn’t sure he’d be upset at them if they did.

—

Fear. Nora sniffed the air again, she hadn’t noticed at first. There was an ambient fear that coated the town, and mixed with the stale order of the closed up Axis she’d let it slipped by unnoticed. Fear. Emilio was scared. Nora’s head tilted. His normal scent wasn’t the same today, normally it was Irish Spring soap mixed with cigarettes, today it was sweat and cigarettes mixed with… blood? There was something odd about people’s fear. It always smelled like something new, something she could sometimes recognize and sometimes she couldn’t. Every fear did not smell the same, but why did Emilio’s smell of death and blood? 

Nora worked the ring in her lip, the only anxiety she shared for the situation she allowed to show. “Yeah, you told me.” Nora slid off the desk, ready to go now. Waiting for Bridie was a waste of time. “I just need an address.” Nora placed a hand on his arm. The one comfort move she knew. She left it there for a second before starting to move towards the door. “Text it to me.” She’d go without him. He obviously couldn’t do shit in this state. 

—

So what if there were maybe eight voices in her head now. Who cared? Nothing mattered and everything was chaos!

Well actually no, that was a lie. And Bridie couldn’t lie. Like ever. The truth of it was that one thing mattered. That stupid fucking cursed necklace, specifically. And tonight was the night it was getting blown to smithereens. 

So naturally it was a cause for celebration. 

The faun entered Axis with three balaclavas while humming the mission impossible theme song. Very loudly. If the she had to listen to the voices, then the voices would have to lighten up and get a sense of humor, and listen to her for the rest of their residence in her mind. 

“Hello party people,” she sang. “No not you Albert you fucking sicko, the actual people with bodies in the room.” She looked at the two people in the room, realizing she’d said that last bit aloud. “Sorry. The voices. I’ve decided to traumatize them back.” She waved with a deliriously tired smile at the new face. “Hi! Nora, right? I’m Bridie.”

__________

Everything seemed to happen in spurts. Nora was at the desk, Nora was giving him an odd look, Nora was at the door. Then Bridie was walking in, was greeting everyone, was talking about the voices, was calling Nora by name. That last one should shake something loose, but he couldn’t muster up the energy to cling to it. He couldn’t muster up the energy to do much of anything. How did Bridie have so much of it? How was she on her damn feet? Emilio was goddamn exhausted, crumbling under the weight of a thousand voices in his head. A thousand voices, and his too. It was the last one that seemed the worst.

“Don’t need to text it to you,” he grumbled. “I’m coming. I can come.” I can be useful. I can be good for something. I swear, I can. “Just… Let me get another drink. Or something.” That hadn’t helped for days now, but maybe it’d give him enough to get off the couch.

His body still didn’t move. Figured. Emilio slumped. 

—

Nora had been about to walk out the door, her hand had been reaching towards the handle when someone else had come throught it. A goat. A goat person. Nora blinked, eyes trailing from the horn to the hooves. Okay. Goat person. Fae? Nora shifted to look at Emilio then paused, tense, as Bridie said her name. How did Bridie know her name? Had Emilio told her? Had Leti told Emilio? How long had he’d known? This whole time she’d only been kid and now suddenly she was Nora? Nora let out a deep breath, willing the tension to seep from her body. Whatever. This was a later conversation. Now there was a job to do, and she wasn’t getting paid to stand around and talk. “Yeah.” Was the only word Nora mumbled.

This Bridie, she was a fountain of energy. It bubbled off of her in waves of laughter, talking and emotion. Even looking like she hadn’t slept for the week, she still radiated energy. Nora felt exhaustion seeping over her just looking at the fae. “Right. You’re staying here old man.” Nora picked up a half empty bottle of something and tossed it towards the man, making sure to aim at a pillow cause she was sure he wouldn’t catch. “Distract yourself with that or something.” Nora ushered Bridie back out the door. “Quick before the liability thinks he can actually help. Why don’t you look like shit?” It was the last thing Nora said as she closed the door behind the two of them and started leading Bridie out towards the street. “You seem to be taking the curse really well.” 

