john doe

"Not at all. Go for it," as she barely acknowledged the dashing fellow beside her. She didn’t intend to be rude, so her lips barely met a smile as she scanned his form to see if he were a threat. Turning back to her thoughts, she circled her fingers around the untouched cup, almost as though she were uncertain if she should. It had been weeks upon weeks since she’s heard from Zane and after that trip to the hospital, her gravest of fears were confirmed. 

He sat silently and still as Brielle went back to ignoring his existence, he didn't think he had done anything to her, but her disinterest in the world around her struck him as a coping mechanism. Besides, wasn't Lance in the bar to drink, and not to engage in conversation with beautiful strangers? Catching the eye of one of the many bartenders, Lance ordered himself a beer, and was in the process of bringing the amber liquid up to his pale lips when Brielle's coughing fit began. He dropped his arm and let the glass settle back onto the wooden bar top, waiting for the young woman beside him to catch her breath, a smile tucked away as Lance pretended to be fascinated with something on the TV.

The coyote tilted her head, gently nuzzling against Lance’s leg. She knew he was good- Hell, she didn’t care that she was supposed to hate witches for the curse placed on her family. She’d been hurt by more shapeshifters than she’d ever been hurt by witches. Sometimes, she wondered if she’d have made a better familiar than a shapeshifter, not that it mattered. Sitting down at his feet again, very human brown eyes looked at him curiously. Could she help?

He glanced down at her, his hand reached out to lightly stroke the top of her head, feeling the warmth in her fur, and the energy that he could feel surrounding every living thing. "I think there's a pretty good chance a spirit might be powerful enough to possess someone," when he said that thought aloud, his mind refocused on the task at hand, and he started picking at the foliage, again. "If you think your thoughts, I can hear them," he looked back at the coyote with human eyes.

The Coyote sniffed indignantly as if to scold him for calling her cute. She wasn’t cute. She was a strong Coyote…who just so happen to be extremely playful at the moment.  Crouching down on her hunches she bolted to and fro in front of him, chasing after crickets in the grass as they got deeper into the forest. Sometimes she just enjoyed losing herself in the mind of the creatures. It was a relief, and Lance’s warm presence made it all the easier.

His attention was diverted between the comical animal and searching for the plants he needed. When he spotted the familiar hue of a flower, he stopped and knelt in the brush to pick off a few petals, rolling it between his fingers for a moment. Now that Hunter was in coyote form, Lance found it easier to voice his thoughts out loud, he didn't mind letting the things on his mind out into the open. "My spells aren't as strong as they used to be. I keep trying to keep the bad things out, but there are too many," as he talked, his fingers picked away weeds for leaves and buds, being meticulous. 

God damnit, I’m fucking thirsty. I guess that’s what happens when you drink vodka all night. 

More of a beer guy, myself. I thought it was still too early for you to be up?

In response, Hunter peeled off the top layer of her clothes, tossing her shirt at him, “Hold that, please,” she smirked even as she was shrinking down to her Coyote. She got a bit tangled in her jeans, but managed to twist out of them, picking them up in her jaws and sitting at Lance’s feet, looking up at him expectantly.

He laughed as he caught onto Hunter's shirt and watched as she changed from girl to coyote, instantly amused by the smaller creature. "Cute," he told her with a playful wink. He bent down to pick up the rest of her clothes, folding them together and reaching around to shove them into his backpack. "I'll try to keep up with you," he grinned down at coyote Hunter, making his way through the tall grass. He needed different plants that could be found deep within the forest and the trek was long, but with company, it would fly by.

Hunter burst into laughter, “I shouldn’t be so amused by their trouble, but damn, they were going too fast.” She smiled at Lance, running her fingers through her hair and snorting, “When do I ever stay out of trouble?"

"They'll drive more carefully now. Hey, I was just getting ready to go on a scavenger hunt, why don't you tag along and cause trouble in your other form?" He needed to find supplies to perform a difficult spell, that if successful, would prevent a particular spirit from causing the trouble Lance knew it was capable of. 

"No, some people would rather use their magic for bad rather than good which is a shame really." It was true that at times Rosie had used her magic for bad when someone had really gotten on the wrong side of her but she’d much rather not, she tried her best not to anyway. "You haven’t? Well we don’t always show ourselves to people unless we want them to see us" Rosie smiled "when you say a whole other world do you mean my world?"

He let out a a bitter sound of agreement, recently it was easier to find those who practiced dark magic, than those who were avid practicers of white magic. Not that Lance believed anything was simply black and white, his own hand casting a dark spell now, and then. "It's good protection, hiding yourself. I guess I imagine things look differently to you...brighter, or something."

"Oh, you witches are so territorial. There’s enough room for both of us here, sweetie.” Her eyes traveled up and down the length of his body for a moment, feeling all of the power radiating from each limb. A powerful witch, this would be fun.

