No Mercy

when nova mentioned lupe there was an obvious shift in delilah’s mood. lupe seemed to be the only thing she really felt passionate about anymore, and while she knew what was happening to her was some sort of crazy infatuation she couldn’t help but lean into it. but she had no idea what the girl in front of her had heard about her, and they were still trying to be low-key about just how much time they spent together for the sake of lupe and nolan’s friendship. so she just nodded casually at the girl’s question.

“yeah, she and i have gotten pretty close,” delilah said before taking a sip of the drink nova had gotten for her. “she’s a sweetheart,” she mused with a light and probably extremely telling smile on her lips. “how do you know her?” delilah asked, the curiosity in her voice sincere. though nova seemed like the type of person lupe would like she had never mentioned her before. there was also a hint of jealousy creeping into delilah’s chest, not that she had any real claim over lupe, but delilah was a very jealous person to begin with. nova was gorgeous beyond belief, and there was the looming fear that lupe might be interested in her. she pushed the thought away, knowing that with how much lupe liked delilah it was probably an invalid fear to have.

Bingo. Lupe was the way to go. Gah, infatuated humans were incredibly taxing to deal with. So smitten, so lost in the rosy glow of what amounted to little more than an exaggerated crush that they lost almost all logical trains of thought and become completely incapable of holding honestly interesting conversations. But she would suffer through, of course, for the sake of torturing her poor, petty soul.

“Oh yeah, Lupe is the best.” She agreed, trying to strike a similarly charmed tone without seeming too enchanted- it was possible that making Delilah jealous by insinuating Nova and Lupe were closer than they were would be a good route, but it wasn’t something she wanted to instigate so quickly out the gate. So for now she settled for acting as an enthusiastic friend. Besides, would there even be any need to incite it herself? Humans could be so presumptuous, it wasn’t implausible that Delilah would jump to her own conclusions and Nova could just encourage them later on once they’d already begun to fester. “She and I met at Alastor actually, I’d been dealing with an incident and she was collateral damage of a sort, had a drink spilled on her, so I took her to the bathroom and helped her clean up and we got to talking.” She shrugged, putting on a fond smile, “she spoke highly of you, and I did think that if the two of us were to be friends it would be a good idea to get to know you, too.”

Mordecai offered the woman a polite smile, sighing gently. “Good. I would hate to have this shop loose stock simply because of me.” He replied with a sheepish chuckle. He didnt feel a magical pull of the woman, but his own magic was purring in her presence….he would bet she was a demon of some kind. “I beg your pardon for bothering you, ma’am, but would you mind pointing me in the direction of the exit? I dont want to bump into any more things.”

“Ah yes, the hippie clientele are known for their excellent vegan brownie recipes and their elaborate revenge schemes.” Nova quipped, her lips pulling up into a sarcastic smile. Truly, she doubted the owners would bat an eyelid over some replenishing oils taking a tumble. “It’s no bother. Turn a half circle and then just walk straight ahead, it’s a clear route. Can I walk you anywhere? I’m just meandering through town at the moment, I've got the time.”

He tsked, “In my defense, I never said I was an expert essay-writer. Here’s hoping I still pass, though,” he laughed genuinely as she continued, nodding in agreement. He perked, up, too, as she mentioned her obsession with commas. Though it was obviously a joke, he wondered if there was some truth to her statement. Namely, “Hang on, casual obsession or are you a writer, too?”

“It’s a trickier art to master than it seems, but I wish you luck.” She laughs softly, crossing her fingers for emphasis. “Ah, casual obsession for the moment I’m afraid. Though long ago I did write under a pseudonym, I decided it’s not really for me- I’m more suited for business than creative pursuits.”

Lindy wasn’t sure why Nova was the person that she decided to unload all of this onto. Perhaps because she was a safe option in her mind. Not that she wouldn’t be judged, she did know Nova after all. But she knew Nova, there were things she wouldn’t have to waste time explaining to her. “I suppose that it is a lot to ask of music. But it helps me process things, get my thoughts in order.” She shrugged, absently tapping the side of her iPod. “She burst into tears and then didn’t let me go. It was actually our other sister. She hid the letter I left for Abby.”

