CELESTIAL.

“We’re better off then – can’t have East End turning into some island resort. I think I’d have to burn all those Hawaiian shirts.”

“Oh, I really don’t think we have to worry about that. This place is becoming a damn Hellmouth it feels—no outsider wants to come here. Hell, our own residents don’t want to be here. I give it a few months and we’ll all be running for the hills.” 

REMI: got out of town for a few days, but i came back just for youuu

REMI: what do we need to talk about??

REMI: saying 'we need to talk' gives me war flashbacks to my first break up. quick, cordy, tell me we aren't over

CORDY: Foooor me? Bless up. I feel so special.

CORDY: :///// you caught me... i didn't want to do it over text but.... i'm leaving you.....

             “Come on slow-poke, this isn’t the geriatrics club. It’s just a short walk up this trail – the prettiest waterfall you ever did see, with a complimentary swimming-hole. You’re gonna love it! Best thing is, no one else seems to have discovered it yet.“

Now this was fun. The town may be small for her tastes and there may be no large downtown to speak of, but perhaps she had found an entertaining place after all. Loud music pulsed as heat radiated off of the bodies grinding against her. She felt the presence of a newcomer and spoke over the sound of the music. “Either you join in and perhaps offer me a drink, or you move along. I am not in the mood to be simply ogled.” 

“Ogled?” The brunette questioned as her brows furrowed slightly and she eyed the woman. Cordelia wasn’t exactly in the mood to be at a club—actually she almost never was considering she usually didn’t fit in at clubs and maybe this situation here was why. “I’m not ogling. I’m trying to get around everyone so I can find my friend, that’s all.” After all, she was only here to pick someone up who was a little too drunk and needed her assistance. 

Pour tu mon amour, @cordeliajaymes

It was early. The sun hadn’t been up for more than a few hours, but this was Chandler’s favorite time of day. Right now their galaxy’s only star’s light made everything through his camera lens glow in a soft, iridescent kind of way. Which he thought would pair well with Cordelia’s olive skin. They’d talked about hanging out again, but he was sure she wouldn’t expect a trek through the woods for a photo shoot at such an early hour.

He knocked, hard, on her apartment door, before calling loudly through the frame, “Ay girl, you down for an adventure?”

She had been up all night—not having slept for the past twenty-four hours as she worked on her latest art project. Though, that was normal for her. After all, she was made up of untamed hair, paint, and black coffee, so it wasn’t shocking. But she hadn’t even focused on what hour it was until she was hearing a knock on her door, causing her to look up and acknowledge the outside world. Waiting a moment, she then rose from where she was and pushed back the loose hair that dangled in her face—causing the paint on the back of her hand to smear a bit across her forehead.

When she then heard a voice, a smile crept along her features and she quickly scurried to the door. “An adventure? At this hour?” The words sounded as if she was confused as to why anyone would ask such a thing so early. But as the messily dressed girl who was covered in paint, she showed off her bright smile and laughed softly. “Hell yes. The best time of day to start one. —What time is it again?”

“100 bucks says there will be a ban in those sissy drinks like the Hurricane or a Pina Colada. Pretty sure everyone’s about sick of rain and everything related.”

“With everything going on, I doubt anyone is really concerned. Plus, I think we’re all interested in drinking something a little stronger anyway. We all need it.”

        Stepping out of the Tavern, it felt like Harper could actually breathe again. The four days that they had been locked up inside of the building, had definitely had quite the toll on everyone involved. What had happened outside though, had not been something she had expected though. A new group of supernatural beings had entered town and claimed their part in the horrible disaster that had left East End broken. She swallowed and her heart broke into a million pieces as she looked around at everyone, and for the first time in a long time, she didn’t think of everyone as a hunter or a supernatural being. 

        They were just people. Harper slowly started to move down the street, taking in all of the destruction that the wind and water had left behind and as she saw some of her favorite shops being ripped to shreds, Harper had to cover her parted mouth to prevent a soft gasp from leaving her lips. Not only had the storm taken memorable places and ripped it apart, it had also taken lives. Innocent lives. As she walked past a deceased man, she kept her gaze on the road ahead as she didn’t want to see it. Closing her eyes, Harper took a deep breath and stopped in the middle of the road. How on Earth were they going to be get through this? Would the community of East End rebuild or would it burn up in flames?

        Sniffing, she blinked as she felt someone approach her. Clearing her throat, she moved her hands to her face and rubbed her fingers against the pink-colored skin. A nervous laugh fell from her lips as her eyes locked with the person who had approached her. “I’m sorry. I just, this place doesn’t look like –,” she said and swallowed, “like home anymore.” 

