Kingdom Lights Shine

Elena usually couldn’t muster up something past a regular smile for someone. It was difficult to keep that plastic on her face when she wasn’t feeling it, when she wasn’t wanting to feel it. Happiness came and went for her. Companionship, she sought out to fill the voids within, and usually, that was the end of it. Letting herself become close to others had been one of her most futile mistakes in her past. She refused to let herself be content to see someone. Yet here was Aria Campbell, of all people - seeking her out. And that made her happy. So despite the tiredness on her face, she managed a smile. A real one.  "Well, look who it is." It was a warm greeting, and the clipboard, once a weight in her lap, was now forgotten. She was glad her makeup wasn’t as messy as it had once been. But there was still a lot of room for improvement, and she knew it. Not that she gave a damn about how she outwardly appeared most days. But if she’d known - shush, Elena. "Like the hair."  She made curling motions with her pointer finger and moved her head to the side. Her hair, fluffed out from the day’s heat, floated about her face. “How many’d you end up getting? We were on the lower side but hell, less work for me. And you are my breath of fresh air, let me tell you. I think I’ve been turned to the dark side.” Quirking her brows, she startled up from the bench, almost dropping the clipboard in her bumbling motion. "I’m real glad you found me."

Crossing her legs and dipping her knees, Aria curtseyed dramatically. Her eyes glinted teasingly, a small blush burning at the skin of her cheeks. "Don't tease. My hair looks terrible right now." She laughed coyly, her hands immediately shooting up to gingerly touch the ringlets arranging them ever so carefully, knowing for a fact they were immaculate.

"Is there an explanation for this, Martha?" The brunette stood in front of one of her sisters with arms crossed, mouth slightly open, and an expression that warned everyone around the two to not come even remotely close to them. With Rosemarie nowhere to be found at the time, she left Martha, the Secretary of Gamma Nu Omega, in charge. Thinking everything would be safe and sound after numerous pleas from the woman to trust her, Lydia thought her sorority wouldn’t be at all in trouble. Oh how wrong she was. Five parties (without her consent) were thrown, causing the police department to get involved two times and the Dean of Astoria to send the sorority three warnings. Three of her sisters were expelled and five sent to the hospital. Now back, Lydia was the one who had to handle of her sister’s mistakes.

When you grow up learning that making yourself as invisible as possible is the best possible route for self preservation, you learn how to make yourself sparse at the first sign of conflict. Yet living in Bindlebrim, it was often those that shone the brightest that remained the safest. The outcasts, the quiet ones, those who stood in the shadows not because they were predatory but because it was safest -- they were the targets.

She tapped her fingers against the bench, staring down at the clipboard. The insufferable girls incoming as freshmen had gotten around to signing the waiver during their sloshed event the night prior, and now, Delta Gamma had six new members to look forward to babysitting. The others didn’t like it when Elena used that language, but for fuck’s sake, how else could she refer to it? It was ridiculous - - — And it made her feel older than ever. She glanced up when she sensed someone passing above her, but she didn’t address them. Not right away. Not until there seemed to be a hesitation in their footsteps which made her nose twitch and her ear become keen onto them. "Want something from me?" ( It was her standard greeting. )

There was a certain degree of loneliness that had permeated Aria's life, the people who used to seem so full remained ignorant of her one most important truth. She was different. In the past few weeks Aria could only remember one time that the nagging emptiness and taunting threat of possible exposure was tolerable, daresay nonexistent - that had been with Elena. 

  Oi.

It's said that the sense of smell is one of the most powerful association, but humans don't realize how true that actually is. Aria, unable to keep her nose from twitching, recognized immediately the rare but undeniable scent of goodness. Arguably she hadn't quite mastered anything remotely wolfy so it may be the butter and sugars caught in the breeze and not the boy at all, but the captivating bright blue eyes that stared back at her beneath those dark lashes couldn't be capable of anything but good intentions.

