the poison drips through .

the dance floor had been marvelous that night , energetic music that the avian could swirl around to , almost as if she were actually shifted . but she turns back to fully focus on @halfdeities instead , after another moment . their friendship was easy — built from partying together to the quiet solidarity or having both experienced the loss of a sister .  “ i needed this ! ” the avian smiles happily , settling back onto the couch in the corner that they’d claimed for themselves . a night out , especially with tomi , was exactly what she had needed after the day she’d had , with her coworker walking out and her having to take on the extra load of work . as much as she enjoys the job , she does want to be able to focus on herself as well . she holds up her glass , grinning at her friend . “ cheers ! ”

" I KNEW YOU DID ." the words are accompanied by a light shrug as tomi plops down onto the couch across from ceren , spreading their arms over the back of the chair with a sigh as they let their head briefly fall back in relief . " could've told you that really ." their grin is slow and crooked , cheeky as they tip their head in ceren's direction to lightly add , " i have a sixth sense for these things . i'm basically an asteriae if you really think about it ." nothing could perhaps be further from the truth but , well . tomi was far from immune to exaggeration . she blinks as the toast is offered , moving to pick up her own shot glass briefly to clink it enthusiastically against ceren's , eyes glinting in something close to amusement before the liquid is quite efficiently knocked back . it is only once it's swallowed that tomi pauses to blink , turning to ceren with a belated , " wait , why did you need this again ?" a beat as tomi's eyes narrow in consideration , trying to gauge the occasion off of ceren's expression alone . " we're ... celebrating something ." the guess is near pantomimed in the slow way tomi throws it out , eyebrows arching before they try , " or blowing off steam !" the enthusiasm is quickly followed by uncertainty . tomi's expression scrunches . " looking for rebounds ?" tomi's shrug is nonchalant as they reach for another shot on the table with an addition of , " either way i support it ."

TOMI HUMS AT THE WARNING . " ... death by hair pull would be kinda crazy ." their brows arch as they move to pour themself a generous shot , figuring that they'll leave money somewhere or perhaps add the drink to their endless tab . after all , this place was owned by someone who'd probably find out that tomi skimmed anyways which only took about half the fun out of it . " so you will snitch or ... " tomi gestures with both hands as if weighing scales — one hand weighed down by a full shot glass and the other by the weight the bottle . she is at least semi aware that there's little point in asking now . the damage is already done . if nailah wanted to tattle on her she would more than have the evidence . this is only emphasized by the shot promptly being knocked back , quick and painless . they're shrugging at the flavour before they're catching nailah's quick response as they swallow . " kinky ." the quip is half a thought before it's out of her mouth , and that's perhaps being generous . " but i can't shut up . we'd never work . sucks , we'd be super hot ." tomi makes a light show of sighing , melodramatic and mournful before they're taking a clean shot glass , pouring another , and putting it in front of nailah in offering . " you hate it here ?" the question is merely conversational . tomi moves to lean her hip against the counter before pointing towards the shot and adding , " don't worry , i'll totally pay for that ."

Her brows arch upwards , and she laughs outright at the dramatics. “Okaaaay! Okay! Let’s see what I can do before death claims another poor soul.” She grins widely then, hopping off the counter and moving towards the shelves of inventory. She hums to herself, picking and prodding a couple of bottles, whispering a couple things like — no — yes — definitely not. She’s moving back to the counter, with an abundance of stuff in her hands that she nearly drops one of the vials before setting it all down. Turning on her heels, she grabs a stone grinder. “Were you drinking tequila and mixing again? You know that mixing always knocks you on your ass.” She peeks up at the other, brows waggling for a moment before smirk and looking back down to her work. Pouring each herb into the stone bowl, and then crushing it, putting a little elbow grease into the motion. “Also— no invite? I’m hurt. You’re lucky I don’t sneak a natural laxative in here, just to punish you.” The smile widened though, clearly indicating she was kidding. “Be right back. Don’t… break anything..” She mutters and turns towards the back room where she disappears for a few minutes, returning back with a concoction in a paper cup. “The herbs are cheap. So it’s like, 5.99$ — but the labors of love, that’s gonna cost you extra.” Sliding the cup towards them, she props her hands on her hips. “Oh and it tastes like dirt.” Probably.

