f l i g h t l e s s

The place was dark and gloomy and probably looked like one of the places that was the setting for some cheap horror film. Well, they were dead so he guessed it technically could be. And now they had a very much living woman with a very much dead spirit attached to her stepping into their home. It didn’t even sound believable in his head and yet, here he was. When he was alive, he would have thought he was absolutely crazy. Now it wasn’t so much of an odd thought. “Oh yeah, I absolutely was not. I think Beau, my roommate, is the only one of us that actually might just like it like this. It’s very much his aesthetic.” It kind of made him laugh. This was not the kind of place Angel and Orion would have stayed in when they were alive and here they were staying in it now. He guessed they didn’t really have much of a choice. Plus, when you thought you weren’t going to be staying long, you didn’t exactly put much effort into where you were staying. And Angel did not expect to be here that long at all. He was sure he would be back to leading people to Charon in no time. Without Gabby’s presence. That certainly made a knot form in his throat that he swallowed down to forget about it.

“Well, I don’t know if glasses should be around you since you’re so clumsy. So, in honor of you, I present to you plastic wine glasses.” He pulled them out with a flourish as if they were a gift from the gods. Although he knew what the hell was causing all of her so-called clumsiness, she didn’t. That soul did not want to leave her, but he was going to try his best to make it easier for her while he was around. “It is. So we shouldn’t waste any time in getting to the roof. I know it doesn’t look sturdy, but I’ve tested it for tonight specifically.” Which probably sounded so weird now that he said it out loud. Why the hell was he being so fucking weird? Angel had been so used to being able to talk to anyone he was interested with ease. Maybe him having such difficulty talking to Gabby had to do with the death. Yeah, that was exactly what he would blame it on for now.

The longer she looked around, the more she decided that she liked the home Angel lived in. Something about depth and darkness drew her in and with every Gothic styled detail, briefly she wondered how rude he might think it if she left to collect her camera from her own home. That wasn’t why she was here though and the longer he spoke about Beau, the more certain she was that any photograph could wait. “I like it,” She concluded, casting one final look around the entry of the home before hues brought themselves back to her reason for being here in the first place. The sight of him twisting something within the pit of her stomach that felt something like sunlight, which made, absolutely no sense to her. Then again, as laughter split her features, it made all the more sense. “Right, no you’re right.. Glasses are probably a terrible idea.” The plastic wine glasses a touch that almost seemed, endearing. 

Atlas felt a smile reach his features, a skeptic. His least favorite variety of human, though this one had something attached to her that made Atlas question how truly human she could possibly be. “You want to know how I predicted they’d get pregnant?” The witch questioned, “I… don’t really know how that is any business of yours.” It was a light prod as he quirked an eyebrow but continued anyways, not truly bothered, the witch only wanted to tease the woman’s apparent skepticism. “I take it you’re a non-believer?” Atlas asked easily before he drew the cards back into his hands and tucked them away and off the table. “I didn’t use the cards, no. People come to me with a problem, I look into their future, and I do what I can to help them. It wasn’t fate that helped your friend get pregnant, it was magic.”

It wasn’t as if she outright denied the existence of magic. How could she when she knew vampires -- werewolves existed? Something about seeing things for herself, she supposed, unbeknownst to her that she already had and long before she’d understood the existence of such mythic creatures. “No, No.. I know it’s not really my business. I knew I shouldn’t have ---” Gabriella bit her tongue, tasted blood in the back of her mouth, faint. “A non-believer?” Hues narrowed, in thought more then disbelief, watching as he tucked the card away. “I was raised Catholic, there’s a lot of things I was told to believe. Not all of them were tangible enough to hold any real weight,” Even still, her hand lifted, curled around the saint she carried around her neck - a comfort, more than anything. “But I’ve seen things, I think.” Of that, she wasn’t entirely certain could have existed without the aid of something more. “Can you always see it? The future, I mean? --- What about the past?”