"That would be one hell of a tagline for the town. And it also happens to be insanely accurate." Even if there were humans still permeating the premises, even they had the opportunity to turn into something they weren’t. Though Aria hadn’t been a human, she’d once been something closer to it, and Elena, she had been mortal, human, feeling all the way to the core of her being. Now, the two of them had been transformed into something that, perhaps to a certain extent, neither of them wanted. Living in fear of their own selves. If people knew that’s what this town did to them, then there would be two classes of possible incoming residents: those who were interested and wanted to lose themselves, and those who wanted to try and figure out everyone else’s secrets whilst keeping their own close to their hearts. Small towns, though, didn’t work that way. In some shape or form, everyone discovered everyone’s business unless it was kept nonverbal or someone was actually good at keeping secrets. "Go back home and marry a gentleman.” Elena couldn’t help the little lilt of teasing. “Well, what would your boyfriend have to say about that? Wouldn’t he want to be that gentleman?” The tone stopped when she heard the seriousness in Aria’s voice, the blatant honesty, and she couldn’t help but purse her lips. She’d heard that tone before when girls spoke about their significant others. It usually ended in Elena not liking said significant other. What was it, this relationship the two of them might have? It didn’t frighten her in the traditional sense, but it did make her wary. “Am I gonna have to worry about him popping out of nowhere and ruining this great vibe we have going on?” He might lose his head. Because it was obvious the two girls needed to be away from influence. That familiar charge went through her. The one which made the wolf in the back of her mind growl in anticipation, want to sink its teeth into ragged flesh. She did her best to ignore it, though. She wasn’t about to shift in the middle of the street. ( And he might not notice the stains beneath her eyes, but Elena knew makeup, and Elena wore her circles like badges of honour and pride, and she saw them clear as day. ) "Who says I know I’m gorgeous?" That dazzling smile appeared, breaking through the remnants of nude lip stain and scattered kohl. "Maybe I need to hear it just like everyone else. Just like you do. Which you are, y’know. We’re both damn good looking chicks." She squinted at the boards above the ordering counters. "The real challenge is making me want to do something with myself other than what you see. How do you take your coffee?"

>If there was a single personal truth Aria couldn't deny, it is that she is drawn toward love like a moth to a flame. She feeds on it. If there's a vacancy in her life that isn't filled with affection, she suffers from it - her skin crawling with a desperate need for affirmation that she's desirable.

At the sound of the accented voice, Fredrick startled awake. And his eyes landed directly on the heel next to his arm. ( Holy s h i t. ) He did not understand how someone could wear something like that. If he even tried to put one on, he’d end up breaking his ankle. Girls had hidden talents.  With the question, his eyes trailed up the legs, to the hips, to the waist, then to the face of the girl who spoke to him. She seemed amused at his attempt for a nap. (Well, you do look sort of like a dummy.) - — The voice equalled the peanut gallery. "Silk sheets." - — It was the first thing he grumbled as he straightened, not realising his shirt had slid up to reveal his abdomen until he reached up to smooth out the askew spikes of his hair. As nonchalantly as he could, he tugged at the hem of his shirt.           Way to be m o d e s t.  "I’ve never slept on silk sheets, so I wouldn’t know. I tend to take the small comforts in life. And when I’m tired, I can basically sleep anywhere." - — ( Only if he had to, though. ) His sketchbook crunched against his lap as he readjusted himself, leaning against the tree. “What I want to know is - how you’re managing to walk in those in the grass. Because I’m pretty sure I would end up killing myself one way or the other.”

Aria's eyebrow involuntarily shot up at the sight of skin, tanned ever so slightly with deep (impressively maintained) indents driving her vision below his belt line. Her breath hitched for just a moment, before she flashed her most confident of smiles. The one she had been practicing in the mirror since she was wearing her mother's heels, enough space left over that she could probably place her second foot within it, and her red hair sitting in frizzy curls that rested just on her shoulders.

The sound of a squeaky high-pitched voice, almost as bad as the music, piercing her ears forced a groan out of Erin. Lips pursed, eyes ready to burn holes into whoever spoke, Erin made a visible face of annoyance at the girl’s presence. “No, I’m not. You’d think this town would come up with some better festivals, or events, but no, instead we have to be tortured with this fucking-” Her rant cut off as she registered the final part of the girl’s sentence, her cheeks suddenly boiling as red as the girl’s hair.

"It means nothing, of course. Just that I think you're right - " Aria began, releasing a single breathy laugh noticing how quickly the girl erupted. The creature that lay dormant beneath her skin reacted to the smell of aggression - a thickness - in the air. She could inhale it, it seeped into her pores like a contagion rising the tiny follicles of hairs on her arms. "We should instead be hosting Gun Day with the NRA so everyone can wear their disgusting combat boots or Greasy Pig Fat and Beer Day."