—

Emilio looked bad. Distracted and slow. And maybe just a touch scared. She’d started scared, and her fear had grown closer to madness day by day. Drinking hadn’t subdued them. Dancing and seducing hadn’t worked to drown them out. So Bridie had taken to shouting back. It was the only thing keeping her from bursting into tears at this rate. She wandered closer to the man with a concerned frown, flinching suddenly at seemingly nothing. Her hand shook a moment until she balled it into a tight fist. The faun shook her head with a violent jerk and grumbled something to herself before letting out a deep breath. She gave the cursed man a gentle, understanding pat on the shoulder. “Hang in there…” She was hanging on by a thread, and making it a grand game was the only thing keeping her from the same fate the pawn dealer had. 

She walked to the door but paused, blinking rapidly at the young woman. Bridie laughed, an insane, exhausted, terrified sound. “Oh honeybun, noooo. No, no, no, nonono.” She resumed her pace beside the girl. “This is me hanging on to my sanity by a fucking thread!” She chirped on a song songy voice. “I haven’t slept in days, I am starving, and I’ve taken to talking to voices in my head because at least then I can tell Jane to shut the fuck up about her legendary shoot out with the law because I don’t give a fuuuuuuck.” Her words had turned into an annoyed hiss by the end. She blinked, turning her focus back to the girl with a wide, exhausted smile. She held out a hat. “Want one?”

_______

He couldn’t track the conversation anymore. Couldn’t trace that look in Nora’s eye, couldn’t comprehend that there was a name, and it meant something, and he’d never called her by it to her face before. They’d talk about it later, some part of him knew, but only if he survived this. And that was feeling less and less likely by the minute. 

Bridie came over, touched his shoulder in a way that made him flinch even when it shouldn’t have, walked away. Emilio needed to get up. He needed to do something, needed to help. He wasn’t allowed to be useless. There was nothing worse than a useless hunter; those were better off dead. But the couch was a coffin, and he didn’t have the strength to dig himself out of the ground. Nora said something else, and a bottle hit the pillow before he could pluck the words out of the air and translate them in his mind. He looked up just in time to see the door close, just in time to realize he was alone again.

Or, well… As alone as he could be, with the voices in his head. He sighed, picking up the bottle Nora had tossed his way and settling back against the cushions.

He just hoped they’d work fast. He didn’t think he could take this much longer.

—-

Honeybun? The goat wasn’t okay if she thought a suitable nickname for Nora was Honeybun. Honeybear or Honeyham would have been more suitable. “Are you sure you’re good to come with me?” Nora asked, accepting the balaclava with her dirt crusted fingers. Nora shoved it into her pocket. “You know where we’re going?” She asked, checking her phone. No messages. Mimi probably forgot already, with all the voices telling him different things. Her mind went back to his fear, the scent of blood thick and heavy around him. His mother? Nora knew she’d never ask him, and that he would never tell if she did. 

Nora hoped the direction they were walking in was the right one. Bridie wasn’t directing them anywhere else. “So. Jane talking about anything cool?” Nora didn’t know what the voices were talking about, just that they wouldn’t shut up. Nora figured that would be enough to drive her crazy. Constant chatter. 

—

“Oh yeah for sure. I’m totally good. I don’t need to be sane to steal an ugly necklace from a bitchy old HOA lady who likes to see people suffer. If anything, I’m the best candidate for the job, babes. Plus now I have like. A freaking council of crazies in my head. By the way both Fredrick and I want to know how you feel about light arson, because when I say this lady was a bitch, I mean she was literally the worst person, and I want to see her dumb smug face crying.” The faun rambled, practically skipping as they walked along. Maybe Bridie wasn’t as sane as she thought she was…

At the question of direction, Bridie pointed in the direction they were walking. “Yeah, it’s this way. I remember where it was. Stupid shiny picket fence and the works.” She blinked a moment as Nora asked about Jane. Who was Jane? Oh right! “No, she mostly just talks about her Bonnie and Clyde esque run with the law that involved robbing various fishing supply stores and ended in ‘a badass fight sequence that would have made Michael Bay movies look weak as hell’.” The faun rambled on to the girl as they walked along. Talking made it easier, or that was what she told herself. Then she could try to be louder than the voices. 

They walked up to the house and Bridie pulled a balaclava over her face with pink manicured nails. “Alright honeybun, what’s the plan? Emilio said this was your thing.”

_________

“Light arson?” Nora fished around in her pockets, ham, snake, loose change, string, there. Nora pulled out two lighters, flipping them in her hands. “I only do heavy arson.” God fucking finally someone in this town was going to let her light a house on fire. She’s been waiting to do this for a while. Frederick seemed like he really had his priorities in order. Plus, not that Nora was going to admit this to a person who called her babes, anyone who made Mimi suffer deserved to get burned. Just a little. Or a lot. Honestly she didn’t care. 

