ISOBEL.

It was almost a loaded question when you asked Theo what her favorite book was, especially when it came to Austen. But the answer was always the same, and she praised herself for being as consistent as she was. “Pride and Prejudice,” she teased, looking back up to Isobel. “I’m pretty sure that’s everone’s favorite Austin when you self-identify as a romantic, but sometimes it reminds me of Lysander. I was Elizabeth Bennet when we first met, and he was always a smitten Darcy. Obviously it worked out in the end.” She sighed, hoping that these words would continue to be true for them. Theo thought for a moment as Isobel’s offer, knowing it would suit her to be able to defend herself. She’d resented this life for so long, ut maybe it as time to start embracing what she was. Blushing at the nickname Isi had given her, the brunette grinned, her body realxing fully. “How was your day? Did you gt to kick any ass?”

It had taken a while for the two to get where they were now, but it was a relationship that Jareth valued with everything that he had. Isi had noticed that he was lonely and sad, and she’d helped ease him of that by keeping him company and showing him compassion that he denied from everyone else. “I take comfort knowing that you aren’t hurt,” he muttered in response, looking to her from the corner of his eyes his hands finding their way into his pockets as they walked. “I don’t think people actually notice when I partrol. And if they do, they don’t say anything.” He paused, realizing what he’d said. “Nor do I want them to, really. I want them to feel safe without them feeling like they need to ackowledge that I do it. I’m not doing it for my own satisfaction, I’m doing it so they can sleep soundly at night without worry.”

“Oh please.” He scoffed, crossing his arms and pacing around the office, “You aren’t going to have to put anyone on the mantle. I’ve never gotten in that bad. Never. I always pay the dangerous ones, I pay the casinos. My debts are to landlords and electric company.” He sighed, looking out the window, “I didn’t know that you knew who ran what. How do you know who runs what? I didn’t take you for the gambling type.” He finally looked to her again, now that the shame she laid on had eased a little, “Come on. I have gotten better over the years. I’m getting out of it. I am. I took on some humans at the firm so I can pay what I need to back. I’m getting out.”

Cain had asked to set up another meet under the pretense of wanting another job when in reality, his most recent job had lead to the very disappointing discovery of a vampire claiming to be one of Isi’s connections. The whole thing had left a foul taste in his mouth, everything in him twitching with desire to snap the vampire’s neck. But they had been on American soil and Cain wasn’t about to start a war, putting his entire pack at risk. His disaste - to say it mildly - for vampire’s was no secret. He could only assume Isi had hidden this particular detail from him on purpose. And he was pissed.

The lycan had been at the diner early, ordering a meal while he was here and starving. Idly, Cain played with his switchblade, regarding her wordlessly as she sat down. His eyes were fixed on here with an intense stare, something many found intimidating. “Very,” Cain answered her curtly with a half grin pulling at his lips at the memories. “Making friends with vampires?” Cain casually threw back the question. An impatient streak didn’t let him wait for her answer, however, instead he leans forward onto his arms, the knife lazily pointed in her direction now. “Can you explain to me, what the fuck one of them was doing at my last job, hm?”

Isobel hadn’t been expecting him to run into any vampires on the last assignment she had coordinated for him, let alone one that knew her. Still, it didn’t affect her composure: Isobel hadn’t survived as long as she had without planning contingencies in case things like this happened to occur. Her eyes drifted, almost lazily, down to look at the switchblade before meeting Cain’s gaze once again. “Friends seems too strong of a word,” she intones, her cadence still totally casual as she leans forward onto her forearms. The movement doesn’t appear outwardly wary - more of a display of her lack of fear than anything else.

He chewed on his lower lip, nodding at her words. He had started rehab for this about 50 years ago but didn’t continue it. It just seemed repetitive to him. They never helped. Maybe it would have helped if he had been committed to stopping. He hadn’t been at the time. He doubted he was now, “The only ones that are really an issue are the vampires. They remember this shit. I never know they are running these places until it’s already happened. If it’s a human joint, Then I’m able to have fun and not worry about it.That and you aren’t always getting me out of this, I get myself out of some of my problems. And I always pay you back. You just give me more time than my landlord at the firm does.” Excuse after Excuse.