It wasn’t very useful information. My sister thought I was dead but it turns out I’m not. Emotional blackmail, maybe? Lindy didn’t have anything she wanted, though. Still it would be filed away just incase, like everything else. “Everyone has a method for their contemplation.” She nodded, humming softly. Nova liked a work out, a proper one with all the bells and whistles of her abilities in play, nothing better to help sharpen her focus again. The addition of a third sister and a juicer story piqued her interest a bit, and then the name. Abby. Abby Abbott. Abby from the coffee shop who liked old things but not Nova. “Families can be...” She thought of her own, of Carreau and her mother and all her murdered siblings, “complicated.” She finished with a smirk, shrugging. “She’s glad you’re back, I take it.”

the entire thing seemed way too suspicious for abby, and she was usually a bit too slow on picking up hints when she was in a far less dangerous circumstance. as far as she was concerned, nova manning didn’t pose a threat — though if she considered the fact that she’d annoyed her during their first meeting as a reason behind a motive, then nova might just be a huge threat after all. but nothing seemed out of the ordinary, at least, the ordinary abby had been introduced to when the other woman entered her life.

she narrowed her eyes suspiciously at her, lips pursed as she gave in and stored the quill and the pot of ink carefully inside her bag — all whilst shooting daggers at the back of her manager’s head because it reminded her so much of being thrown into a den full of lions – or just one lion in this case. 

“lead the way, then,” she said once they were outside, still on full alert. who knew what this woman was capable of, anyway? in a place full of supernaturals like herself, abby knew there were ninety percent chances of her companion being one of the many species that walked on west hollow grounds. “or, you could tell me where we’re going. i have ways to make this trip quick.”

Big fish, small pond. Even in human circles Nova Manning was a name that meant something in West Hollow. It meant money, it meant i-will-destroy-you. There was a reason Alastor had the best supplier deals in the whole town, it was because Nova was an impossible woman to say no too. Apparently the smaller perks of that were being able to drag baristas out of work to take them on impromptu excursions to other coffee shops.

She fought off the satisfied smirk that tried to take over her face and won, settling for a cooler smile as they bounced out they door, as if totally oblivious to Abby’s suspicion. Funny, most people weren’t smart enough to be suspicious, but at least for now she wasn’t even in any kind of danger.

“I’m not quite sure where we’re going.” Nova shrugged, heading in the direction of one of her more favoured cafes- it was by the beach, nice view of the ocean. “What are your thoughts on sea-side cafes? Coffee with a view? And brilliant natural light too.”

abby would love to say that she’d seen this day coming, but that would have been a lie. of course, nova would come back — to simply buy coffee and cut her with her words, abby wasn’t sure and she wasn’t very interested to find out — but abby thought nova would, at least, come back when it wasn’t abby standing behind the cashier. i should have covered her shift, she thought bitterly as she ripped the receipt and handed it over to the customer before nova. of course, nova would also be the last person in line. all the more reason to interact with her, right?

“you didn’t have to—” all complaints were gone as soon as she saw what was placed on the counter. try as she might, but the geek within her nearly swooned at the sight of an authentic quill and a pot of ink. fortunately for her, she’d mastered the art of keeping her shit together facial expression, so she merely looked up and blinked languidly in response to the other woman’s demands. “i’m not sure i’m allowed to leave my post in the middle of my shift,” she said, curtly, only to be nudged by none other than her manager, who’d obviously overheard nova’s demands to the vampire. she was good to go, they said, and soon, abby found herself standing at the opposite side of the counter.

“who are you?” she asked, emboldened by her annoyance. “being able to pull out an employee in the middle of work is very unheard of here.”