" OH , THANK FUCK ." the words are more of a rush of breath than anything , carried by a sigh of relief that is only half for show . tomi is pretty sure one day someone in this damn store will slam the door in their face . they're just glad that day is not today . they slump over tiredly as indigo moves through the store , perching their chin on the counter as they lazily follow her movements behind their sunglasses . " i owe you my first born , indi . or the first two , i don't know . how many do you want ?" they wince at indigo's — correct — assessment of their previous night , feeling the words land similarly to an arrow to a bullseye . " okay , that's not fair we both know i crave risk and lack impulse control ." there's a beat , before , " also some bigshot was basically giving away shots . what was i gonna do , say no ?" the very thought is a foreign concept . tomi truly can't remember the last time she denied herself anything . at least not willingly . they perk up slightly as indigo continues . they can hear the humour in her tone , but well . tomi isn't exactly going to pass up a chance for good company . " you wanna come ?" the tone is meant to be alluring but with the hangover exhaustion tomi isn't exactly sure if it lands . still they go through the effort of pulling their hood down and their sunglasses atop their head to meet indigo's eyes as they say , " there's something tonight ... i can get us both in ... i mean , you said you were off soon , right ?" they grunt at indigo's instructions , before quite immediately moving to touch a strange bottle , open it , peek inside , and replace it just before indigo is back . honestly , tomi's almost proud of the speed . they replicate it again with the quickness that they take that offered paper cup , knock it back , and , quite promptly , gag . " what the fuck ." tomi's expression is twisted in disgust as they look to indigo with mild , and frankly undeserved , betrayal . " indi , you're an angel but sometimes it feels like you wanna kill me ." tomi says before quite promptly beginning to search their pockets for anything resembling currency .

"Dawn?" Kiara laughs. "It's almost noon, we've things to do. Come on." she'd wanted to go to the beach, to catch a surf class, smoke a joint, work on her tan. Kairos was dull, for the most part, but August provided the sea in a way that was a pity to miss on a weekend. "I've done something moronic yesterday Toms, d'you wanna hear about it?" Kie did not confide in people easily, or at all really. And yet with Tomi, she could hardly shut up. She passes the water cup and advil, and pulls a freshly rolled joint out of her shirt pocket. "There's a party tonight, d'you wanna come?"

TOMI'S FEATURES TWIST AT THE WORDS . " what kind of fuckin' shit happens before noon ? church ?" it's a foreign concept to tomi . perhaps call it their nature , but the light of day has never really been their thing . so the question is at least half honest . they knuckle at an eye as they yawn , that is until their gaze finds kiara at the question with interest so blatant it verges on nosy . " tell me ." tomi replies as they move to pull them blanket below their face and perhaps that is the real achievement here , even if the movement is punctuated by another yawn . tomi speaks through the yawn shamelessly to say , " m'sure everyone else were the moronic ones though ." perhaps it's a testament to how much tomi likes kiara that they take the advil and water when she presents it to them , even despite knowing that the human shit pales in comparison to the magic she could snag at the apothecary . but beggars can't be choosers . well , kinda . tomi will definitely probably be begging kiara to either take her own magical mercy on her or at least go to the apothecary with her later , because , y'know . buddy system or whatever . " yeah ." the answer is said without hesitation around the pills in her mouth , tomi taking a moment to swallow them with a mouthful of water before adding , " m'supposed to go to this werewolf thing but i'll ditch for you ."

“I was .. actually just closing up. It’s been a slow day, so figured why not enjoy the sun a little bit.” The dust from inside settled against the beams of mid day, that gently echo into the apothecary. She’s sitting on the edge of the wooden checkout counter, legs slightly dangling as she presses her palms back against the polished surface. Her chin tilted, observing the other as they stepped through the threshold of the store. “If it’s something quick, I might be able to help.” Her gaze shifted beyond them, to the streets outside busy with people and life. “Otherwise there’s a pharmacy around the block?” Though, what they sell— and what she offers— you can’t always get at the local grocery store.