"Nothing is happening." She groaned, the stinging cuts on her knuckles from another one of her "adventures" not helping her patience at all. If nothing happened soon, she would have to put matters into her own hands, and that didn’t just mean turning off that god awful jazz music. 

Aria's arms crossed over her chest, a smug smile brightening her eyes as she watched proudly at the commotion around her. The small balls of lightening the gleamed like fireflies in the sky was her brilliant idea and finishing touch on the festival. It was absolute perfection, she thought to herself.

The festival. The lights. The p e o p l e.  Muses roamed about everywhere he looked. ( But he couldn’t bring himself to pick up the charcoal stick. ) No, he was relaxed against the base of a tree, looking out and observing. ( M e m o r i s i n g.) The argument with his brother a couple of nights ago had left him wanting for peace and solitude. Going back to living his life at his own pace. - — He really hated when things were messed up. - — So, he fled to the festival, and until it was over, he’d be sleeping on the grounds. ( He was that desperate for it. ) He closed his eyes, extending his legs out, sketchpad resting on his lap, opened to his latest drawing. A shadowed version of the grounds in front of him with moonlight spilling down upon it. Fingers stained from shading with the ashes. ( Just a moment or two of rest. That’s all he wanted. ) ( It’s all you need, Freddie. )

There was not even the slight possibility for peace and quiet during the festival. It was as though the city buzzed with life as the sound of instruments swam through the air filling each dark corner with something magical. If someone was searching for solitude, Bindlebrim was not currently the place to do it - not that it ever was, really. 

Coven. Of course. Elena felt a little bit lethargic in the mind for not catching up to the hints. Though Aria wasn’t about to provide information outright, there had been enough context clues dropped where the other lone werewolf could gain the hint. Coven of witches, no doubt. Literal ones, and not just the substitute for bitches. Then again, that didn’t make sense. If she was a witch, but now she wasn’t - how did that even work? She was about to ask, but she decided that was a better question for either a different environment or a tongue loosened up with more alcohol. Or another tongue. Either way. She refused to ask, gnawing down on her lower lip until the urge dissipated. “I can understand complicated. Pretty sure that’s the motto of all sororities. Aw, fuck, it’s probably the motto for life here, to be honest.” The confusion on Aria’s face made her laugh. That long, deep laugh in her chest. “Yeah, too bad,” she confirmed the answer to the question. “But I’m real patient.” And that much was truth, despite it being laced in that gravelly flirtation. She had learned that, honed it to be a skill, otherwise she would have smashed a bottle of booze over her mother’s head instead of removing it from the premises and tucking her in at night. Perhaps that was mostly why she gravitated towards Aria at the moment. Because she wanted to make sure she stayed safe. “Besides - where’s this boyfriend right now anyways, yeah? Guess until he comes around, you get me.” (Queen of double entendres.) And already she’d been invited to the shenanigans in the house. A Delta Gamma crossing the boundaries. A thrill shot through her veins at the excitement. Plus she’d get to see all these witches for herself. Memorise their faces. Never forget. (Blackmail could be a beautiful thing.) “Fine. But if you don’t want me dressed like this, you’ll have to help me out. ‘Cause this is how I am all the time.” A pause. But not a long one. “Coffee.” It was an agreement. And the soles of her sneakers were much quieter next to the clacking heels as she ghosted along.

After just a few moments together, Elena felt eerily familiar to Aria. It may just be a wolf thing - searching for family in those who are essentially strangers yet now understand the most fundamental part of who you are. She had shrugged off the idea of pack's, but as Aria suppressed a smile at Elena's crude bluntness she felt a comfort that had been lacking from her life. Without intending on it, Aria had reverted back to a life of lies and suppression. Denial like that ate away at the soul.  Eventually, when you polish something to perfection too many times it begins to thin out the material that was supposed to be there. Aria was beginning to feel transparent, as if her thick skin was wearing out leaving holes that could been seen straight through. And it if had to be Elena that saw through her, she found herself shockingly calm about it.

"I am not exactly new. I’ve been here before. I just am really terrible at directions," Zachary said. He watched the redhead turn on the balls of her feet. "I get lost all the time." He found it ironic that he was terrible at navigating cities, but he was a great hunter in the woods.

