* VILLAIN !

“How unfortunate,” she said with a pout before shaking her head. She pretended to think about it for a moment before shrugging. “Nah. Just wanted to see if you were still here, making people’s lives miserable.”

♊ ― “Gotta uphold the status quo. What about you, Bonnie?  Imprison anyone lately?” 

“Only the best of the best. Lots of champagne obviously,” she stated, taking off her sunglasses, staring off at the water and all the teenagers enjoying themselves. “I don’t believe that. You always want something Kai, even if it’s just to torture everyone else,” Bonnie stated, finally glancing over at him. For so long the very appearance of Kai was enough to get her blood boiling and every fear flashing through her mind. Not any more though. 

♊ ― He weighs her answer in his mind. “I could go for a mimosa.” The exchange was lax, but it always started out that way, didn’t it?  “You’ve got me. I’m here for Lizzie.” He let himself loudly sip at his dwindling drink for a moment before feigning realization. “For her, like in support. She’s having a rough time with the whole Heretic thing.” 

“Well, we don’t really celebrate psychos coming back around. We celebrate when we defeat them,” she stated, not even giving Kai the satisfaction of looking over at him. Instead, she settled down on a fallen log, stretching her legs out in front of her. “What do you want, Kai?”

♊ ― “What did you serve at mine?  Or was it too redundant by that point to throw another?” The exchange seemed tame enoug, and the heretic leaned against the trunk to his left. “From you?  Nothing. Just saying hi. “ He took another sip. “Hi.” 

“I can’t believe everyone threw this party just for me,” Bonnie stated sarcastically, taking off her sunglasses. “Well, I guess since I sort of surprised people with my arrival, I’ll live with the party not being all about me,” she added with a smile. “I suppose I’ll deal with enjoying the party and drinks.”

♊ ― “See, here I thought it was all for me.” He’s sipping on whatever concoction he had devised with the materials provided. It smelled like drain cleaner and tasted like candy. “Always the fan favorite, Bonbon.”

@lastgemini​  spotting someone she knew that was near enough her age, elena walked to kai and held the shot out. “i would feel morally wrong handing this to someone underage. take a jell-o shot with me?” the doppelganger asked, a brow lifted as she held the small plastic out to the heretic. 

♊ ― “what, can handle a little isolated fun?” he popped the cup out of her hand and slid its contents into his mouth. “mm, not bad. but i make ‘em better.” 

“She’s not dead, she’s just different now. And I’ll be there to help her and Josie with whatever they need.” Joey replied. “Maybe, but you know the most about bending the rules.” He thought over all that the coven had done up til this point. “I’ve learned from my mistakes, I won’t make the same ones again.” 

♊ ― “Annnnd...?” He doesn’t wait for his brother to guess. “Ineligible for the merge. She might not have realized it yet, but she’s dodged a bullet. She should be celebrating.” It wasn’t that Kai cared, not really. If anything it limited him in leverage. Without the impending doom of merging with their twin, the two girls were less likely to see him as a useful resource. A ticket out. They’d stumbled into one of their own, hadn’t they? “Oh, you mean the one where you act like my awakening had anything to do with what you did or didn’t do?  Good. It’ll save those twins the mess of feelings toward you.” 

Damon rolled his eyes. “You always think you have something clever to say don’t you, Kai?”

♊ ― “Yes, because I do. You seem troubled ― wha’s wrong, D-Man?”

Leena bit the inside of her cheek. “I want to talk.”

♊ ― “Here I am,” he offered himself up. His head rocked gently from side to side, gaze chilling over. Kai wasn’t a fan of the weird energy. “Let’s talk.”

“Oh I think you’ve been proven guilty of a lot.”

♊ ― “But recently..?  I don’t think so. That I’ve noticed, anyway.”  

“When I was under the effects of all that dark magic, I did things I don’t really remember. I’ve been seeing bits and pieces of some memory that I think happened then. I need to bring that memory out.”

♊ ― “And you want my help.” He paused, sizing her up. “How do you know I won’t try to put my own spin them?” It wasn’t a terrible plan, theoretically, he merely didn’t have anything up his sleeve ― no motive to fulfill. “What do you think you did, Josie?”

“It’s always a game with you.” Joey replied, shaking his head. “Whatever it is, I will protect them.” He wasn’t going to let Kai rob them of the life that he and his siblings had been robbed of. They deserved better, and more than any of them ever got.

♊ ― “Then I’d get to work on cockblocking this suspected Gemini Coven 2.0. Lizzie may be dead, but her and her sister are far from free. You know I didn’t invent the Gemini Games ― the first thing any one of them will do is bend the rules.”

“An agreement? Really?” Joey wasn’t sure that he believed that. “What kind of agreement?” The twins were smart. If they did surely their had to be a reason that was more beneficial to them than to him. 

♊ ― The siphon smirked. “Wouldn’t you like to know. I’m sorry, bro, but I’m just going to give in that easy. If you want to know why I haven’t killed them, why don’t you ask them yourself?” A goose chase, really, but that was its intent.  

“i’m sure you’ve heard the news by now.” she started, leaning against the nearest surface. “how do i deal with it? everyone else can give me advice all day long but the fact of the matter is you’re the only other living heretic.” 

♊ ― “isn’t it obvious..?” he began. “you feed. a lot. you feed until you can manage the addictions. both of them.” the blood, sure, but there was the magic too. “it’s wild, isn’t it?  the constant flow. like a pleasant buzzing in your skull.” 

“I did advocate for you. I wanted to help you!” Joey told him. “I don’t think you can blame me for that changing after you stabbed me multiple times and then drowned me in our pool!” If looks could kill. He was staring him down, not giving him any semblance of fear on his face. “That much closer? Like you are the one thing protecting them? That is hilarious. Unless you are truly that deranged.” 

♊ ― “Yes, yes, I remember. I was there.” Though he did make note of the glare he was getting from his lil bro. “You really are all grown up, aren’t you. Hm.” Not a question, nor did he give Joey an opening to comment. “Me and the munchkins have an agreement. Right now they are worth more to me alive. You, on the other hand?  Far less promising.” 

Josie rolled her eyes. “The warm fuzzy feeling of helping someone?”

♊ ― “You can’t trick me. That isn’t a real thing.” He winked. “Okay, what do you want?”   

“oh no, you don’t? that just breaks my heart.” the laughter that poured from her lips was genuine, and any and all stress from the moments before has slipped free from her muscles. after the trip to her bedroom to fix the glaring error, she’d returned to the bathroom, striping before joining him in the shower, a smile plain on her lips. while things could have turned out more like they had on the couch, instead the bennett craved something else, reaching up to help him wash his hair, clean himself off, it was more intimate and gentle then she’d ever imagined possible, and for the first time in longer than the bennett witch could recall, her smile never left her lips. “do you believe me now?” 

♊ ― “you have one of those?” and to shortly follow, a genuine laugh. “i guess i always suspected it, i just didn’t think it could be proven.” kai took that moment right after teasing her to press his lips to hers. they lingered there for a moment, a instinctive pause to savor the moment. it felt different, somehow, from the ones before. it made him want to rest his palms on her as opposed to touching her. he wanted to hold her. something to anchor him as her fingers lathered the shampoo against his scalp. when his eyes opened, all he saw was her smile, all he felt was her warmth. “i think so, yeah,” he whispered.