“Fishing supply stores?” Nora repeated that phrase, her monotone voice leaving out the questions that came with it. Why fishing supplies stores? Why not something cool? Like a butcher shop for some freshly sliced pieces of ham. Nora let herself get carried away with fantasies of fresh ham dropping straight into her mouth as she vaguely listened to Bridie’s constant chatter. Perhaps this was what it was like to be cursed. Except there would be eight Bridies talking at the same time. Yeah. Mimi definitely wasn’t strong enough for that. 

“Here?” Nora blinked as they stopped in front of a house. “What was her name again?” Nora dug back into her pockets, pulling out Slayer the knife. Today seemed like a good day to break in her newest knife. “Oh, right, I remember.” Nora shoved the balaclava over her face and walked right up to the front door. 

Normally these things required finesse. They required a bit of sneaking in an open window and coming and going before anyone noticed she was there. Normally. But normally Nora wasn’t pissed. Normally anger wasn’t bursting at her veins, constricting her arms and urging her towards violence. Normally was off the table. Violence was in.

Nora kicked the door down. It swung open limply in front of her, hanging sadly to the side. “JANE, I’M HOME.” Nora called into the emptiness of the house. A dark hallway greeted her, an empty canvas for her newest masterpiece. It was going to be a work of art. Illusionary monsters made of hot tar bubbled out of the walls around Nora as she stomped in the front door. They were humanoid shaped, missing the flesh that made up the human physic and simplified down to skeletons locked in permit anguish with jaws wide open in their agony, fingers scratching at the tar for freedom. Screams filled the silence, a chorus of what Nora thought hell’s tormented souls would sound like. As Nora moved farther and farther into the house they disappeared from behind her and reappeared in front of her, a constant movement accompanying her every step.

It took a minute or two, but the stench of Jane White’s fear as she realized an intruder was in the house led Nora right to her. The lady hunkered in her living room. Nora flipped the light switch on, knowing she wanted Jane to experience this as fully as possible. Nora had seen this woman - not her exactly, but the type-  many times before throughout her life. She wore her entitlement on the pearl necklace clasped around her neck. Her nose was permanently shoved up in the air, an indication of everyone underneath her smelling too bad to care. It was the same face of every rich woman Nora had terrorized as a kid. But this time it was going to be so much worse for her. “Jane White.” Nora summoned an illusion around herself, covering herself in the same black tar substance of the creatures locked in the walls. It bubbled and boiled off her, leaving a trace view of a naked skeleton underneath, all the while the screaming people emerged and melted from the walls around them. “I heard you’re a fan of curses.” 

_________

Truthfully, Jane White was expecting some blowback of her latest… encounter. Perhaps she should have been more upfront with the detective upon hiring him, but it wasn’t as if he’d have taken on the case if he’d had the knowledge that the necklace he was retrieving would curse him, and Jane simply couldn’t bear the thought of losing the heirloom that had been passed down through her family for so many generations. Sacrifices, her mother had often made, had to be made. She didn’t expect the detective — or his funny fae companion — to take the ordeal lying down, but… She was also confident that there wasn’t much either of them could do. The curse was a fast-acting one. The two of them would be dead by week’s end, she was sure of it. She only had to be vigilant a few more nights.

But she wasn’t expecting this. 

She’d figured whatever attempt the two would make would be a fairly pathetic one, given the curse’s effects. Whatever this was? She hadn’t seen it coming.

Fear grasped her throat in a strangling grip as the walls began to bubble. Some of the faces screaming in the plaster were familiar ones — people her cursed jewel had already taken care of. The ex boyfriend who had a disgusting habit of touching her things, the maid who Jane had just known was planning on stealing the silverware, the neighbor whose hedges had always grown just over the property line and into her lovely fence. All people she’d intentionally had touch the necklace. Jane wasn’t a spellcaster, but she knew how to use the magic she had access to. 

She’d just never thought she’d see it used against her. 

She didn’t quite know what the curse felt like; thanks to her family’s blood in her veins, she’d always assumed she never would. But maybe it was a little something like this. She screamed as a young woman, unfamiliar but covered in the same substance bleeding from the walls, came into the living room. “What do you want?” She screeched. “You are trespassing!” 

—

Bridie didn’t really know what she had been expecting for her first time breaking and entering. 