If Ela claimed to not be avoiding her roommate, it would be a boldfaced lie that even the world’s most gullible could spot. She’d dodged every text inquiry about her location these past few days, answering all other facets of the conversation and leaving other messages on read. In her own defense, the young woman simply did not possess the vocabulary required to describe it in layman’s terms. How did one explain to their relatively normal friend that they themself no longer were beholden to that category? “Hey. You’re home early, it’s not even two o’clock yet.” Ela greeted with as much nonchalance as possible upon exiting her bedroom, attempting and failing to make it appear as though she wasn’t trying to slip in and out unnoticed. “I just needed to grab a few things and then I’m going to the library. I picked up the mail, too. It’s on the table.” Despite this polite candor, the elephant in the room was near crushing. “Sorry, I shouldn’t–– I know I’ve been out a lot lately and acting weird. I swear you didn’t do anything wrong and I’m not on drugs.” @gcbbyrcmcs​

“The beach is perfect this time of night, quiet, secluded, the water is so beautiful under the moon. It’s safe, you aren’t worried.” Another layer of compulsion, if she lived she’d remember only the desire to go for a walk along the beach, and that was assuming Markus managed didn’t just end up killing the young woman. Just another body that washed up from the sea. Impulse control, at least as it related to blood lust, was not a strong suit of his. His feet carried him in quiet step with the woman, the vampire had no real curiosity about her besides possibly what her blood type might have been. Still, there was dead air in between them and the beach and Markus opted to fill it. He canted his gaze towards her as they walked and caught her eye once more. “Tell me about yourself, spare the boring details.”

There was nothing to worry about, a feeling that settled within her chest was more than enough to tell her as much. What could there be to worry about anyway? A smile bloomed in place of her previously blank stare. “It’s definitely a nice night, the beach has always been perfect this time of night. It’s kind of soothing, you know?” Orchestrated by his own words, and yet not something she would have rejected as anything but the truth in the first place. “About me? My mother died a few years ago, I moved here just after to live with my dad until a few months ago when he was called back home for work,” A hunter, though retired, called to return to the London branch for retcon, not that she knew all that much about the hows and whys. “I’m part way through my BA and work at the florist. There’s not all that much that’s not .. entirely boring unless you could being terribly clumsy.. there’s always something entertaining in that I suppose.”

Atlas looked up from the table where he was sitting, the deck of tarot cards in his hands as he started to pack his things up for the day. The woman approached and for a moment Atlas needed to do a double take, there was something off about her, she was human, but there was something else that seemed to linger in her presence. It hovered just beyond the reach of his third eye, had she been anyone else he probably would have dismissed her. The oracle made a lot of prophecies for a lot of different people, this friend she mentioned, was probably one of a dozen young couples that he’d helped since he’d been in Corinth. Atlas sighed, intrigued by the unique aura that seemed to follow the woman, though he could not help but feel that it was tainted by some malicious intent. “Sure,” Atlas offered as he gestured for Gabby to sit down, “are you looking for a reading, or was there something specific you wanted to ask me?” 

Hesitation clawed at her from within before she moved to take a seat at the table Atlas had set himself up at. Truly, she didn’t really know what she was going to ask him. Or rather, how. How exactly did someone broach the subject of things otherworldly without sounding like she’d just, cracked somehow? “Uh,” hues traveled across the cards in front of him. It wasn’t something she’d ever really considered, if anything, she’d always believed the very idea of readings and.. whatever else he did to be just as insane as the actual thought of it. “No, no reading. I don’t want to take up too much of your time.” And mostly, she wasn’t certain she wanted to know what he might find in the cards, even if she didn’t exactly believe in it. “I had some friends come to you about a year ago, they’d been struggling to get pregnant for a few years and you uh.. I don’t know? Predicted that they’d conceive and they did.” A joyous moment, undoubtedly. “Was that..-- did you do a reading for them? Was it something you saw in these cards or did you just.. make a hazardous guess?”

