𝒍𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕

( kristin kreuk. demi woman. she/they. you should see me in a crown & billie eilish. ) have you seen ARABELLA “ARI” LALLEMENT strolling around central park at lunchtime? rumor has it they’re actually 512 years old, but i’m pretty sure they’re only 33. they’re currently posing as a PROFESSOR at COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, but when dusk falls, you can usually find them heading home to MANHATTAN by CAR SERVICE. apparently they DID NOT attend the met gala this season!

@duskintro

          SHE  WON’T  BE  QUICK  to  dismiss  the  council’s  efforts  .  hera  can  see  the  frustration  etched  into  ari’s  features  .  “  i  understand  ,  ”  she  smiles  reassuringly  at  her  sister  .  “  hopefully  you  all  can  find  an  answer  to  it  before  anything  else  happens  .  ”  she’s  seen  her  fair  share  of  supernatural  anomalies  .  unfortunately  none  could  explain  this  .  “  hopefully  the  city  can  get  a  move  on  cleaning  these  up  .  i  half  expected  the  witches  to  attempt  to  clean  all  this  up  .  ”

they force a smile onto her features as she turns to look at hera and she agrees with her. they nod with a long sigh, moving so she can place her head against hera’s shoulder “i hope we can figure out soon as well. this is dreadful really, not knowing.” eyebrows furrow “i expected them all to be gone by now as well, feels strange having them around, it must be hard for thte city, it truly is weird that the witches didn’t lend their help, isn’t it?”

“I don’t believe most found it entertaining, no,” Devon agreed with a sigh, taking a sip from the glass. “However, some people in this word find chaos and tragedy to be just that. Entertainment.” She wondered if there was anyone at the gala who found it in themselves to laugh in the midst of the crazy events. All she knew was that she didn’t laugh at it at all, nor did most people she know. “Ah, yes. Conspiracies,” she huffed softly. “Through the years, there have been various podcasts, youtube channels, and the like, hosted by humans who are adamant that the supernatural exists.”

Not that they were wrong, of course, but with the need to keep their world a secret due to safety, they weren’t about to give the theorists fuel for their fire. “I can only imagine they’re having a field day with this.”

ari groans and nods “ i know, i don’t think anyone did. quite macabre really. ” ari tilts her head, she could argue most of the people like them liked tragedy such as this, doesn’t know why or how but it was something that happened “ those people must have had a great time them. too bad. ” she takes a sip of her glass, she already had to live in chaos and destruction simply by the nature of what she was but it wasn’t something she felt at ease about. “ some of those videos are quite interesting, some of my students have shown me. some of them are so far off as well, it’s definitely entertaining. but about this... i don’t feel as easy about, it feels different and i hate that i don’t know anything about it. ” they sigh, shaking their head “ oh they probably are, i hope it’s on the case of far off, because this is something that needs to be on the down low, whatever this is. ” she just knew massacre of this scale was never a good thing.

          safiya  sends  ari  a  genuine  smile,  echoing  their  laugh.  ‘  it’s  rare,  no  ?  for  people  to  be  behaving  as  well  as  they  are.  ’  the  kamel  leader  was  hardly  one  to  talk   ——  their  recklessness  was  a  well  known  thing,  their  ability  to  poke  and  prod  and  manipulate  things  in  their  favor  a  reason  why  their  family  had  been  recruited,  after  all.  ‘  thank  you.  you  look  beautiful,  that  dress  is  very  flattering.  did  your  sister  design  it  ?  ’  safiya  returned  before  offering  the  other  a  small  shrug.  ‘  this  gala  is  not  to  my  tastes  but,  it  could  be  worse.  ’

 ari  nods  as  their  eyes  widen  in  playful  surprise  “  it  sure  is  rare.  i’m  happily  surprised  by  this,  really,  it’s  great  to  have  a  night  to  actually  let  go  a  little  bit.  ”  she  understood  how  some  people  needed  to  turn  things  into  something  but  she  thrived  in  more  structured  pace,  needed  something  like  this  gala  to  go  well  so  she  could  have  ease  in  her  mind.  they  smile  at  safiya  “  thank  you.  oh  no,  just  did  a  bit  of  shopping.  i  have  to  admit  used  as  much  help  as  i  needed  to  get  it,  but  i  think  it  was  worth  it.  ”  head  cocks  in  question  “  no  ?  galas  in  general  or  this  one  ?  ”