" OKAY , THAT INFORMATION IS USELESS TO ME AND YOU KNOW IT ." the croak of tomi's voice is rough as the door closes behind them , but in fairness the husk of the sound probably matches their appearance . the oversized sunglasses perched on tomi's nose are paired with a perhaps even larger oversized hoodie swallowing their form , a hangover uniform that has perhaps never technically failed tomi but certainly doesn't seem to be helping now . " a pharmacy can't fix this ." tomi adds as they near stumble their way to the counter , resting both palms on the surface as they look at indigo pleadingly through comically oversized lenses . " nothing can fix this but you , indi ." perhaps they didn't need to suck up quite so much , but the fact is tomi has never had a hangover that magic couldn't fix . in fact , when they were truly over the deep end it was perhaps the only thing that could do the fixing . so they're not exactly willing to go without it now in their time of need . they clap their hands together in a pleading gesture , near considering sinking to their knees as they say , " please ? i'm fucking tasting colour in the worst way right now , i swear without you i'll die ." perhaps dramatic and a lie but tomi but they've been accused of worse ; hopes the words get their point across regardless .

" JUST ORDER ONE ?" tomi's brows arch with the question , their eyes twinkling with something amused as their smile widens to say , " baby , i'll knock that shit back ." perhaps tomi shouldn't be so easily susceptible to petty challenges . after all , they were nearing their forth century ( or were they ? it was getting ever so hard to keep track ) . however , they saw little harm in agreeing to do something that they'd do without the dare anyways . although , they supposed that they should get something out of the arrangement ... it is with that thought that their eyes light up , a finger moving to point charlie's way to add , " but only if you do one with me ." because at the very least tomi figures they should be entertained . they move to rest their chin in the pit of their palm then , nose scrunching as they near teasingly jab , " unless you're scared of a lil fire ?"

" Y'KNOW WHAT , NAILAH , THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT I COME TO APRODISIA FOR ." tomi replies as they lean a hip against the bar , pointing to the brunette with an arch of their brows to brightly add , " your sparkling personality , the stunning customer service ... and , y'know ." tomi's gaze drift's behind the bar in a way that speaks of temptation , their eyes falling on a bottle of something that is unfamiliar to say , " ... other things ." the distraction in tomi's tone doesn't leave as they hop up to take a seat on the counter , moving to swing their legs over to get to the other side of the bar as they say , " you're not on the clock , right ? so you won't snitch ?" it's less of a question and more of a statement as they move to pick up the unfamiliar bottle idly , popping the thing open and sniffing the contents curiously before they scrunch their face nailah's way , " also , what's up your ass ?"

Kiara let herself in, fighting with the grocery bags which threatened at every minor movement to spill out of the poorly-constructed paper bag. It took some half an hour to put it all away, to wash the dishes, prep a high-calorie breakfast, fill a cup of cool water, a coffee and an advil and place it all together onto a wooden tray. She did not knock, as she entered Tomi's room. As she placed the tray on the small crowded table. She hardly made a sound as she pulled the curtains open to let in some late-morning sun. "Get up babe, I made breakfast." those words had potential to sound like a threat, she was never much of a cook, but it was kind of hard to fuck up the eggs with avocado toast. She'd have sooner died than admitted she'd followed Theo's instruction on the matter and the guac looked particularly good today. Tomi's lack of enthusiasm encouraged her to squeeze next to them, pushing them awake and gently to the side. And although she was not a touchy person by any means, there had always been exceptions. "What time d'you get home?"

THE GARBLED SOUND THAT ESCAPES TOMI AT THE INFLUX OF LIGHT IS UNINTELLIGIBLE . in truth , they're not even sure what they were attempting to communicate outside of perhaps displeasure . there's a whine high in their throat as their face scrunches , as they attempt to hide themself under the blanket in a perhaps pathetic display for a few century old being . but well , tomi had never been particularly caught up in appearances . " wha' th'fuck ?" is all that quite eloquently escapes tomi in response to kiara's announcement , their eyes still squeezed shut and their nest of curly hair poking out from beneath the blanket as they fight the inevitability of being awake . " why're y'here at fuckin' dawn , ki ?" it feels like dawn at the very least . admittedly tomi's never been the best at time — it historically tends to pass much too quickly for them to keep up with — but by how entirely shit they're feeling they'd wager a guess that perhaps this moment is the earliest it has ever been ever , in the history of time . sounds about right . kiara's question is answered by another groan as she sidles up beside them , tomi moving to shift to make room for her without conscious thought . there's something near instinctual in the movement that they don't particularly wish to dwell on , and so instead tomi focuses on rubbing her face with both hands in an attempt to gather their bearings . " i dunno ." and it's the truth . hours had little meaning . her expression scrunches . " th'sun was rising i think ?"

Odessa A'zion in Until Dawn (2025)

Sophocles, from "Electra: A Tragedy," translated by Anne Carson

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