All I've Ever Known

Oscar was not the kind of person who moved without a plan. He was a poor strategist in any situation that didn’t directly benefit himself, of course, but he usually went into most discussions with a few ways it could shake down. He was self-centered and egotistical, not stupid, and even he was aware that being on Elysian territory just because he could was a dangerous gamble. So when Phoebe so plainly said what she did, he couldn’t help but sigh, stopping his movement around the room as he inspected every object he could find.

“Of course I haven’t,” Oscar scoffed. “Why change perfection? Now, can we get past all that unsavory business that happened so terribly long ago and listen to my brilliant idea? We all got out fine and there wasn’t any lasting harm to yours truly or yourself so, really, it’s not that bad.”

Phoebe knew exactly what he was like. This was her territory, but the mere fact he was here meant he had some kind of plan. The one thing they shared was self-preservation, even if they had completely different ways of going about it. He wasn’t stupid enough to just waltz over here and start talking. So her eyes never left him, watching and waiting. After the last time, she didn’t have an ounce of trust for the man.

Her only response to his comments about perfection and forgetting the past was a roll of her eyes. Clearly they had different definitions of harm. “What idea?”

It wasn’t necessarily unexpected to have caught attention. Especially by someone from before, who recognized how the past and present tied so closely together. Phoebe found their eyes, pierced her gaze through them, and for a singular moment, time froze.

They think of Jason. They think of Rafael.

The moment broke as they tilted their head, swiped a tongue over their bottom lip. A challenge for a challenge, though they are the one at a disadvantage. But they take a step back, gaze remaining on Phoebe, as the crowd surrounds them. 

They have their own mission to accomplish. They’ll see how far they can get, not a minute more, not a minute less.

Phoebe’s eyes stayed locked on Tristin. If it were not so soon after the ball, she might’ve simply told security to be sure they got nowhere near the back room. To keep them strictly in the public spaces of the club and keep an eye on them herself. But tonight she wasn’t willing to let any Olympian linger for too long. Especially when the way they froze when the pair’s eyes met. As if pulling up the past. 

The moment broke with a silent challenge being returned. As Tristin stepped back into the crowd, Phoebe resisted the urge to sigh and stepped after them. Whatever reason had brought him here tonight, however innocent or not, it ended now. 

“Tristin.” Her voice carried despite being quiet, her eyes not leaving the other’s. “What do you want?”

He’d been lingering around Asphodel for weeks before the ball, always heading in the opposite direction of Samael and Phoebe after catching glimpses of them here and there. After all, Jason had always had a knack for running away when people needed him most. Though Phoebe had once been the exception to the rule, there had been so much unsaid left between them that he wasn’t sure how to begin again. How do you tell someone you love the most that you were sorry for avoiding them for the past two years?

After the events of the ball, however, he had to make sure that she was alright and that security was tight enough that Phoebe wasn’t in imminent danger in case the police or anyone wanted to retaliate against Elysian. So, he lingered longer than usual, eyeing the exits and the guards carefully as he weaved around bodies in various states of intoxication. The moment she caught his eye, Jason made sure to look away before making a beeline straight for and out the door.

He’d just made it a few steps out before he froze, hearing his name despite his body’s protests to continue running. It would be so easy to just continue walking away, but he grit his teeth together before spinning around on his heels to face her.

“Phoebe,” he called back to her, feigning complete surprise. “Hi. You know managers typically manage from inside the club, right?”

It was a terrible joke, but what else could he do?

Two years. Two years but it had felt like an eternity. In the beginning, Phoebe had been terrified that she would get a phone call sooner or later, asking her to come to the hospital morgue. She’d failed to help Jason--but what could she do when he had so stubbornly refused her help? He’d pushed her away so firmly, and she’d been dealing with her own grief. By the time the dust began to settle after the split... Well, Phoebe was waiting for him to break the silence. To reach out after she’d left. And he never did. She never felt like there was a right time for her to do it either.

But she missed him. His absence was like a wound that wouldn’t heal properly. She did keep tabs on him, just... distantly. Making sure he was alive. And he was. 

His complete surprise didn’t fool her. And his joke didn’t amuse her. “I’m... on my break.” A thousand questions rose to the surface, and a thousand died on her tongue. She was practically speechless--not an uncommon thing for Phoebe. Except, she’d very rarely had this happen with Jason. Talking to him... used to feel easier than anyone else. 

A lot of work went into managing Asphodel Club. But Phoebe had never been afraid of hard work, and went about her job with a routine efficiency. Most things were delegated to those who’d be working in those areas, but it was her responsibility to ensure that it was all done and done right before the doors would open. As always, it was a slow start to the night. People began trickling in as soon as the doors opened, and Phoebe kept moving.

The night was beginning to pick up speed, which was around the time that Phoebe was also the least busy. The lull between making sure everything was starting okay, prepared for the night ahead, and when she needed to problem solve anything that went wrong. She let her second-in-command know she was stepping out and grabbed her coat. But just as she planned to step out the back, where it was quiet, she saw him. Jason.

Their eyes met for a millisecond before the crowd was blocking him from view, but Phoebe felt her heart catch in her throat. A wave of emotions, too much to handle, came over her. It would’ve been smarter to just walk away and let Jason come to her when he was ready. But something about him had always made it hard to do the smart thing. She cared too much, even now.

Another chance spotting of him as he headed out the door made her decision. Her feet carried her before she could really think. Ducking past the bouncer, she spilled onto the street outside, pushing past the people trying to come in.

“Jason!” she called after him.