Nova could be charming as all hell when she wanted to be. She liked being liked, and the fact that her and Abby hadn’t had the best start was... Troubling her, just a little. Harder to get what you wanted from people if they didn’t like you, and even though she wasn’t sure if Abby had anything to offer yet she had time enough to find out. 

She liked the quill, that much was obvious, even if it didn’t play out much of her face she west silent and still for a couple of moments. It was all the more fun that she seemed the type to keep her emotions under wraps, meant Nova could have even more fun pulling at her strings, and it would feel even better to finally illicit a reaction. It didn’t surprise much when the manager shooed her away, and Nova thanked them, blowing a kiss in their direction as Abby gathered her stuff.

“I’m Nova Manning.” She shrugged, slid her hands into her pockets and played it casual. She didn’t know if the name would mean anything to Abby- it was possible, as far a demons went she was one of the well known ones here, but it depended how clued in she was- so she acted like it wasn’t meant too. Just Nova Manning, just another name. “Maybe your manager just wants to live vicariously through you.” She suggested with a coy smile, turning to leave and holding the door open for her new companion, “after you.”

“More of a ‘having a lot of feelings because I just saw my baby sister, whom I haven’t seen since I left home at eighteen, and it turns out she’s thought I was dead this entire time’.” It was a lot to unload on Nova, Lindy knew. She probably didn’t care too much. But it was the catalyst for this playlist, why she was revisiting the music and the summers of her youth. It was their summer trips to the beach that had set her on this path, which had set Abby on her path. “But I suppose that capturing the essence of what I was going through in my younger years is also an applicable label.”

Nova’s eyebrows shot up, shocked at the frank admission and excited by the prospect of gossip. She sipped her coffee, taking a moment to consider her next words carefully so as to not offend. “Yes, I can see why you’re struggling.” She allowed with a bemused smile, hoping it wouldn’t upset that she couldn’t really empathize. All of her own siblings knew she was alive, knew she could kill them. “That’s quite a lot to ask of music.” And it was to her mind, she’d never placed all that much significance on melodies and lyrics. “I hope your sister was pleased to know you’re still with us, I hope whoever had her believe such a cruel lie will get a good talking too.” 

“Oh, I was actually planning on writing an essay based on that quote. Do you think I shouldn’t?” He joked. Thinking of Gabriele and her love for the unconventional, he found himself a bit sad he’d never be able to share in her interests. He liked to think, though, that should she be alive to this day she would be just as interested in books like The Princess Bride as he was. “Oh, yeah. Have you ever tried to read Jane Eyre? I get that it’s a classic, but man, the woman did not like sentence breaks,”

“Awfully thin on the ground essay.” She quipped back just as quick, smiling. He was a melancholy type of guy, had that look, kept drifting off inside his own head. Nova didn’t much like supernaturals who distracted so easy. “Oh my, it was so solid huh? I mean I read it but Bronte really needed to take a fucking break right? I blame her for my years long obsession with the comma, honestly.”

Elaina didn’t feel uncomfortable or very shocked with the bluntness and offered truth. She’d known who Nova was the moment she’d laid eyes on her and she knew that demons could tell when a person was supernatural or not. Surely the woman had her guesses. Surely she was curious to know. The only thing that made the angel slightly hesitant was the kind of reaction she might have. But that was purely a fear from her instinct and gut because she was quite certain if Nova hadn’t already made a smart guess, then she still wouldn’t be threatened by the fact the person she was talking to was an angel. After all, Elaina had tried her best to be as amiable as she could be.

“I suppose not,” she said with a small smile. It began it fade a bit and some of that initial reluctance showed. “Although… I knew who you were the moment I saw you. I’m sure someone like yourself could accurately make an assumption from just that. Like I said before, I didn’t come here for anything more but to satisfy my curiousity.” She wanted to make clear she wasn’t an angel looking for trouble.

Nova understood the necessity of the human facade. It played into her hand quite well very often that she could parade about pretending to be mortal, but she couldn’t stand other supernaturals insisting on the act when there was no reason. Sitting alone at a bar with another supernatural was not the time for it. Did Elaina not grow tired of it too? Could she honestly call herself content with the illusion? She hoped not, then at least they could have that in common if nothing else. 