Maybe some mission impossible style descending from the ceiling. Maybe code names. Maybe picking locks. 

But it certainly wasn’t the fucking fireworks display of spectacularly scary shit Nora whipped out. Or at least, she hoped it was from Nora. Otherwise, she had officially lost it. 

Frankly, Bridie liked this version of robbery so much better. 

The faun skipped happily behind the young woman on her war path who demanded the homeowner make herself known.  And then something caught her nose. Honey and…. Meat? She didn’t have the mental capacity to question it. But she knew the scent of delight when she smelled it. Nora was having fun… Bridie’s stomach growled. STAY ON TASK DOUGHERTY. She thought. 

Plain Jane screamed… something, probably. She couldn’t really hear over the riot happening in her head. She’d taken to humming theme music over them in an attempt to drown it out. “HI JANE!” She sang happily, taking off her balaclava. “WELCOME TO HELL YOU OLD BITCH! Now tell us where the fuck the necklace is and my associate won’t make your life worse. Or maybe she will. I don’t run her life.”

____

“Am I trespassing?” The illusion flickered around Nora, morphing her into a characterization of Jane White. “Or are you?” An illusioned mirror floated around Jane, presenting her with an image of herself, but the reflection wasn’t true. The reflection showed back a homeless woman, covered in sickness and filth, cowering on the floor coughing and crying. “A homeless woman broke into my home.” Nora’s voice shifted into Jane White’s “Kill her! Kill the disgusting parasite.” The mockery of Jane’s voice was shrill, piercing the air around them. 

The creatures trapped in an endless torment at the wall started crawling out of the walls towards Jane. The rich lady’s legs had given out. Her fear came in an abundance, giving Nora a feast. It filled up the energy used in the creation of such intense illusions. Nora really needed to practice wielding these larger productions. They were always so taxing on her. Nora crouched in front of her, the smell of piss filled the air between them. Ha, the old bat had peed herself in fright. Nora let out a snort of derision. “Coward. Where’s all your power now?” 

Bridie was demanding answers from the woman. Nora’s eyes flickered to her, then back on Jane’s face. “Listen to the goat.” Nora told her, knife point tipping Jane’s chin up to make sure the woman was looking directly into Nora’s now disillusioned eyes. They remained as emotionless as ever. Nora wanted her to see just how much she didn’t care about any of this. Just how little Jane’s earth shattering fear affected Nora. Nora was in charge now. “Speak fast, before I decide I don’t need you to tell me.” The last part was whispered, a little conversation meant just between the two of them. 

____

Distantly, Jane was able to register the familiarity of the fae’s voice. Hard to keep track around all the screaming — most of it her own. She recognized that the detective was absent and some part of her, the part still capable of logic which was buried deep beneath the fear, wondered if he’d succumbed already. Was this vengeance, then? Attacking her out of anger on behalf of a dead man? What good would that do anyone?

The girl’s face changed into hers, and a mirror displayed a stranger’s face in her reflection. Jane’s hands went to her face, and the hands in the mirror followed. It would surprise no one to learn that Jane was an incredibly vain woman; the idea of her ‘beauty’ failing her was perhaps the only thing that terrified her more than the creatures melting out of the walls. The family necklace that she so loved was important, but was it truly more important than this? She could almost hear her ancestors screaming at her, scolding her for even considering it.

But then there was a knife at her throat, and nothing was louder than her own pounding heart. “The bedroom!” She shrieked. “The one at the top of the stairs! It’s in the jewelry box! Make it stop, please, make me go back!”

—

Whatever Nora was, it was impressive. It was a horrifying carnival- maybe she should hold a haunted house at the club at Halloween and see if Nora would be down to scare some people. The voices seemed to like that idea. They liked her thinking about that- what was he supposed to be thinking about again? Oh right, the necklace! There was a chorus of screams and boos in her head. Maybe the voices knew that the necklace was their end. That wouldn’t be good. Probably. 

But then that honey ham scent caught her nose again and she just couldn’t resist a taste. She sighed happily at the first taste of euphoria in what felt like forever. Bridie let herself focus on that, hoping that it could help push her through to see this thing to the end. But she blinked a moment, looking over at Nora. “Goat? But I… oh you know what, fuck it.” What little hold she still had on her glamour snapped, and the magic dispelled around her.

Jane was on the floor screaming so loud that the faun’s ears rang. She winced away from the sound, but she looked up the stairs. “Keep her busy, babycakes.” She said to Nora before the faun ran up the stairs. No way was she letting the kid touch the necklace. They didn’t need another person joining the crazy brigade.

