Can't Fight the Moonlight

Dhruv gave him a shrug, unsure what to say to that. But Vivek was right, Dhruv felt it too. Happy was different and rather rare these days, the realisation wasn't anything dramatic, he knew it, had known for a while, but it still tried to drag him to a quieter space he didn't want to visit right in this moment. Deflection was easier. Avoidance was even better. "Maybe it just needs to be more popular here...and also be called football but I don't see either of that happening." He laughed easily, "Yeah yeah, the moneymaker. Want me to punch you?" He wouldn't, of course, Vivek smiling and uninjured was nicer.

"I would say I'd like to see you try, but on the off chance you'd actually take me up on that, I'll tell you what?" Vivek moved back in front of the goal, waiting. He knew the game was over and they had already won. He knew they should be calling it quits and going to go snack on orange slices right about now, but he also didn't have to take another look at Dhruv to know that he needed this and so Vivek told his best friend, "You want to mess up the moneymaker, you're going to have to use that ball of yours to do so, pun intended, and I'm not about to make it easy for you, so give it your best go."

Location ➠ Shipfaced Status ➠ Open (@lunarcovestarters)

"Shoo, times up," Kiraz waved the stranger who had been harassing her brother for text support away with a flick of her wrist. Sliding into the bar stool beside Yasin, she batted her lashes up at her older brother and gave him her best pleading look as she told him, "You're welcome, and as a thank you for saving you, what do you say, ağabey? My next few rounds are on you?"

Surprise colored Zuri's features before delight morphed into a wide grin. “Okay sneaky. Guilty as charged,” She laughed, nose crinkling slightly with mirth. She didn't even know this woman's name yet, but Zuri couldn't help but enjoy her company. Though she'd already been in town a few months, she hadn't gotten the chance to meet many people organically, and the social butterfly inside her was withering with it—but this was nice. More than nice. Her smile softened to a quirk of her lips, a dimple flashing. “Well, that's just not fair, now you have to tell me your name, otherwise I'll just have to go on calling you ‘cutie’ or somethin’.”

"Whoa, hey, I'm no cutie. Sexy? Sure. Undeniably irresistible, I'll take. But, cute?" She shook her head as if to tell the woman before her that she could do better than that, even if, in truth, Lennon didn't actually think she was any of the above. But there was a pretty brunette before her, and she was hardly going to blow it by being honest about what she truly thought of herself. "Tell me you can do better than that," She teased. A grin of her own broke across her lips as she found herself hoping that Zuri might rise to her challenge.

The sudden shift drew a slight tilt of Nyra's head as she regarded him more carefully. It wasn't quite what she expected after the ease of their teasing, nor did she think anything she'd said warranted him walking back his own words. If anything, she had accepted them exactly as they had been offered. "Vivek, if I didn't find you charming, I would've clearly said so. I can't lie. I was teasing you back." She had little reason to disguise what she thought, and even less desire to not speak truthfully. It did however, strike her as interesting that he admitted that he didn't always believe everything he said, she had thought the opposite but at least there was sincerity to his words. "When exactly did I say I didn't believe you?" she said with an easy smile, "I accepted the compliment didn't I?"

"It's not that I don't trust you at your word, Nyra, or don't know what this is," He told her quietly, not bothering to hide behind some charming facade as he went on to explain, "I know you're only teasing. But no. To answer your question forthright, no. I don't believe in ninety percent of the shit that comes out of my mouth, so it wasn't that I was questioning you, so much as giving you permission to take what I say about myself to be utter bullshit."

"Hm, I'm not sure if I believe you," She admitted, narrowing her eyes over at her sister skeptically at the mention of not ditching her for the deputy. "But, first, we obtain cotton candy the size of our heads. Next, we bar crawl, and then we find a way onto one of the floats to dance our asses off. Evet? Evet," Kiraz exclaimed happily, not really putting much thought into the plan outside of making sure they were both fed, tipsy and having one hell of a good time.

"You and I both," Kiraz teased, reaching over and poking Rangi lightly in the cheek as she beamed over at her teasingly. "Oh! Yeah. There are a whole bunch of findings on it. Dhruv's published a few different papers I could forward your way, but basically, there is a component in werewolf saliva that triggers the change," She explained away with an eased shrug. "So, I was turned using a syringe like him," She said, motioning to the small pinprick of a scar on her arm from where she had been injected. "While others are turned from the bite, and I'm sure if someone had an open wound and wasn't careful, they might be turned that way too. It's a pretty cool discovery on his part, scientifically speaking."