Yes, there was that too. Elaina had known who she was, sought her out, wanted to know about danger at the club, wouldn’t drink. It all screamed angel, honestly, and Nova wouldn’t be surprised if she was a young one too. Headstrong, trying to get a feel for the local trouble. “It’s fine.” She shrugged, sipped her cocktail, “one thing that can’t be said of me is that I’m a bad host. Whatever you might think of this place it is neutral ground, all sorts congregate here.”

delilah took the drink from nova with a fake smile, all she really wanted to do was go back to her dorm and do her nails, but it seemed like this girl was keen on having a conversation with her now that she had introduced herself. “thanks, and nice to meet you nova,” she replied and took a sip of her drink, knowing the caffeine boost would be needed to continue talking to her. “i’m assuming you live around here? west hollow usually isn’t a destination for tourists.”

as conversation went on with nova delilah’s mind wandered to the one thing that had been dominating her mind recently, lupe. as the girl in front of her spoke all she could think about was how if lupe was by her side she wouldn’t want to pull her hair out as much at the boring small talk ensuing between the two of them. delilah realized a couple seconds too late that nova had finished talking, and delilah hadn’t heard a word she had said, “i - sorry. i was thinking about something else,” she admitted with a tiny shrug. she didn’t know if what nova said should have elicited some kind of response from her, so she just gave a small laugh. “i’ve got a million finals and other things to worry about so i’m not really all here right now,” she said and took another sip of the coffee. “it’s part of why i needed a caffeine boost.”

“Yeah, I’m not a tourist.” She laughed, “actually I’m an investor in that club, Alastor? Good place, you been?” Ah, or maybe mentioning Lupe was the way to go? A common friend, something to chatter about that Delilah clearly had a vested interest in. Girl like her didn’t want to waste time small talking with a stranger. Strange that her talk about being an investor in Alastor wasn’t garnering more attention- meant she had money and business sense and that meant she had power. 

But she hadn’t been listening at all, had she? Because humans were constantly loosing their focus. Nova knew how to get her full attention though, could stalk towards her with murder in her eyes, pin her back against the counter, light the ends of her hair on fire and watch with a picture perfect smile as the flames crawled up and up until they were at her scalp, until her face was burning up, and everyone was screaming, and everything--

Not the time, not the place. “It’s okay.” She giggled, as if she could at all empathize with the struggle of finals, “I was just chatting about being an investor in Alastor anyway, boring stuff really, that’s why I drink so much coffee too. But anyway what I was going to say next is that I’m sure I’ve heard about you before, do you hang out with Lupe sometimes? I’m sure she mentioned you last time we talked.”

Mordecai had heard whispers of the witch store, and honestly he had hoped that it was just that; whispers. The old witch was not one to flounce around his race, and he sincerly believed anyone else who did was a danger to the rest of them. Hunters tend to understand there was rarely just one witch when you killed on….So imagine his rather disappointment when he did in fact find out the shop existed. 

To at least attempt to be polite and not draw attention to himself, he wandered through the store. There was nothing he needed here, and he doubted he ever would. Mordecai had his own sources to get his ingredients for spells and potions. He would never trust another witch enough to be able to harvest everything correctly. 

His cane gently bumped up against a shelf, the man hearing the soft tinkling of glass and the telling sounds of them falling over. It took everything in him to not instinctually snatch them out of the air, knowing there were others around that would question how a blind man could do that…but the wave of magic that suddenly moved close to him helped keep him still. 

Did everyone is this damn town openly practice their abilities?! How idiotic and cocky were all of them?!

Mordecai offered the woman a gentle smile in a silent thank you as he stepped to the left, his magic purring at the figure. Demon….it had to be. His magic always liked demons. “Thank you. I hope I did not break anything.”