Riffling through the room and making no attempt to keep it neat, Bridie dug around the jewelry box for the gaudy necklace. She helped herself to the other shiny things in there as well. It was the least Jane could do for leaving Bridie and Emilio to die. Her fingers closed around the cursed necklace, and she jammed it into her bag before running back down the stairs. “Target acquired! Jebidiah thinks you should go shopping before we leave honeybun. I think Jane thinks so too, don’t you Jane?”

_____

Babycakes? Nora’s eyes didn’t move from Bridie, but she did think this goat was weird for that one. While Bridie was away, Nora dug the knife a little too deep into Jane’s chin. “You’re getting off lucky, Jane.” Nora whispered, her monotone voice removing the bite she felt gnawing inside her. “I’m going to let you live, but if you ever hurt someone I care about again I’ll be back. I’ll make this,” Nora flicked her free hand in a lazy gesture around the horror-filled room, tilting her head to the side, making sure that Jane was meeting her directly in the eye. “Look like the most pleasant dream you’ve ever had.” 

Nora got back to a standing position as Bridie came bounding down the stairs again. Now that the necklace was acquired Nora let the illusions around them vanish. Just like that, horrors beyond Jane’s comprehension vanished and all that was left was her plain Jane home and the scent of piss to remind her of her shame. Nora gave her one last bored look, before turning her back. A message to remind Jane that she wasn’t a threat here. 

“We’re robbing her?” Nora asked, looking around at the interior. “Okay.” Nora disappeared into the kitchen pulling out all her cold cuts before rejoining Bridie. “I’m ready when you are.” Nora didn’t want to stay long. Nora wanted to get back to Mimi and make sure he was okay. Terrorizing Jane was all fine and good, but her mentor’s sanity was on the line. Nora would think Bridie’s sanity would be on the line, but with the amount of nonsensical nicknames being thrown at her, she was starting to assume Bridie never had any. 

_____

“You bet your ass we are. Janey-cakes was going to let us go insane. I think we deserve a little apology present.” Bridie waited as the young woman ran off into the kitchen. Jane was… crying, mostly. And smelled like piss. The faun gave the woman a wide berth. Unfortunately, as she waited for Nora, the voices were… rioting was probably the best word for it. 

They had gotten louder the minute her band closed around the necklace. It was almost as if they knew the plan, and that now that the necklace had been obtained, their existence’s were now on the clock. If she had thought it was noisy in her head before, this was utter chaos. She could not hear herself think. 

She didn’t hear the girl come back.  Her hands covered her ears, as though that small act could keep the voices at bay. Bridie blinked vacantly at Nora. She knew the girl had said something, but over the chorus of angry screams, she hadn’t heard a word. She nodded as if she understood and started making her way toward the door. The faun made her way toward the door, trying not to cringe, trying not to let the voices in her head win. “Let’s rock.”

______

Nora made sure to eat a big chunk of cold turkey cold cuts in front of Jane before following Bridie out the door. On her way out Nora made sure to knock things off shelves and slap paintings off walls. At the door Nora lit the wall paper on fire. It wouldn’t catch, probably, but she needed to send a message. To remind Jane that she would be back if necessary. 

Near her, Nora could see the goat cringing. Being cursed must suck, Nora decided. Nora slammed the door after them and started walking back towards Axis. “This was fun.” Nora commented, making small talk. She wasn’t sure if the added conversation would help or hinder the goat. “Curse breaking. I can add it to my resume now.” Proud graduate of Ligma University. Town Terror. Axis Apprentice. And now Curse Breaker. Things were really fleshing out for her. 

______

It was getting louder still. 

Louder and louder and louder. 

Each step she took away from the house, Bridie thought the volume in her head had been ratcheted up. And then a door slammed behind her, and shaky goat legs stumbled down the front steps. Whatever second wind she’d found in the hours leading up to their little heist, it was completely spent.

The curse was winning once again, and it would not see itself snuffed out. 