With a skeptical eye staying on her face, the male reached forward and took her arms, inspecting the bruise-free skin for himself before he allowed her to take the limbs back. Should someone do the same for him, they wouldn’t be able to give an inspection without some red flags. Jareth was always covered in bruises for a multitude of reasons, most of which he couldn’t explain himself. He was just glad nobody chose to point it out. “I would really lve it if your business transactions had you coming back here looking a little less…” he motioned to her entire body with his hand, his eyes staying on her face. “…that.” He sighed as he said this, eyes flashing to the building before he nodded. “Yeah, I suppose we can go inside. Sun’s coming up anyway, so there’s no need for me to be outside anymore.”

There were two people that made Theo as comfortable as she was now, and Isobel was one of them. She melted against her side without a second thought, legs tucking up and under her as she contemplated her question. It was so easy for her to get caught up in the fantastical world of books, that she often forgot there were people that genuinely cared about her. Isobel had adopted her into her life long enough ago that it felt like she’d know her for centuries, and that’s what Theo loved about her. “I’ve been reading a lot of Jane Austen,” she confessed, her lips in a soft smirk. Theo sighed happily at Isi’s answer, glad that she hadn’t gotten herself into any trouble. “Part of me wants to start sparring, and the other part is entirely too lazy to try. But I’m glad I was your first stop after all of that. It makes me feel special.”

Despite the fact that Isobel’s ability to appear like she relied upon someone was unparalleled, the lycan could count the amount of people she trusted completely on one hand. She could put on airs better than anyone, but that had never changed the fact that no matter what she appeared to be revealing, she played anything of importance close to the vest. Most of her business dealings fell under that purview - if Isobel felt that someone didn’t need to know, then they didn’t get to know. 

“Let’s not do that, please,” she gently begged the other, not really wanting a scene tonight. She raised her hand for the bartender to get her a drink with a snap of her fingers, which they knew as a signal that she wanted a gin and tonic. As she waited for her drink to appear, she listened to what her friend said, comforted at her now being closer. She leaned on the other’s shoulder with her head. The two women were surprisingly affectionate with each other. “That’s a good word for it. I just hope everyone’s ready… just in case. I’ve been sparring with Jareth,” she informed Isobel with a grin. “He’s strong.”

“You don’t have to participate, Cora.” Isobel gives the younger lycan a look - it’s not unkind, but it also makes it clear that Isi means what she says. The elder lycan doesn’t have that many principles, but one of the few she does hold is that her word is bond. The man in question would know exactly what he was getting into if he laid a hand on one of the dancers - it was one of the first rules you had to promise to abide to if you wanted to step foot in Venus. Despite the threats she’d just made, Isobel is remarkably soft as she wraps an arm around Cora’s waist, allowing herself to be used as an anchor. “Yes, he is.” Isobel smiles again, making it clear she’s fond of the other lycan in a maternal sort of way. “They’re all strong. I just hope it’s enough for whatever’s coming.”

Early to rise, late to fall; the motto Jareth had stood by for hundreds of years still rang true, despite there being no immediate need for it. These days it felt like he never went to bed to begin with, and that got him wondering whether sleep was actually necessary for lycans. He’d never tried to test this theory before, constantly following the same patterns he had for well over two-hundred years. Jareth tapped his thumb against his book, his lips pursed as he pretended to concentrate, but was too distracted by his thoughts and the sound of the nearby peepers getting quieter and quieter. The sound of footsteps approaching made his brown eyes dart up, just in time to see a wrecked-looking Isi apparoach. “Woah!” he scrambled to his fet, abandoning his book on the ground as he reached for her arm. “What the hell happened to you?!”

Theo knew that Isobel would never judge her, especially when it came to her relationship with Lysander. But she certainly didn’t blame her for her skepticism; the rift between the two species was so old, that she knew even humans may have known about it. Of course, to humans they were still mythical creatures, something that you only read about in works of fiction and watched in movies or on television. With this thought, she moved closer to her mother figure, crawling up and onto the bed and practically curling against Isi’s side. “My day was boring,” she said softly, nuzzling her head until it was resting against her friend’s shoulder. “Lots of reading.”