Beau blinked once, twice, three times, before straightening his posture and actually looking over this young woman who’d found it appropriate to visit the house. Blonde, a little bouncy, knowledgeable about plants? He didn’t get a magical vibe from her, but the energy surrounding her felt…Off somehow. Which was suspicious, however he was far more concerned at the fact that she was talking about Angel so brazenly. He opened his mouth to speak only to promptly take another drag from his cigarette and purse his lips around it. It sure sounded like Angel had hit on her, or at least she thought he did. If he had to label either twin as someone to do such a thing and be sincere about it, he would definitely be the one. 

“Are you telling me that you are here, because Angel of all people, hit on you?” He almost wanted to pace the small porch but settled for flicking ash onto it’s stony surface. This had never happened before. None of whatever the hell was happening in Corinth had ever happened before. “And now you want…?” He gestured vaguely with the hand still holding his cigarette, leaving a trail of smoke in it’s wake. “What exactly?”

It wasn’t a reaction that she wasn’t yet used to - too often Gabriella spoke too much, too quickly and it often times threw people a little off center. The look on his face reminded her to stop, breathe.. and wait. “Of all people? Is that.. out of character for him?” She queried, not truly minded by what the answer might be but curious just the same. “Not that he hit on me so openly.” In truth, that might have been almost her own doing, dragging him out of the store and into the parade weeks before hand had been, brazen of her. “I’m actually here because he asked me here.” To hang out - a date, she wasn’t entirely certain where it fell in that spectrum, but nevertheless, she’d agreed to it. “To hang out, drink some wine..-- mentioned something about you guys having a good view of the sky at night.” Which brought her right back to the house in question. It sat a little far out, peculiar looking.. “Did someone live here before you guys? I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone up this way and I’ve been here a few years now. It’s just the three of you, right? Angel mentioned he had a brother he lived with too.”

     There was something insanely comforting about the feeling of the sun warming his skin, the ocean breeze ruffling through his damp hair, and the smell of sea water filling his nose. Elias’ comfort zone had easily become the beach, and he was always grateful when he didn’t have to go on his own. It was always fun to pull his surfboard out into the waves next to Gabby, and it just made his day to see a guy who wouldn’t stop bragging about his skills just seconds ago now moving out of the waves looking a lot like a wet poodle. “You’re right, but he did sound pretty convincing. I didn’t want to risk that.” Elias pushed his hair away from his eyes, a hint of a smile tugging at the corners of his lips as he got comfortable on a bar stool next to Gabby. After an afternoon out in the waves, he was absolutely starving, and so he nodded at her question. “I definitely want one of those greasy burgers too.” He waited for a waiter to show up and take their order, then he turned slightly to look at her. “You know, we should really do this more often again. I needed this.” Because when he thought his life was looking up, another curve ball had been thrown at him in form of a woman promising to be his savior if he wanted her to. Elias didn’t want to talk about it, and was kind of glad that there was no temptation with Gabby anyway. The distraction she had to offer was everything he needed.

@gcbbyrcmcs​

“I don’t care how many times you ask, I’m not going to make out with you again.” Cole loved their friendship; Gabriella drank way too much, she acted a fool, and she could be an absolute mess. Cole’s favorite thing about her was the nasty spirit that was eating away at her from the inside, hollowing her out like a husk to be filled. It was vaguely amusing, though the spirit of dreams couldn’t help but think that if Gabby actually knew the truth she’d be much more stressed about it. The spirit could literally push a bookcase on top of her and Gabby would still say, oops I tripped. Hilarious how stupid mortals could be. As a rule, Cole generally didn’t enjoy humans, they rarely spent time with them beyond messing with them once or twice. Gabby was a rare exception, Cole wanted to watch her future play out, firsthand. “I will, however, buy you another shot, sorry about your exams. Bad luck, friend.” 

