not for long...

"Lack of sleep? Damn, how many surgeries have you had this last week?" Mattie said with a raise of her eyebrows. "Usually I'm the one who is insanely tired." With her non-stop nightmares since being attacked, she doesn't remember the last time she got a good nights sleep. "I'm trying to diagnose a patient, and I'm at such a loss. I have been trying everything, and they're still slipping in and out of stable status. This is the current differential." She gave him her notes to see what she already rules out and what's left based on the patients symptoms and testing she already did.

"They just opened the patio, we should go out there," Kinsey said. "It's beautiful out, unless you're afraid of a little sun, Findlay."

Elsa had been at a meeting. She had been going regularly for some time now. Since her release from treatment, she made sure to go. It helped. Even when her own cravings were quiet, just being around people who were hitting milestones in their own sobriety felt inspiring, it felt hopeful.

The pier was humming like it knew a secret. Koralis leaned over the railing, wind threading through her hair, the night wrapped around her shoulders like it had personally chosen her. The ocean below was restless, not angry, not calm, just thinking too loudly. She liked it best that way. Honest. She felt it before she saw them. The person on her right. Breathing a little uneven. Staring a little too long at the water. Without looking over, she said, “If you’re debating something dramatic, at least wait until the tide shifts. It makes everything feel more cinematic.” Now she glanced sideways, eyes bright and far too knowing for someone who claimed to be minding her business. “You’ve got that look. The ‘I came here to clear my head but accidentally found my feelings instead’ look.” A pause. A small, crooked smile. “Happens to the best of us.” A gull cried somewhere overhead. The waves smacked the pier like applause that didn’t quite mean it. She straightened, brushing salt from her palms. “So. Are we staring at the water in solidarity, or are you going to tell me why it’s staring back at you like that?”

"No nuts or peanuts, right?" he asked, a small confirmation of accepting a plate if it didn't include his allergies.

VALENSIA'S EYES IMMEDIATELY LIT UP at the question . ❝ psychic ?? ❞ she repeated , pointing at herself . ❝ no , no . if i was psychic , i'd know where my lighter is , ❞ she paused , then gestured vaguely toward him . ❝ honestly , it was the whole vibe . you have very strong ❛ i know where the nearest first aid kit is ❜ energy . also , i'm pretty sure i have seen you around the hospital when my grandmother was in there for an extended stay . . . ❞ sia explained , ❝ plus , you got that tired-look about you , like , ❞ she caught how that might have sounded judgemental despite her intentions . ❝ you know , the kind that could only come from good , honest , responsible , hard work . . . ❞ she continued to survey him , mostly thinking out loud at this point . at his next words , though , her amused grin softened . ❝ huh . ❞ for once , she didn't immediately fill the silence . ❝ that's actually kind of annoying , ❞ she admitted after a moment . ❝ because i was low-key hoping chaos had some sort of divine selection process . it would've made things feel way more personal , but i guess it is true what my little brother says to me , and ❛ the universe really doesn't give a shit about me ❜ . ❞ her gaze dropped briefly to everything scattered around her feet before she slowly started picking up the items and returning them all to her purse . ❝ sorry . that probably sounded weird , or too much , but . . . whatever . i just — ❞ valensia shrugged one shoulder . ❝ sometimes it feels like crazy stuff happens around me so often that eventually i start wondering if i'm the common denominator , y'know ?? is it me ?? am i the problem ?? ❞ the admission slipped out more easily , and honestly , than she intended . thankfully , she recovered quickly . ❝ anyway , if you happen to see anyone that's not me carrying around a bedazzled lighter , i'm completely expecting you to take them out , and steal it back for me . i'm holding you too this , too . ❞ she declared, and chuckled .

The coffee was bad. Sabine knew it before she even tasted it. The little diner on the edge of Main had never pretended otherwise. It stayed open late, it was quiet, and it didn’t ask questions. That was enough. She sat at the counter instead of a booth, coat folded neatly over the back of the stool, sleeves rolled just enough to show the edge of a silver ring she never removes. A case file lay open beside her plate, pages clipped, annotated, precise. No wasted ink. She didn’t look up when someone took the seat beside her. She registered them anyway. Weight shift. Breathing pattern. The faint smell of rain on fabric. “You’re either here because you need something,” she said calmly, turning a page, “or because you think I do.” Now she glanced over. Dark eyes. Assessing, not hostile. Just thorough. “If it’s the first one, start talking. If it’s the second, you’re about twelve hours late.” She closed the file with a soft tap. No smile. Not cold. Just steady. “Get on with it. Let’s not waste each other’s time.”

"Knock knock." Cassie's voice rang sweetly into the room, her knuckles tapping lightly against the door as she poked her head through. She smiled at the sight of her sister packing, and the expression only widened when Campbell looked up. The fairy's body buzzed with nervous excitement as she carefully approached. "Hi..." Cassie's attention drifted from her sister's smile down to their newest, and tiniest, family member. How was it possible that she could already see traces of her sister in such a small, wrinkled being? "Cam, she's beautiful." The words came out an awed whisper. Her posture softened as she hovered near her sister, looking back with soft admiration in her gaze. She scoffed lightly, a happy, gentle sound. "And you—" You're the happiest I've ever seen you. "—you're glowing, Campbell. You really are."

"You're welcome. I figure you deserve to hear it, after growing and expelling a whole person and all," Calypso told her. The young blonde shook her head quickly. "No," she said. "No thank you. I mean, it's not that I don't want to touch my niece, I just.. Babies make me nervous, a-and my hands are cold and she won't like that."

"You know, that's the one thing I don't love about spring and summer," Primrose said, digging her fork into one of the noodles on her plate. "You can't eat outside without wasps," she said, looking at two that kept circling her and her pasta salad as she sat there at the picnic bench. "The worst part is, I never know if it's real wasps, or really determined shapeshifters who're trying to get my goat."

"What? Aiden, oh my God, that's amazing," Sloane said, getting up and moving to wrap her brother in a hug. "That's all that needed to be done? Just have her speak to the ancestors? That seems a bit too easy. What's the catch?"

Jasper laughed as she stepped aside to let Nic in, shaking her head. “You know, one of these days I’ve got to realize she outranks me on your favorites list.” There wasn’t an ounce of jealousy in it, only affection. “Kitchen,” she nodded toward the back of the house. “She insisted on helping Nahla make cookies, which, in five-year-old, means there’s flour in places flour has never been before.” As if summoned by name, a tiny voice rang out from down the hall. “NIC!” A blur of strawberry-blonde curls and purple polka-dotted socked feet came barreling around the corner, flour dusting Sapphire’s cheeks like she’d lost a fight with a bag of sugar. Jasper smiled despite herself, folding her arms as she watched. “Hmm, I’m starting to think you outrank me on her favorites list too,” she teased, looking back at Nic. “You haven’t even gotten inside yet, and you’ve already been promoted to celebrity status.”

closed starter - zoya & blaise ( @immcrtalsx )