He snorted, crossing his arms but not really having a comeback. She was entirely right and he was at her mercy. He would rather owe her than the others he owed. She was less likely to beat him to death. Maybe she would beat him but it wouldn’t be to death. He was also more willing to work and pay her back faster than he was others. Especially since her finances were the packs finances. More than once he had taken up PI jobs on the side to speed things along,“Not too much this time. About a hundred.” He said with a shrug and a short pause before muttering,“Thousand, but I was cheated. The other guy had it rigged and Im working on convincing the owner of that.” He tried to sound reassuring but the amount he was asking for was more than some people’s yearly salary. He was good for it, eventually.

◜.•° .•° .•°◞  ━━━━━━ || 24-HOUR DINERS ARE the bane of his existence. too bright, too open. any drunk nobody can stroll in and belittle the staff and siwoo can’t do anything about it without exposing himself as what he truly is. the permanent anger he feels is something he can’t quite control yet – not even when he tries. he hates the new world and the people living in it, for a reason as invalid as it is valid. they have grown with this, gradually introduced to the change. that’s far from siwoo’s own experience.

◜.•° .•° .•°◞  ━━━━━━ || EVEN WITH HIS hatred of them, the diners are the safest places to be. being so open, no supernatural being would risk being berated by their superiors. this one location in particular is less busy, on the outskirts of town. siwoo sits in a booth with a laptop in front of him, tab open in a chatroom. it’s silly of him to think that he could come across the people he’d been stuck with for fifty years, but he knows that more must have escaped or been let go, and he needs to talk about his suffering with somebody before he cracks. those he knows now aren’t an option. he’s too embarrassed. thinks that this could lead to being treated differently (be that positive or negative). and he needs someone who understands wholly what the past few decades have been like.

◜.•° .•° .•°◞  ━━━━━━ || WHAT HE DOESN’T need is the crippling anxiety that comes later, after answering a call. too urgent to remain inside the establishment but not enough to gather his things and leave. he hadn’t realised that somebody else entered in the time it took him to get rid of the person on the other line. the newbie doesn’t appear to be interested in his laptop screen, but they’re standing too close for his liking and once he has his mind made up about something, it’s quite hard to change it. “hey! what’re you doing over there?”

ISOBEL HATES HABITS   ━ rather, she hates when they occur within herself. habits make your behavior more predictable and your sovereignty easier to manipulate, which is great when she’s looking for a button to push in someone else, but significantly less so when someone uses her own against her. still, one habit she does keep is doing business where there are witnesses present. diners are a good place for that - public enough that her contacts won’t be idiotic enough to try anything, but seedy enough that everyone within them knows better than to pay real attention to other customers. she’s just closed a deal now under the harsh glow of the fluorescent lights, having waited for the other party to be well on their way before she makes her own exit. 

pastel: would you describe yourself as more punk or pastel?

“Punk.”

oil paints: what would you title the autobiography of your life so far?

storms: you on only listen to one song for the rest of your life, or only see one person for the rest of your life. which and why?

Of all the people to be nervous about the summit, Theo certainly was one of them. Life had just fallen back into place for her, between rekindling her romance with Lysander and finally feeling comfortable in her status as a lycan, she didn’t want to risk losing it all if everything fell apart. Since the announcement, she had spent as much time with her former fiance as possible, feeling at home and allowing all of her thoughts to melt away without a second thought. But even if she wanted to, she couldn’t be with him all the time, so when she entered her apartment and felt something was off, she paused in a nervous state. Theo didn’t feel anything malicious, but rather familiar. With her eyebrows raised, she moved to her bedroom door and pushed it open, smiling warmly at the sight of Isi. “I was with Ly,” she responded softly, moving towards the woman who had practically adopted her and helped her through the transition of this new life. “So, yes and no, I suppose. Though I’m sad I didn’t get here to see you sooner.”