With everything that had happened in the past few months alone, Cordelia was a bit overwhelmed. She wasn’t sure how to react to a lot of things and kind of saw this whole thing as a sign that the end of the world was coming. At least, that’s what she was telling herself as a sort of comedic relief type of deal. It was easier than to accept that bad things were just happening to good people. Helped her keep her composure as she made her way through the wreckage. The entire town was in shambles and truthfully, she wasn’t surprised. She roamed around a little, picking up pieces of signs she knew of so well. The cafe she and Athena hung out with was down, artwork from a local gallery destroyed in the street and people walking around trying to come to terms with the state their home was now in. As so continued to move along, she came by someone crying and couldn’t but to stop and stare. She wasn’t a sympathetic person outwardly, because she didn’t know how to talk to people given her socially awkward tendencies, but she tried at least. “Hey no, it’s okay. No need to apologize. I get it. Everything’s a mess. Worse than a mess really. It’s uh... not easy to grasp. Especially with everything else going on. Like this town is cursed or something.”

The fire department was overcrowded and the collective stress level of the people trapped inside was starting to take a toll on Shepard.  If he had been in the company of friends, he would have willingly smoked one of them out just to have someone to talk to.  But that was not the case.  His fight with Connor last month had pretty much ruined their budding friendship and made things awkward between the two of them, so Shepard had been actively avoiding the other wolf.  Caleb was in his pack, but the two of them had never gotten along and he knew that the news that he had surpassed Caleb in their social hierarchy broke it would only serve to further tarnish their relationship.  So Shepard did one of the things he was best at; isolating himself.  He found a supply closet at the end of the hallway on the second floor and shut himself inside.  The end of his joint had just been sparked when the door abruptly opened, his heart racing because he thought it was the police.  He breathed a smoky sigh of relief when he saw Cordelia standing there.  “Glad you’re not the cops or worst,  one of the uptight assholes from downstairs,” Shepard said with a smile, offering her the joint.  “Here, get in and shut the door.  If we set off the smoke alarm, we’re fucked.”

It was really the only way for her to feel okay about it all. She didn’t like to worry, she just liked focusing on self-medicating when times got hard. Was it the smartest of choices? Of course not, but right now, she really didn’t care. Plus, it was pretty obvious she wasn’t alone in her thoughts. Clearly, someone else had the same idea and at least this way, she didn’t have to do it alone—not that being alone would really stop her. “Yeah no, definitely not a cop. I wouldn’t do that to myself,” she laughed, hoping to break the ice a little more to make it obvious that she really wasn’t here to bust him or cause any sort of issue. She just wanted to smoke and forget about what was happening outside. “Imagine.” Cordelia then began as she stepped inside and shut the door behind her quickly. “Setting off the fire alarm in a firehouse. Do they even have them here? I mean, they gotta, but I feel like it would be pretty freaking ironic if a fire happened.” As she went to sit down, she happily took the joint that was being offered and took a long drag of it. “But I wouldn’t put it past the possibilities in this town. I swear, it’s like Mercury is in retrograde or something because everywhere I turn, some weird shit is happening.”

This whole situation was awful, honestly. Most of the time, Cordelia was a rather chill and relaxed person who didn’t get worked up by much. But knowing that there were people out there she cared about, potentially hurt, she was left to worry like crazy. Luckily, she had a stash hidden in her bag, per usual, and while she needed it right about now, it was hard to do so in a fire station where that was more than likely frowned upon. Thus, she went searching for a place to hide out for a little so she could self-medicate all she wanted. In doing so, however, she found herself opening up a closet door to someone already being inside. “Fuck,” she let out with a sigh, knowing they beat her to it. “Looks like we got the same idea.” As she stood in the doorway, she then took in the faint scent that hit her. Apparently, they really had the same idea. “Care for some company?” She suggested before holding up a small baggie filled with the same content he was smoking. Sure, she preferred to be alone, but it was pretty much her only option right about now.

“Okay seriously, there has got to be something we can do to pass the time. I feel like if we all just sit around freaking out then it’s just going to make everything ten times worse.” And right now, they didn’t need to add to the tension. The world was falling apart outside and they needed something to distract them. “Think there’s a deck of cards lying around here somewhere? Or maybe like a pool table in the break room? Firefighters have that sort of stuff for downtime, right? Or I don’t know... something.”