Bridie let out a sad little sob of a noise, rubbing balled fists against her eyes as she struggled to get herself back to her feet. She tried to push herself up once, twice- but the voices railed against the inside of her head. Her ears were ringing from voices that did not exist. She was so tired, and she just wanted to “make it stop…”

_____

“Oh bother.” The goat was down. This was not a drill. Nora tried to help the goat up, but it was like she was playing ‘my legs are jelly’, and each result ended in failure. Okay. Nora thought to herself. I’m a problem solver, I can solve problems. Nora paced back and forth, once, twice, three times. There was no information on how to break the curse. At least none that had been given to her. If it was a proximity thing, it was doing a bad job at fixing Bridie who still seemed to be losing it next to Nora. No. She couldn’t make that call. Nora needed to get Bridie and Emilio in the same room, which meant moving Bridie. 

Okay move Bridie. Maybe she could drag the goat. Nora attempted. The goat was heavy. It wasn’t working. Okay. She just needed to be stronger. The bear was stronger than her human, on account of being a bear. Nora started stripping in the middle of the street. The things she did for these people. Thankfully Bridie had a bag. Nora started shoving all her clothing into that bag until she was standing butt naked on a public street. “You’re going to need to get on the bear, Bridie. Okay? Get on the bear.” Hopefully the goat could muster enough energy for that.

Nora rolled her shoulders, stretched her arms and found that part in her, that part that was decidedly not human. Her bones started to shatter, elongate and expand. Her skin stretched, and fur protruded. Her face warped, elongating and sharpening. No longer human, a bear stood in front of Bridie. A polar bear, to be exact. Apart from the red eyes, sharp claws and inbearly sharp teeth. It let out a low rumble, getting down its belly as close as possible to Bridie. Come on, Nora thought to herself. You can do it, goat. 

_____

Nora was… getting undressed?

Had she touched some other cursed thing while they were at the house? Was the young woman losing her mind too? Bridie knew Nora was saying something to her, but the voices were so so loud. She watched in confusion as the woman stepped back and stretched.

And then, after a painful looking transformation, there was a bear. A whole ass polar bear. Sure it had red eyes, and very sharp claws and teeth, but it looked so fuzzy and cozy. That seemed like a good place to lay down while the voices screamed at her until she no longer in her own mind. She managed to force herself up enough to grab hold of the large bear, and hoisted herself onto its back. Snuggling down into the fur, she held on to it. Maybe scary bears scared off scary voices. She mumbled something about scary bear trump cards, before falling silent once more. She flinched every now and again as the voices kept up their howling, but she was too tired to care any longer. 

_____

Today Nora added two new jobs on her resume. Curse breaker and bear taxi service. Nora grabbed the bag off the ground in between her teeth and started walking. Luckily it was nighttime, most people were home for the night. The few that were out took bad flash photographs of the unlikely pair. Nora knew they would probably end up on some cosplay site with people asking what characters they were portraying, or if this was a stunt for a new show coming out. 

It took awhile, with only the occasional mumbling from Bridie as company, Nora was left with her own thoughts for most of the walk. If Emilio now knew who she was, was he going to turn her in? Was this her last job for him before he sent her back to L.A. for the reward money? Would Bridie piece together? Maybe she needed the money? Why did she care? Couldn’t she just be normal about people knowing who she was? No. The answer had always been no. It had been no since the moment her dads had decided to make sure her name was famous. 

Whatever, Nora told herself. Whatever, it doesn’t matter. It won’t hurt if it happens because she wouldn’t let it hurt. Or maybe she’d slipped up and said her name on her blog somewhere and he’d read it and that’s how he knew. Both of them had no clue. Yeah. That was a lie she could live with. That was the lie she repeated over and over as she walked them back to Axis Investigation. 

Nora carried Bridie up to the apartment’s door before shifting back into a human. Then she dragged the goat the rest of the way through the broken door. “Get up.” Nora’s monotone voice cut through the silence. Well, it was silent for her. For the two of them it was probably loud in their heads. “What do I do next?” Nora started digging Bridie’s bag, “Do I just break it?”

_____

He didn’t know how long he sat on the couch nursing that half-empty bottle. Minutes, hours, days, it was all the same. The monotony of the voices in his head made telling time impossible; night or day, early or late, they were just as loud. They were just as terrible. At some point, the bottle emptied. He didn’t feel drunk, somehow; it was as if the noise in his head was sobering him, denying him even that escape. Emilio screwed his eyes shut, bringing his knees to his chest as he sat on the couch. Probably a good thing, he figured, that they’d left without him. He would have only gotten them killed. That was really all he’d ever been good at.