"Not really," he replied cooly, eyes immediately returning the smaller woman's assessment. She might appear to be a human of average height, but Lance wouldn't be fooled by her outer appearance, he knew something sinister was enclosed. "I put spells around Deering, how the hell did you get past them?"

Damn it. Well, I suppose that’d work. 

He laughed before giving a simple shrug, the car that had nearly hit Hunter was now slamming on the brakes as their left, front tire burst. "That should keep them busy for awhile."

A soft exhale and an attempt at a smile. “It’s a misconception, really. We don’t…need sex to feed. As long as they is desire, even something as simple as a kiss or even them being in the same room will suffice,” she explained. “But, of course. A snack doesn’t compare a full meal. It’s nice meeting you, Lance.” Brielle paused to watch him look at her, as a large question mark perched over her head. She was still full from before, so her abilities shouldn’t be acting out on her own. Yet, from the way he was looking at her, she couldn’t be entirely sure. “Is everything alright?”

He stored away the information she told him, absorbing it like a sponge to accompany the many tidbits of knowledge he'd collected over his years. If what she was saying hadn't been enough to pique his interest, the spectacle of colors floating around her were fascinating enough to draw out the scholar. The change of tone in Brielle's voice brought him back from his thoughts and he closed the witch's eye, shutting off the ability to see a being's ambience. "Sorry, I was just looking at your aura, trying to figure out how you, well, work." Lance couldn't be sure if he was supposed to be drawn towards her at all times, but with the spells he'd cast to protect himself from supernatural allure, he doubted that the reason he found her so attractive was simply because she was a succubus. "I can't stop you from needing desire to feed, though, Brielle. Altering supernatural beings...that kind of power can be dangerous." he gave her an apologetic smile, he couldn't relate to what her life must be like, but he did understand what it was like to want to change something about yourself. 

"Good grief, this town needs to liven up." Sia lets out a sigh and forces a telephone pole to crash onto a moving car, watching the destruction for a moment before moving on. "Still bored."

"Maybe I can suggest a better destination? Like hell." Lance glared at the woman who he now knew was a demon, her aura blacker than any human he'd ever witnessed, and spirits didn't possess auras. 

"We all have magic inside of us, well I believe we do anyway. I’m a faerie so I definitely have magic within me" she gave a light giggle. "It’s okay, I don’t mind hearing about it if you want to talk about it" she smiled, she really didn’t mind. Rosie quite liked to listen to people talk about things they were into, she found it interesting. "Yeah, I’m fine. Thank you for helping me up, that was very kind of you"

"We just can't all use it, right?" He'd grown up listening to his mother recite a similar saying to him and his brother. Lance had always enjoyed the way she viewed magic as a gift, something to be cherished, he felt like this young girl could share that outlook, and it was refreshing compared to the greed that tended to taint the practice of witchcraft. "I've never met a faerie before, I'd rather talk about the fact that there's this whole other world I'll never get to see."

I knew I was asking for too much…but if you could - try anyway. I’d be really grateful. I’m sorry. I don’t think I’ve caught your name. I’m Brielle. You are? 

"I'm not sure if I can stop you from doing that thing you do...when you have sex or--I'll just try something, okay? Brielle, I'm Lance." He went silent for a moment as he observed her aura with his witch's eye, it was different than all of the others he'd witnessed, the edges touched with brilliant colors, and he wondered if that was the energy she'd absorbed from others. "Oh," he breathed, mesmerized by the display for a moment.

Raime stepped out of the shadows of the trees where she had been watching Lance mutter something in a language that sounded foreign to her ears. She gave him one of her rare, genuine smiles as she came to stand beside him, noticing the beautiful hues of the stones in his hand. “Sorry to interrupt the mojojo,” She settled on a stump nearby, getting sucked back into her thoughts, and waiting for Lance to force them out of her as he usually did.

When he saw the familiar face of Raime Marseilles, Lance relaxed visibly, he had gotten used to having the girl around in one form or another. Ever since Lance had discovered the truth behind Raime's parentage, she had started to make random appearances at the places he frequented, and she'd sit on that very stump, with an expression that meant she needed to talk, but didn't know how. "You're not really sorry, but it's okay," he tossed the stones into a velvet pouch before turning to face her. "What's on your mind today, panther?"

"Oh, I’m fine. Thank you" Rosie smiled taking his hand as she stood to her feet. "It’s okay, I wasn’t really watching where I was going either so it’s not entirely your fault. Plus I’m small, it’s easy to knock me down" Rosie chuckled. "You a witch?" She asked with curiosity, noticing the grimoire in his hand.

He glanced down at the grimoire she had noticed and he gave a nervous laugh. Being a witch was something he couldn't avoid, but he was hesitant to own up to the fact. "Yeah, but this isn't for witchy business, it's for a thesis statement." Lance could have gone on and on about the practice of magic in western civilization in comparison to others, but he managed to stop himself. "And you probably don't want to hear about that. You sure you're okay?"