She hadn’t asked, though she knew that they were making a point of stating as much so loudly as to draw more attention. A habit that almost unnecessarily followed the pair of them on any given night they’d chosen to go out. “Saying it doesn’t make it true and you know it.” Gabby grinned, the untimely skip in her step pulling her a little closer as they pushed towards the bar, the small blonde untangling her limbs from around them to slip from the piggyback easily. It was easy to believe Cole when they’d said they could cheer her up after bombing her exam earlier that day. Just one. She’d keep telling herself that, but sobriety didn’t make such a reminder any easier. “Shut up, we’re not talking about it.” The menial groan taken over as she lent forward and propped her elbows on the bar, “I’ll take the shot though, obviously.”

@gcbbyrcmcs​

It was late, and Markus was hungry. The vampire traveled as far from the hotel as he cared to, there was something to be said about not shitting where you ate. There was an electricity in the air that was near palpable, the city had mostly recovered from the horrors of the carnivale, Pride had filled the void and left Corinth’s citizens mostly basking in feelings of undue safety. The furthest couldn’t be from the truth, everyday forces worked against them, some for a solitary purpose, others for a higher cause. Markus would know. The cultist had a clear directive, turn as many as he could, but Markus had become somewhat choosy over the years. Some food was simply that, a meal, not everyone was deserving of Persephone’s blessing. 

“It’s late.” Markus breezed, his voice cut through the darkness as he stepped out into the light, their eyes met and a compulsion fell easily from his lips. “But you want to join me for a walk. Don’t you?”

The final stumble in her step as she broached the corner had been more for show than anything. Unlike most nights spent with her friends at their usual bar, Gabriella wasn’t nearly as drunk as she usually would have been. Thoughts had spiraled elsewhere - Angel, the man she seemingly couldn’t stop thinking about, and the unmistakable pressure that grew against her chest. It left her, perhaps just as flushed and giddy as the alcohol might have. Yet, beyond the line of sight from her friends, Gabby sighed heavily and righted herself in lieu of too many drinks she’d turned down, there was merely a slight tingle in her fingertips and heated flush in her cheeks. Distraction in the form of her own thoughts so fervent that she’d barely thought twice when a voice caught her in the open mouth of the dimly lit alleyway. “I know, I didn’t expect to be..---” Hues shifted to meet the strangers, “Out so late.” Whatever uncertainty there might have been, it faded to linger as something far less alarming, yet overwhelming still. The breath in her lungs slipped away as she smiled, nodded. “A walk.” That wasn’t what she’d intended, but suddenly, it remained to be all she could think about. - walking, with this man.. “Where did you want to go?”

hydra: does your muse have a reoccurring problem?

You mean, beyond brushing off the very strange, haunting/possession like instances that she keeps finding herself in and denying? Over and over and over again? Claiming it’s just her being clumsy?  No... absolutely none. 

siren: does your muse often act in revenge?

She doesn’t, Gabriella is very much a believer in karma. Though she might very well have the time on her hands to exact some kind of petty, human scale revenge, she’d rather leave that up to the fates, they’re better at it anyway..

unicorn: which of the seven heavenly virtues relates to your muse?

hippogriff: does your muse have a high level of self worth?

Yes and no. Gabriella knows her worth, but it’s not inflated in the least. She’s rather level headed when it comes to her self worth. In simple, she believes she’s worth being respected and trusted in her values and beliefs. Truly, she’s just a big old fan of human modesty and decency. Her worth, is not more than anothers.

elf: does your muse value appearance?

Again, yes and no. She values her own appearance, in that.. she likes feeling put together and confident but she would never in a thousand years ever hold another persons appearance as something that she should base value on.

dragon: how does your muse connect to fire?

kraken: what haunts your muse?

already answered

orcs: does your muse tend to be protective?

banshee: has your muse had a close call with death?

No, she’s remained relatively unscathed... though she has absolutely no idea that death quite literally clings to her right now. So.. who knows.

kraken: what haunts your muse?

The death of her mother. It was slow and painful to watch as she withered away and caved to the possession, became someone that Gabriella didn’t recognize. A creature twisting her mother into something beyond human and beyond the help of anyone that might have tried. It’s something she can’t forget, can’t unsee and that cripples her far more than she knows it does

troll: does your muse have a collection?