But as time stretched on, he couldn’t help but wonder if he’d gotten them killed anyway by sending them alone. How long had they been gone now? Was it too long, not long enough? He thought of Mexico, of a massacre too big to fail and his feet slapping against the dirt as he ran home as fast as he could, destined to be too late no matter how many times he relived the moment. 

The door opened, and he didn’t hear it. Later, this would eat him up inside. He’d spend hours sitting up and staring at it, opening and closing it just to make sure he knew the sound by heart, just to make sure no one could come in without him knowing. But for now, lost in the sounds inside his head, he stared at the cushion in front of him unaware that he wasn’t alone until Nora’s shadow fell over him.

Flinching back, he glanced up at her with wild, unfocused eyes. Was she naked? Emilio quickly looked away, turning his head to focus on the bag she was digging through. Her words registered slowly, cutting through the voices piece by piece. She had it, then. Time to figure out what to do with it next.

“The gem,” he decided, voice hoarse. “I bet we need to break the ugly ass gem.” It made sense, didn’t it? For the magic to be stored in the centerpiece of the necklace, shimmering in the stone. If breaking it was the way to destroy it, they wouldn’t put the curse on something as easily unintentionally damaged as the necklace’s thin chain. They’d want it to be a harder sell. “I think we should shatter it.” It was a gamble, but what else did they have? There was no time for research. Emilio doubted he had another hour left in him, at this point.

—-

The reprieve bear-Nora had granted her was a welcome one. Exhaustion was winning out, and the faun simply lay slumped against the warm fuzzy back of the bear as the voices made their final stand in her mind. Bridie let out a shaky sigh, letting her thoughts get lost in the jumble. 

And then she was on the ground again. Oh. When did that happen? There was Nora, the bear gone. She found relatively steady feet below her, and she walked inside. Just a little bit longer. Just a little bit. 

She was grateful to see Emilio was still on this side of sanity. Bridie fished the cursed treasure out of her bag and held it aloft for the man to see. “Break the gem, break the curse…” she muttered softly. “It makes sense. Do it.”

_____

Break the gem. Okay. Nora could break a gem. Hammer. Wait. Clothes first. Nora grabbed her shirt from the pile of her clothes, sliding into it as she made her way deeper into Emilio’s apartment. Since the moment she’d started working here, Nora had made sure to examine all the cabinets. Just in case. Nora hadn’t thought just in case would be Emilio was cursed and couldn’t tell her where to find things, but it was still just in case non-theless Most of the cabinets just contained alcohol bottles, or the honey she’d recently been adding. So if she was the toolbox she knew was here, where would she be? “Perro, where was that tool box?” Nora asked the dog. He knew everything about this place. 

Bathroom, right the bathroom was where she saw it. Nora opened the cabinets until she found the rusty badly cared for toolbox that was probably left by the last tenant. Hammer. Nora hefted the thing in her arms. “Stay here, you don’t want to hurt your little paws.” Nora told the dog, before walking back to the cursed party. Nora laid the gem on the table. This better work, she came to the realization as she lifted the hammer, or she’d cursed herself by touching it. 

Smash. The first hit missed, landing on the table. Nora coughed, hoping they were too cursed to notice. Quickly she swung again. This time the hammer met its mark. When Nora lifted the hammer she saw a crack in the ugly gem. Again. Another crack. Again. It shattered, pieces of the jewel flying around them. A piece hit her face, a light scratch forming from the contact with the sharp edge. Nora pressed the palm of her hand against it instantly. “Ow.” A soft mumble under her breath, whatever. That’s probably why they were always talking about wearing those goggles on those shows. Fuck those dudes. Nora looked up, glancing between Emilio and Bridie. “The voices?” 

_____

The shadow of Nora standing over him vanished, though Emilio was too far gone to track her through the apartment. He’d heard once that when you lost one sense, the rest became overpowering. So what happened when one sense was overpowering on its own? Did the rest fade out to compensate? His vision had been black around the edges for hours now, darkness slowly creeping in. Would his sight go first? The thought was terrifying. The idea of existing in darkness, in utter sensory deprivation with only the roaring howl of the there but not there voices in his head being the last thing he ever experienced… 

If it came to that, he thought, death would be a welcome thing. Maybe that was part of the curse.

He jerked out of his mind at the sound of something hitting against the table hard. Only loud noises could break through the voices at this point, but a hammer? A hammer was loud. There was another bang, and then another. And then another. And then —

It was like the world stopped. The voices, which had built up slowly over a period of several days, halted all at once. Going from hearing a thousand different people in his head to hearing no one at all was jarring. For a moment, Emilio worried he’d gone deaf entirely. But there was a sound, a quiet mumbled ow that jerked him back into the moment the same way that hammer had before. Nora. 