She let out a small laugh, brushing a piece of hair from her face. There was a warmth about the boy that Aria couldn't quite pinpoint. "In my experience, if you keep walking you'll either end up near the pier, at wicker park or just completely lost in the forest." She tucked her lips into a thin line, holding back the smile that was pulling at her lips. Honestly, the fact that she had never gotten completely and tragically lost was a miracle, but now with her senses she seemed to always find her way back home - wherever that might be now. "The odds are in your favor though, if you think about it positively. Or, you'll just get lucky enough to run into a stranger who is more than happy to ramble on. I'm Aria, by the way."

"If you’re lost, I’m not exactly the person you should be talking to about directions."

"Good thing I'm not lost then." Aria smiled turning on the balls of her her, graceful as a dancer toward the voice. "But if that's your way of confessing that you are, then you must be new. So, as self-appointed Welcoming Committee I have an obligation to show you around."

I look for comfort in neon lights and warmth in bartending smiles.

Elena knew struggle when she saw it. It had taken her at least fifteen minutes to even work up the courage to walk into Delta Gamma, let alone speak to someone older than her when she had been a freshman. This was not her sole area of indecision in her life, either. How many times had she stared at a phone, attempting to decipher some sort of text message, or craned her neck to find someone she barely knew, wondering if she was doing the right thing? How many times had she debated on turning someone into the police, then shuffled them away in the middle of the night? All of her life, she had struggled to be somewhat comfortable in her own skin; for all of her professed vanity, she looked in the mirror and more often than not, didn’t like what she saw. And it wasn’t a matter of gaining a makeover, either. She just - didn’t feel comfortable existing. "Hey, you know what? Just because we’re wild animals doesn’t mean we have to act like them. I mean, right? Talk about being ironic. Let the - ah, humans do that for us." ( God, it was weird not referring to herself as such a thing anymore. ) She canted her head, furrowing her brow. “A coven? That doesn’t sound like werewolves to me.” Rising from the curb, she brought her clipboard with her, tucking it underneath her arm. The two of them were almost the same height - though Aria wore better shoes than Elena did. “One of —? Ah. One of us beasties.” Her grin was good-natured. “Boyfriend, huh. Too bad.” ( She already suspected who Aria’s boyfriend was. The guy she ran into earlier. The one who had tried to emphasise he had a girlfriend. But ah, well. She owed loyalty to neither of them in that regard, and therefore, was available to both. ) "Fleas are probably just - no." Elena shook her head quickly and rubbed at her arms as her elbow plastered the clipboard against her waist. "No, thanks, not today, not ever." Though she did look down and scuffle her feet along the pavement when Aria mentioned the shifting. Their two hearts accelerated and beat in an alternating tribal drum. The two of them, unprepared and frightened. The two of them, from different sorority houses, with one core thing in common which no one could take from them. Which no one could best. Not even her boyfriend, who for all standard purposes, sounded as though he’d already gone through the promised agony of the first shift.  "I don’t want to think about it, either." Her turned-over gravelly voice was a stark contrast to the sharp Southern accent. But not even that mattered. "I just - fucking, you know, look up at the sky and I feel like I’m just waiting for the bomb to drop. And I’m starting to get a weird — second — presence." It was a lame finish, but she had to know if it was the same. If Aria sometimes felt the wolf aching inside of her as well, before its time. "…Hey." She spoke this after a pause. "Don’t worry. It’s not happening tonight.” She gestured back at the sorority house. “You planned it, huh? Then it probably was a riot. Kinda sorry I missed it.” She narrowed her gaze at her. “You do look wiped, though. You wanna go somewhere else, away from the noise?”

"Well..." Aria spoke hesitantly, scratching the bottom of her heel against the pavement. "That's because they're not werewolves." For some reason Aria still felt bound to keep the secrets of her coven, to protect them against others. If she wasn't a guard dog before, she certainly was now. Dedicated to Lydia permanently, as all the witches Gamma Nu undoubtedly were, owing her their lives beyond just traditional loyalty. "I was never human." Aria said the word as though it dripped in dirty connotations, or perhaps it was the shame that she had spent her life as something unnatural was what was actually something that could cause the girl to walk away from her. A new wolf sure, but not too long ago Elena had been normal - free from the stains of being titled a monster. "It's complicated." She finished off as though that could explain everything unsaid, or if that could be enough to deter any further questions.