vocal.

(camila queiroz, cis woman, she/her ) — Look who it is! If you take a look at our database, you’ll find that CARINA SERAFINA QUEIROZ is a THIRTY-TWO year old MODEL that’s been in Chicago for TEN YEARS. According to the file, they’re a mutant on LEVEL 1 with the power of VOICE MANIPULATION. That must be why they’re ASSERTIVE and SPOILED. If you ask me, they remind me of the flash of a camera, voices eerily echoing off walls, a smile that puts you at ease. They are affiliated with NOBODY.

        david isn’t used to getting a good night’s sleep—or even an acceptable night’s sleep, which is more accurate to what he’s gotten here. it’s not every day that he isn’t lying awake in torment and waiting for exhaustion to finally pull him into fitful nightmares. but the nightmares, while still present, are hazier in his mind this morning than usual. “i’m sure we can spare a few more minutes…” he mumbles, voice still thick with sleep. “kids are never on time, anyway…” still, once carina starts to pull herself from the comfort of her bed, he prepares himself to sit up, too. thinks about it, at least. “maybe… do you have decaf?”

“That’s wonderful! Well, for you anyway.” She laughs, taking a sip of her own mimosa. Levi is going to be devastated, but it’s no skin off her back at all; her baby brother can deal with the fallout and she can be there on the back end to pick him up off his ass. Or not. Who knows, maybe the therapy works after all. “Are you dating around? Price comparing, window shopping, or is this an ‘eggs in one basket’ situation? Did you introduce my niece yet or is that just… a nice surprise when you get to it?” 

@carinaserafina​—

“Have you ever thought of dating again?” The light of a Sunday brunch is hardly something to scoff at, but she throws the question out easily. Of course, the answer either way is alright, but perhaps she can pass off the question as something else.

closed starter // @nearcataclysm​

         david nods, echoing her sentiment. children are uniquely… unimpeded when it comes to asking questions, and too many questions has always been a problem for him. most often, what people come to him for are easy answers. he doesn’t have anything easy to respond with when it comes to him and carina. spending time with her goes against everything he’s ever felt. attachments ultimately lead to suffering, and yet… easier to focus on other things. like sebby, their cat. even if he doesn’t envy them the end of his life. that’s something he’ll also keep to himself. there’s no need to sour things for anyone else.

         “whatever you end up calling him, he’s a very nice cat.” gingerly, he reaches out a hand for the animal to sniff. sebby, of course, is perfectly content to stay where he is, entirely unbothered by the stranger at hand. maybe if he smelled more like fish, he’d be more interesting. “looks like i did get a cat,” he teases ( not fully-hearted, but he’s trying ) leaning into carina’s touch. “you’ll just have to help take care of him for me.”

“Consider yourself lucky that she didn’t talk you into a dog,” Carina teases, looking up at him as she gives his waist a playful pinch. So far, things are going well. Charlotte hasn’t screamed about stranger danger or bitten David’s kneecaps, and he hasn’t said anything morbid or terrifying. Maybe she should’ve let the two of them meet sooner, but the time never felt right until now, even if she was kind of pushed headfirst into the situation. Better late than never, right?

         “i don’t know how true that is. most people can just do it with their own phones.” sure, professional advice can be taken… and most people don’t want to do their own christmas and wedding photos, but still. he’s hardly essential! but more surprising than any reason she could conjure up for why his position is respectful enough is her own career choice. a model? well, she certainly looks the part! but now he’s even more nervous about talking to her. “a… model?” he asks, wondering if he’s missing a joke. wouldn’t be very funny, though. “like, actually?” he swallows. “…do you like it?”

I'm tired of figuring out Whether you're in or you're not I see it as a warning I feel it in the morning I've got those lingering doubts Showing me with and without I see it as a warning I feel it as I'm falling

“Oh,” Annie sing-songs. There’s a knowing smile on her face, and she nods. “This Davey character sounds special. Are you guys just… you know, messing around or whatever? Or is it that special?” Annie links their arms as she speaks, heading off in the direction of the nearest coffee shop. “Oh, it’s like innate to have super strength under five, I swear. Odette had a hell of a leg as a kid. My thighs were bruised anytime she slept in my bed.” Annie lolled her head to the side and just laughed. “Hardly. Not that I’m out there looking for them, but it was another lonely night of sleeping alone in my bed. Nothing out of the usual.”

