magic veined.

     slowly,     yet still surely,    a smile on her face lights up.    the edges of one side turning up,  it’s mostly a smirk, but it’s something.   ‘ probably not, i hope at least.’  she follows,     her words cutting in to the sentence.    a small break as she scours the shop, look increasingly growing sour.        ‘ no -- is that what people do ? i usually never go back for things that i’ve lost. i just -- you know, soldier on.’ 

            the clenched fist tighter --    knuckles turning a stark white,   her tongue stuck between clenched teeth.   she’s sure the other doesn’t mean to be so .... over the top, excitable, nosey, but even with people nico is close with,   her emotions don’t come up.    ‘ no,      we shan’t go find her. ‘ she declares, lips pulling into an awkward smile as a lie fell from her lips.   ‘ it’s my mother, my dead mother probably floating somewhere in the pacific ocean.  you could go see her, but a 4 year late body doesn’t look great.’

           she shrugs -- her deadpan look, a slight smile on her lips borders more on a smirk, her expression is as cold as it is unreadable.   ‘ thank god.   they totally appropriate goth culture.’     not that nico really cared for music that much,   she didn’t have the money to spend on it, didn’t have the items to connect to the internet, and that one time the radio turned the entirety of L.A into zombies? colour her disinterested.     ‘ the only music i need is the haunting sound of my tuba from marching band when i was 13. it’s tragic. ‘ 

   it’s a genuine smile on her face, mostly relief -- the breath she didn’t know she was holding came out all at once,   her shoulders visibly relaxing, sinking closer to the floor.    she trusts herself when she uses her staff -- it’s her crutch, like a toddler’s training wheel that she never plans to take off.    something going right for her is rare, something magical that she’s learning is even rarer. ‘ oh no, i plan on dying way before i get old, and you get old enough to get cash money.  donate it to an orphanage or something, they sucked when i was in them. ‘ 

Alex: Great. We're all very inspired.

   ‘ i’m calm. ‘   CLENCHED fist suggests otherwise,         she always has pent up anger. what’s new. small goth girl wants to fight everyone she see’s in sight. ‘ if you start playing panic at the disco i will, however, not be calm. and instead get angry at your taste in music. no offence, but do you  actually  like panic at the disco?     i don’t have social media, but if i did, you’d be blocked.’ 

         in an outstretched palm red dots of light gathered ; it’s magic in it’s basic form, no incantation needs to pass through her lips as her left hand grasps on the staff of one.   she wasn’t paying attention ; the light gathering in the form of a star, shifting to a smile, combining into a glistening form of the girl she had a crush on.   ‘ i know ... she’s beautiful isn’t she ... ‘   her answer is dazed, till she realizes she’s talking to someone. she snaps up. her palm snatching closed the glowing light. ‘ i mean the lights,   they were really pretty, right  ? ‘ 

           worry begins to flood her face,        her eyes focus in on the trembling lip and the glint in her eye -- it was inevitable that one of them was going to break down tonight.    ( though, if nico did it, it’d be locked in a bathroom somewhere with whatever clear liquid she could smuggle at the time. )    she’s not good with this sort of thing, girls, actually caring for someone. she cared about her exes, probably. but   -- - they were all jackasses, one of them was evil,  all of them tried to kill her at one point, and she only dated them to hide to herself the pain and sadness inside.     it’s why she can’t deal with having an actual crush ; and actually liking someone.   ( to think now, that it’s her lack of acting on her uncontrollable emotions is a new one for her. )    ‘ it’s not that i think badly of myself,    it’s just that you’re so ... ‘ words trail off for a second, she bites her lip but keeps on moving, ‘ .. you know, you’re like the stars! ‘  she at least illuminates nico’s life,  without molly or klara’s youthful enthusiasm around, nico’s pessimistic attitude often runs the show.    their personalities used to mesh so well,    and now they’ve all just runaway from each other.  her words violently stop at karolina’s statement, breaking into a sudden cough  -- hand slapping over her mouth to cover the bright red over it. ‘ yeah -- uh,  let’s get going,  i really need a drink. ‘ she pulls on karolina’s arm quickly, repeating the words in her head till she drills it in ;    she probably just meant it as a joke. 

        as she points, dark hands flip them over. one by one revealing the king of wands, the four and nine of wands and the seven of pentacles.  with a wave of her hair, the remaining cards vanished from the table surface leaving only the original five cards.   justice leading the head, four in the past, nine in the present, king in the future with the seven of pentacles resting in the row below in the spot of realisation.           ‘ so,  ‘ she points to the four, ‘ happy past, good memories’ hand shifted to the center, ‘ you’re on the break of hope and your problems should soon resolve, the king suggests you’re a natural born leader so you’ll probably have your own super hero team in the future AND the reality is that you value long term pay off. so you’ll probably be rich too, old maybe, but rich.’ a pause,   a nervous smile on her face,  ‘ pretty ... cool, right ? ‘ god she hoped she didn’t fuck up ( it was basically her first attempt... )