He breathed a sigh of relief as she turned to him, closing his eyes and relishing in the quiet. It was somehow just as overwhelming as the voices had been, but in a different way. His throat felt thick with emotion, and he thought tears might spring to his eyes if he opened them, so he left them closed. Swallowing around the lump in his throat, he nodded. “Yeah,” he replied hoarsely, relief clear in his town. “Yeah, they’re gone. Bridie?”

—

Bridie wondered if it was possible for her mind to have gotten so loud that she could no longer hear anything in her head at all. It was all silent. So blissfully silent. Maybe the voices had just become white noise to her now. 

But then there was a soft, but clear ow. And a question from a voice that she had not heard clearly the few times she’d heard it. Not with the voices trying to cut through. She opened an eye. There was Nora, waiting for an answer. She looked over to Emilio. She didn’t want to be the first to say it. Didn’t want to jinx it. 

Then she heard a hoarse ‘yeah’. At that word, Bridie slumped down into the nearest chair. She was silent for a long moment. Then a giggle bubbled up in her chest. It grew, and grew, until she was sat there laughing hysterically until the laughter turned to tears. “They’re gone. Holy shit they’re gone. It worked! Nora, babes, you have a life-long paid for tab at my club for smashing that rock.”

_____

Celebration filled the air in the form of Bridie laughing and Emilio looking like he was going to cry. Nora stood there, hammer in hand, looking between them. A small micro smile tugged at the corner of her lips. It was nice, being helpful. It felt nice. Broken gem pieces were scattered across the floor, but this was Emilio’s apartment, and that was his problem. For now it was a good day to be a curse breaker.

Nora dropped the hammer onto the desk, letting it slam the surface with no decorum. She nodded, looking around, thinking about everything that had happened. Listened to her getting a life-long paid tab at a club, which club? Did it matter that she wasn’t legal drinking age? At this point she didn’t think anyone cared. “Bet.” Nora answered. “I’ll take you up on that.” She’d go there and, she didn’t know, try club things? What was that dancing and drinking? Nora looked back over to Emilio. A joke scratching the surface of her mind. Nora opened her mouth, prepping for a monotone delivery of what she was sure was just as funny as her internal joke of not getting paid to stand around and talk. “I want a raise.” 

_____

Bridie was laughing, the sound filling the apartment the same way the voices had seemed to before. But while the voices had been unwelcome and terrible, the laughter was light and easy. Emilio let out a single chuckle of his own, the sound half-strangled in a way that made it sound like some chimera version of a laugh mixed together with a sob. Christ. Christ. He hadn’t realized how bad things were until now. Until it was over. 

Then Nora spoke, and he let out another chuckle. Fuller this time, more alive by the second. “You got it, kid,” he replied dryly. “I’ll double your salary.”

[eliaskahtri]

@itzbridiebitch replied to your post “Hearing a rumor your a swiftie: favorite speak now...”:

ELIAS YOU TRAITOR

​I'M SORRY! I'll listen to it soon.

[axisjr]

@itzbridiebitch

[pm] … um. Nora. Babes. Wtf.

[pm] Isn't it great? Isn't this the best I've ever looked? Don't you want to come to the mines and see?

[eldritchaccident]

@itzbridiebitch replied to your post “Hello everyone. It is Teddathan, the local Teddy....”:

… ummmm babycakes please blink twice if you need help

​No I just need to dictate what I want said better. Though how can you be upset with poetry like that. My tiny assistant isthe very best.

[muertarte]

@itzbridiebitch replied to your post “Why will this machine keep making things pop up....”:

Ohhh bestie no. They’re for sure a scam. Or a virus. Don’t click on them. And if you want to find sexy women maybe just go to a club? Might I suggest Tír na nÓg?

My name is not Bestie. It is Metzli.

Computer doctor has fixed the issue.

I do not need to find sexy woman. I already have one and do not need anything else.

[faunandfl0ra]

@itzbridiebitch

What if you live in an apartment and don’t have a lawn or any of these things to worry about but want to sew a little chaos. Could I just chuck local wildflower seeds everywhere? Is this the season to do that?

Heh, sure. It's a bit late though. You can sow campanulas, delphiniums, myosotis, pansies ...