“ i think we could really trace it all back to the, uh… ” - what was her name ? oh, yeah ! - “ maleficent. her dragon form would’ve been enough to traumatize kids for years. ” then again, if they’d followed the real formula of sleeping beauty – the brothers grimm version – disney would’ve been out as quickly as it got in. thinking back on it… between sid, as carina had mentioned, and characters like claude frollo, horned king, ursula… they had a good roster of pretty terrifying villains. maybe it was for the best that charlotte wasn’t too much of a disney kid…

“ thank you, ” levi said with a nod as he took the water bottle. a subtle smile grew as carina explained the backstory of the bottle – of course she did. he would’ve expected nothing less ! “ it’s alright – i like it. it’s very… ” holding it out and twirling it around, he continued, “ sweet. ” a definite departure from the disney villains levi had just been thinking about. he would never be one of those parents who didn’t let their child watch a movie because it contained a slightly scary villain ( those had always been his favorite ones ! ), but the purity of mickey mouse provided a fine contrast to the mental image of bruce mauling dory and marlin.

glancing at his watch, as subtly as he could, he hoped and prayed charlotte would be getting home from school soon. there was only so much he could talk about with carina nowadays – so much that wouldn’t trudge up something from the past or further exacerbate something in the future. the love was not lost – as long as she was charlotte’s mother, and as long as she was a good one, at that ( he couldn’t picture her ever not being a good one ), it never could be. but the divorce had skewed his perception. when he looked at her now, he did not see a woman he had chosen to keep a secret from out of fear – no, he saw a woman who… quite frankly, looked like she fit all the bills a judge would want to see. he could accept that he didn’t deserve full custody, and he could even accept that he didn’t deserve half-and-half – it all went back to the bottle. but he could never accept that he didn’t deserve partial in any way, shape, or form. he didn’t even know if he should’ve considered his suspicions ‘suspicions.’ 

Carina smiles, nodding. “Charlotte is a very sweet little girl. We got lucky when we were blessed with her.” Considering both of her parents are mutants, there was a chance that she could’ve been born with a powerful ability. So far, she’s been the perfect, human daughter. Sure, she’s prone to temper tantrums like any other four-year-old, but she’s mostly loving, kind, and knows her own mind. She got the best parts of both her parents, luckily. They’ve done a great job at raising her, Carina thinks, despite their complicated circumstances. It would’ve been easy to let anger and hurt get the better of both of them, especially during the custody battle. They remained civilised and calm at times when they would’ve loved nothing more than to strangle each other. 

It hurts to see Carina look angry. If she asks her to leave, Xio doesn’t think she could do that. Not without trying to explain.

“I don’t know—” she answers the question, finally. What kind of fucking mutant, Xio? The kind that meant she woke up in her own grave. That she threw up embalming fluid and rot and— Fingers gently brush her cheek.

Xio bites her cheeks. Eyes stinging. With a rush of relief, Carina gives her a warning and finally, finally, reaches out. Xio holds Carina tight. Pulling her in closer, burying her head in her shoulder.  “I—I woke up, I was already buried.” Her words are muffled into Carina’s shoulder. The true horror of it difficult to describe, at least without going into detail. All that would do is make her feel worse, “Being buried fucken sucks.”

Carina’s hold on Xio is tight. She’d usually worry about squeezing her too hard, but right now she doesn’t care. This is a second chance; something other people don’t get. When people you love die, they don’t come back. Xio is somehow an exception, and Carina is going to take advantage of having her back. “How did you get out? I’m so sorry, Xio. I wish I’d known, I wish I could’ve done something.” 

         at first sight, death shrouds his vision. there it is. the day she dies. so clearly it’s like he’s standing witness to it. before it can show in his face, david gives his head a quick shake to waive off the song’s grip on him. “nice to meet you,” he says, crouching so that he can better hold his hand out for a shake. but instead of taking it, charlotte turns back to her mother and pops a different question. he doesn’t quite know how to answer that, himself. they haven’t ever talked about it. just… let things hang where they were. multi-colored eyes shift in her direction, david deciding to let her take the lead on… dodging ( or not! ) her daughter’s inquiries. “that’s right,” he says, pulling himself back up.

          right on cue, the cat comes running. do you like cats? “i’ve never had a cat,” he says instead, not quite an answer. it isn’t that he doesn’t like cats. or any animal, for that matter. but having a pet has always felt cruel to him. he can see the loss before he even gets to live in their life. the loss stings just as sharply without having truly experienced it. “what’s their name?”

Charlotte wriggles in Carina’s arms, eager to get down and pet the cat. “Thank God she’s easily distracted,” she says, smiling at David as she puts her daughter down. ‘I’ve never had a cat.’ Carina has the feeling that he hasn’t experienced much joy at all during his childhood and adult years. She’s going to change that, though. Determination is one of her strongest traits. Making David happy is on her bucket list, and she won’t stop trying to bring joy to his life for as long as he wants her around.