Lightly laughing at her reply, he could say she put him at ease. “Bourbon it is.” he stated as he looked over at her. “Hmm, maybe it means I need to pay closer attention.” he joked, but in all seriousness, he felt he did know her better than the rest of his family.  “You look lovely.” he stated with a smile. “How has your day been?”

 his  laugh  made  her  let  out  one  of  her  own  as  she  nods  at  him  “    yes,  bourbon.  ”  she  smiles  as  her  fingers  stop  the  taps  on  the  bar  “  i  think  that’s  exactly  what  it  means,  ”  she  tries  to  keep  her  note  serious  but  can’t  help  the  smile  on  her  features  “  i  would  say  paying  attention  like  that  is  a  virtue.  ”  head  tilts  at  the  compliment  a  gentle  expression  takes  over  her  features  “  thank  you.  so  do  you,  you  look  great  in  a  suit.  ”  gaze  flickers  to  the  room  before  settling  on  him  again  “  i  think  i  know  the  answer  to  this  one,  but,  have  you  danced  yet  ?  ”

“Repetitive is a fair description,” Devon admitted but smiled. “My evening has been the same.” She hummed thoughtfully at the mention of the theme, glancing around at the array of outfits around them. “We’ve seen our fair share of horrors,” she commented, nodding slowly as she thought over the statement. “I suppose it is nice for that theme not to be represented in a way that we’re used to.” As in, it was just meant to be a normal party in neutral territory. Any horrors would, hopefully, only be a part of the socialization and fun of the event. A horror-themed occasion, but in the best way. “I could’ve sworn I noticed someone wearing a stormtrooper outfit earlier too,” she pointed out with a laugh.

 they  nod  at  devon’s  answer  “  at  least  you  had  some  fun.  you  look  beautiful,  by  the  way,  have  i  mentioned  it  yet  ?  ”  a  smile  is  sent  her  sister’s  way  before  her  gaze  runs  over  the  room  seeing  everybody  in  their  fancy  outfits  “  we  sure  have,  huh  ?  way  to  many  for  my  taste.  ”  they  scrunched  their  nose  as  they  reminisce  their  past  encounters  with  horrors  “  it’s  a  great  change  of  pace,  prettier  too,  i  suppose,  not  so  gory.  ”  she  chuckles  “  oh  yes  !  i  heard  about  that  one,  maybe  i’ll  have  to  look  for  that  one,  i  haven’t  seen  them  yet,  but  they  sound  like  a  fun  time,  it  was  a  very  bold  assumption  of  the  concept.  ”  

“ YOU KNOW I DON’T MEAN IT LIKE THAT, ”   cassius flashes his sister a smile, letting their shoulders brush together lightly.   “ come now, you’re doing great. and you look beautiful, of course. ”   cas brings his own drink to his lips, taking a sip.   “ i am, yes. it’s better than the last event, although the horror theme is a bit on the nose, ”   he throws a small smirk her way.   “ thankfully i doubt any of the others notice. ”   others being HUMANS, that is.

ari chuckles at his response “ oh of course you didn’t.” their words teasing still as their shoulders brush “thank you, cas, i appreciate you saying that. you look quite handsome yourself, careful not to leave a trail of broken hearts behind you.” she bumps into their brother with another chuckle. ari nods at his words “it really is, it’s refreshing, to have a different theme. well we are nearing halloween, i doubt they are making any connections besides that one.”  she wiggles her eyebrows once mirroring cassius smirk “hera did inform me there is someone with a costume around.”

IT WAS LIKE being caught with her hands in the cookie jar any time Ari or Cas interrupted her schemes. Usually it caused willing participants to scatter and tails to recede in between legs. The ultimate cockblocks of a good time. “Are you ever going to stop ruining my fun?” Evie muttered under her breath, knowing good well Ari could hear her so a tight smile quickly followed. “It’s not my fault he’s so unlikable! He’s overdue for some viral humiliation if you ask me.”

 they  adjusted  themselves  in  their  place  on  the  bar,  her  ear  catching  the  words  the  other  said,  eyebrow  arching  in  question  “  excuse  me  ?  when  your  fun  doesn’t  involve  making  things  a  tad  harder  for  us.  besides,  you  didn’t  answer  me,  did  you  drug  someone  ?  ”  she  questioned  again  with  a  shake  of  her  head,  a  ghost  of  a  smile  on  her  features  “  i  know  he  is,  but  you  can’t  humiliate  everyone  you  don’t  like,  eve,  we  have  to  keep  nice.  promise,  you  will  behave  tonight  ?  ”