"Hey." Zuva gave Yoko a scratch when the familiar came up to crawl onto him. It somewhat helped settle the irritation coiled beneath his skin, but not nearly enough. "Fireball." His answer was simple and the annoyed huff that followed aided the feeling. "I know it's fine and all. Losin' my magic for a while ain't the worst, not the first that Althea 'died' either." He knew where they lived, where they came from, people got hurt, it was a dangerous world. Things happen. But this was just supposed to be a game and that what's got under his skin more that he liked for it to have. "She wasn't attackin' nobody. Wasn't threatenin' no one. Just gettin' a damn bandana. Ain't life and death y'know?"

"As in you want a shot of fireball or?" Lennon's brows knitted, not expecting that to have been Zuva's first choice of poison, but if he wanted to burn the back of his throat off, who was she to stop him? It was only as he kept going that the realization dawned on her. "What in the- Who attacked Althea?" She asked as she sat up. Her hand instantly rested on top of Zuva's as she gave him a reassuring squeeze. "Au diable avec ça. You's upset, so we's upset. That's how this works. So start talkin'."

                              all the bright ｐｒｅｃｉｏｕｓ things

An unnaturally pale hand extended to meet the one offered, shaking briefly before letting it drop back to their side. "You never know; could just do the trick." A hum, not offended that the other woman wasn't interested in that particular offer of help. Though Andy's brows furrowed a little when Leyla thanked her for not judging. "Why would I judge you for that?" It was genuine confusion in their voice, unsure how a damaged wing was any different to a broken foot. And being in a foot cast wasn't shameful.

"It could," Leyla let out a small laugh at the thought. "But I think I might exhaust a few more methods before I resort to becoming a human kit," She admitted. "And I don't know. I think people in this town sometimes can be quick to judge, but that might just be me putting my own insecurities onto things. Thank you, though, regardless, for being cool about it and all."

"I think you might be onto something, Ace," He whispered softly. The corner of his lips lifted up every so slightly as he drew her closer into his side. It was only as she continued to mumble on that he found himself drawing quiet. He lay there beside her for what felt like a millennium, letting the silence settle between them in the dark before he finally said, his voice no more than a low murmur as he admitted, "It's okay. I probably wouldn't have been any good to you anyway. I'm kind of a mess. I don't even..." A soft sigh broke from his lips as his gaze lifted back up toward the ceiling and he found himself admitting, even if he had a feeling she wouldn't remember any of this come the morning, "sleep in this bed... or much at all."

CLOSED : @cantfightmoonlight (Leyla & Cassandra) WHERE : elevator in the Emerald Hotel

"W-what?" Leyla gulped as she moved forward to press the floor button again and again, only stepping out of the way when Cassandra moved to press the emergency call button. "T-this c-can't be h-happening," She mumbled under her breath as she moved back. "N-not a-again." Sliding down onto the ground, she pulled her knees tightly into her chest as she tried to will herself to stay calm despite the panic that was already beginning to settle over her. She tried to avoid the Emerald Hotel as much as humanly possible ever since the ball that had resulted in her wings being mangled. But in an attempt to work through her ptsd, she had been slowly showing up at the fae court more and more. Nyra had offered to help her relearn how to fly and she thought the exposure might do her some good, only now she was trapped in the building all over again. She might have been trapped in the ballroom before rather than in the elevator, but she was starting to think the Emerald Hotel might be cursed.

Closed starter for @cantfightmoonlight (Leyla) Location: Lunar Cove Pride

"Hi! How can I help-" Leyla started to ask as she caught the familiar face walking into the Daily Drip. But her business owner persona eased as her eyes lit up in curiosity at the mention of a present. "Oh! You didn't need to get me anything, but thank you!" She exclaimed happily as she took the honey from him. "Do you want me to get you anything, yourself? Coffee on the house or a pastry?" She offered, feeling bad about accepting a gift without offering him something in return. "I like your shirt by the way. It's very punny and oh! Of course! I mean I was sort of just stationed where I was told and same went with being told to stop casting illusions, but happy to help in any way I can, and no, that's okay. I bet on Ken using his money anyway, so no harm no fowl," She offered only to glance up as the lights of the coffee shop began to flicker. "Oh shoot! Sorry about that. That's been happening all day. I think because of the heat or something, but about that coffee or tea, how do you like it?"