mutiny

Ariana sipped her Moscow Mule with interest, watching the scene with Jude dissolve from something entertaining to explosive– all within the span of a few minutes. She winced as the other woman’s voice rose, and Jude’s shouting prompted her to finally stand and make her way over. She knew better than to touch the hunter, one didn’t put their hand on a molotov and not expect it to be blown clean off, but she leaned against the counter instead, flashing a smile at the bartender. He lingered, waiting for her to place an order as Jude fumed beside her. “What can I get you?”

Ariana lifted her shoulder, pressing the company credit card she’d set up onto the counter with a click, “Jack and coke– on my tab.”

Jude eyed the other woman sideways, without fully turning her face- her features had stilled into an expression of wariness as Ariana placed the order through a sweet smile. The bartender hesitated for a second- his gaze sliding back and forth between the two of them, clearly resenting this loophole- then obliged. Jude crossed her arms. Next to each other, the two blondes seemed like a comical Before & After: one polished, not a single, platinum hair out of place, the other looking like she’d just crawled out of a dumpster and maybe stuck a fork in a power socket, in order to get her hair to do... that. The bartender pushed the drink towards Ariana; Jude reached over to intercept it, staring him down one last time. “Thanks,” she mumbled to her coworker afterwards, somewhat grudgingly. “But if you think I owe you now, I don’t. I could’ve sweet-talked a free drink out of him eventually.”

Rudi looked up from the table helplessly, making eye contact with the amused witness to his stupidity. The coffee he’d knocked over was soaking up quite quickly into the paperwork he’d been tasked with photocopying, the letters beginning to blur and wash out. “Fuck,” he cursed, under his breath.

"Uh-oh, clean up on aisle seven,” Jude announced unhelpfully, and rather loudly, which earned her a scowl from both the ancient librarian and and several, startled readers from around the room. She didn’t seem to notice, though, strolling towards the designated print & copy area with a spreading grin and her usual loping gait. The cause of the disaster-in-progress was Rudi, of course. “I hope those weren’t the originals.” She lifted one soggy corner in a half-assed attempt to pull it away from the puddle, and dropped it.  “Anyway. Forget all this, I was sent to get you. An errand to fetch the errand boy.”

George had his beer halfway up to his mouth when Jude’s head materialized at his shoulder, it would have spooked him if he wasn’t already so accustomed to bumps and hitches in the atmosphere. He took a sip and leaned slightly away from the opening Jude was making for herself. Amusement flooded his features that usually looked more sullen than not — she had a point. He pointed his chin towards the bartender as he took a sip from his beer, wondering what he would do once he finished pouring the glass next to him. George had a habit of rolling with the punches, slipping into whatever the situation made itself of before him. He swallowed his sip and before he had a second thought of regret, he brought the concaved end of his bottle up to the now full glass next to him and slid it towards Jude. He wasn’t sure what was in the glass, but it was better than nothing. “Finder’s keepers,” he muttered softly, maybe she couldn’t even hear it with the bar’s crowd. He didn’t pay much mind to it and brought his gaze back down towards his bottle.

An extra crease had formed in the bartender’s brow, right beneath his widow’s peak. Now he looked pissed, but Jude simply shrugged and picked up the glass, dropping heavily onto the stool besides George with a toothy grin. “Charge him, not me.” The drink had a promising amber tint; she swirled it around, took a large gulp, and grimaced after the first swallow. “God damn, is this a whiskey sour or a Shirley Temple?” Her neck craned in the direction of the bartender, who’d already put as much distance between himself and his least favorite patron as the bar would allow. “You didn’t have to drown it in simple syrup, man!” But he was back to ignoring her, so Jude turned her full attention to George instead. Frizzy blonde fell across her eyes as she squinted at him. “Whatcha thinkin’ about so hard, Inspector Gadget?”

CHARACTER MIXTAPE

( mackenzie davis, she/her & cisfemale ) oh cool — it’s THE VAGRANT. you know that TWENTY-SEVEN year old who works as an HUNTER for hauntings inc. rumor has it that JUDITH "JUDE" MCLAREN might act HUMOROUS and OPINIONATED but they can actually be IMPULSIVE and AGGRESSIVE. i wonder what they are doing all the way out here? ( sloth, 24 & she/her )

JUDE MCLAREN // GIF MOODBOARD