not today

“Mm,” Harley hummed, deciding to drop it for now. While he didn’t know how he felt about literally inhaling magically altered drugs, he also wasn’t in a place to judge without being hypocritical. A great deal of his magical studies were dark and dangerous – and, just as frequently, technically illegal. “Maybe try charging the water you use to hydrate them with mint or rosemary. Lavender would be good, too.” Tilting his head to the side, Harley mulled that over. “You could put moonstones in the water, too. That might be good.”

“hm... we’ve been using rosemary in the water, but the moonstones are a good idea. we’ll see how the first round of testing goes.” juno got out a large ledger from behind the counter. “it’s all very scientific, i promise.”

Leo wasn’t really making that much haste - she just needed to get out of there before she did something stupid. She knew she looked like the bad guy already - she’d towered over some old lady like she was about to shake her down for her lunch money. Not the best look, but the kid was really at the end of her tether - she was over all of it. 

juno was taken aback, pausing briefly before taking the two steps to catch up with her. “i am not mother-henning you, i’m just defending my friend,” she said, defensively.”

Lucky for her, she was right. Though wolves were known for being rough and aggressive, for the most part he had those emotions under control. At least most of them. Thanks to the Army. Alec chuckled, nodding. “I can if you want. But I must warn you, I’m a pretty decent player. I used to hustle humans when I was a teenager.” 

“oh did you now?” she asked, smirking and raising an eyebrow. “so let’s play with no stakes, just for fun.” when she and harley had first left their coven, they’d briefly turned to hustling to make ends meet. but, that proved to be disastrous when people found out they were cheating. “don’t feel the need to go easy on me, though.”

“Maybe. Flynn seems like he’s pretty determined to get to the bottom of this.” He also seemed like he was willing to do anything to do so. But that was unrelated. “Who knows, maybe the Council is the one killing all these people,” Xing smiled wryly, only slightly serious. 

“ah, yes. flynn’s one of the good ones.” but he was only one hunter, and juno knew he had a son. she didn’t want him too much on the front lines. “yikes,” she sucked her teeth. “i hate how that seems almost plausible now.”

“I should keep a diary to remember all of this bullshit. Dear diary, today somebody’s internal organs got ripped out…” He trailed off, a bitter smile set on his face. “I really was hoping that they weren’t. But we’re on our own for this, aren’t we?”

privately, she thought that would be a long diary. eternal, even. juno shrugged, her lips set in a grim line. “i mean... the whole guild isn’t run by the council. maybe they're really gonna try to help now.” she sounded uncertain.

Leo stiffens when she hears the clack of feet approaching, shoulders tightening at the touch to them. Despite Juno being her friend, she was not in the mood to play nice, or to have someone intervene to make her play nice. 

leo took off, leaving juno alone as the woman huffed away. juno muttered something venomous in her direction, before hurrying off to catch up with leo. she couldn’t walk as quickly in her heels, clicking on the concrete in a rapid staccato as she tried to reach her friend. luckily, her legs were far longer than leo’s. “hang on! leo? please, oh for―” she finally caught up, a little breathless, “what’s wrong? i mean, i know there’s a lot wrong right now, but what’s up with you?”

Alec eyed the woman with interest. Clearly, she wasn’t a wolf. She didn’t smell like one and he hadn’t seen her face around here yet. Not that he’d been here long enough to know everyone’s face, but he would have definitely remembered this woman’s face. He gave her a nod at her gratitude. “It’s only fair. You did venture out of your district to one full of supposed monsters. One could be standing just across the bar from you,” he said with a small smile. He chuckled and motioned towards the row of pool tables behind her. “I meant pool.”

she picked up the shot, tapped it against the bar, then threw it back. wincing, she gave him a tight smile. “ahh, i know you aren’t monsters. one individual doesn’t represent the lot of you.” well, maybe two. this last killing was different than even the other werewolf murder. “pool, huh?” she spun on her bar stool to look at the room, then held up her heavily ornamented hands and black lacquered nails. “sure! that sounds fun. are you going to play me?” if he was a werewolf, and she had a feeling he was, he only proved her belief that werewolves were not bad people.

Pyxis scrunched his nose and tsked, shoving at Juno’s shoulder. “Something about you witches and acting like shits.” He huffed, checking back to make sure the hunters were busy before starting to walk off.

“friendly reminder i’ve only ever been nice to you,” she called after him, irritably, turning to leave the other way.

Leo was over it. So over it. This whole constant murder thing wasn’t good for her blood pressure - for anyone’s blood pressure, really. With the latest killing she was more on edge than usual, anxiety-smoking her way through a trio of cigarettes as she sits perched at one of the outdoor cafe tables - she’d needed a coffee but hadn’t fancied sitting inside, feeling far too claustrophobic with all those eyes on her. 

juno heard a familiar voice from the counter. still waiting for her drink to arrive, she turned spotting her friend laying into a frightened old lady. Juno’s sharp heels clicked on the floor as she power walked over and put a hand on Leo’s shoulders. “Is this woman harassing you, leo?” juno asked, her voice silky but her hard gaze unfriendly.

Xing forced out a weak laugh, looking awkwardly at the ground. “Could’ve been worse, maybe.” He sighed, offering a small smile to Juno. “I’m just peachy. Love it when everyone starts getting murdered again.”

juno sighed. “yeah... never a dull moment in this town, huh?” she shook her head unhappily. “i knew the council was lying.”

She seemed as tense as he did, so Xavier removed his hand quickly after she stood, giving a curt nod. “Good,” he replied, a bit awkwardly, stepping back so he could step around her. 

she paused, glancing down at her foot. “fine enough,” she said. “i’ll take care of it when i get home. thank you, though.” juno looked at him properly this time. he seemed stressed, almost palpably slow. “are you okay?”

“Keep talking like that and the hunters will have the dead body of a stick ass witch to investigate.”

juno pursed her lips. “wow. alright, sue me then,” she shrugged, taking a step back. “have fun with the stakes.”

“Sober? That old asshole?” Harley asked, actually laughing out loud this time. “I can’t even count on my hands how many times I’ve seen him stumbling drunk around Grayspire.”

“i meant with weed,” she clarified. privately, she thought mateo could probably use a change in vice. “xixi already tried it. so far, all it’s done is feel great and allow her to see magic as color. we’ll be fine!” she assured him. “we didn’t put any sort of destructive magic in it.”