Wardell was an interesting place. Holistic healing for the humans and devastating potions for supernaturals in the know, a good system to make money from. Plus those hearing aids that drowned out siren song? Brilliant invention, honestly. Nova could hardly fault witches, despite some of them being so goody-goody they might as well be angels they were a smart bunch who knew enough to stay out of the spats that demons got into. 

That was why she liked Frankie specifically. Brewed the potions she needed, never asked why. It was the best way to go about things really, plausible deniability was perfect for those just trying to get by. 

But she didn’t know what to make of the old guy. Supernatural, and situation dictated he could be a warlock but that wasn’t definite. And... Blind? Or acted it at least, certainly not as unaware as a blind human might be. “No no, it all seems to be fine.” She decided, assessing the little bottles. “Good thing too, don’t know what the people round here would do without their argon oil.” 

kian didn’t so much regret his time out last night as he did lament over what he could have done instead of being dragged along by last-minute decisions. whatever, he thought as he waved goodbye to a departing customer, what was done was done. at least he’d had the chance to strike up a decidedly interesting conversation with that girl, nova. inauspicious as their meeting had been, they hadn’t ended up in any serious conflict. he, of course, had left when he’d seen the approaching signs of total inebriation but, if anything, it strengthened the non-existent relationship they had. absence makes the heart grow fonder and all that nonsense.

the very saying came to mind as he watched nova walk in and rest on the counter. amused, he said, “please. may i have some?” but he still turned to get her some coffee. “i’m surprised you remembered anything i said last night,” he placed her coffee in front her, held in an old d.a.r.e mug he’d bought at some thrift store for occasions like these. 

“but i guess if people remember anything it’s the bakery,” he crossed his arms and leaned against the counter, “anyways, what kind of pastries do you want? should i- you know what, i’ll give you a minute.”

She’d gotten a lot of people drunk though, started a lot of fights with one snappy little comment and walked away. Good job most of them had been humans else Alastor might not still be standing this morning. (But it was, she had checked.) Didn’t often cause impulsive problems like that but it was good to unwind every now and then, stop thinking so much and just follow her gut. That was what most demons did all the time. But of course, there was a reason Nova was mingling with the originals despite her young age. It was like the difference between petty theft and a bank heist; planning.

“You’re gay, I committed a hate crime, you bake, you’re gay...” She prattled off the list of what she recalled of their conversation with a playful smile, massaging her temples.Though really she remembered a fair bit more than that, he didn’t need to know. She didn’t even care about the mug- drug abuse resistors? Something like that- because it had caffeine in it, so she drank it with a content sigh.

“Croissants.” It was almost instant, they were a firm favorite. A man once had loved her so much he’d taken her to one of the oldest bakeries in Paris, one of the first places to make them and they were phenomenal. She slept with his sister a couple of weeks later. “Do you have the almond ones? Also, got bagels? I’m starving.”

It made perfect sense, then, why Charlie liked it so much. Though he rarely got the chance to interact with children, when he did, he was always genuinely entertained by the things they had to say. “Really?” He asked, laughing a little. “No wonder, then. It really does come with the energy of a child.” 

He shrugged at her question, sincerely unsure of how to answer. “Maybe?” He offered, “I’m a bit surprised to have liked it this much. I’ve tried and failed in the past, but I’m starting to think now it just wasn’t my thing. This girl I dated once was really into the classics, I’m talking old, like Victorian age, so I always tried to like those…but I think it might just not be my thing,” he tried not to sound too hurt about being unable to connect with Gabriele in that way.

Nova struggled with finding an author who’s style totally captured her attention (of course she struggled to find any person who did that) but The Princess Bride had been about as captivating as she’d ever found a book. Harry Potter had been a series with charm too, though she despised the figurehead Rowling had become. “Don’t quote me on that as I may be wrong, but it does make a lot of sense.” Victorian literature? He’d dated a nerd or he was super old, and given his supernatural status Nova was leaning towards the latter. “That’s fair enough. Though by my recollection that stuff was all pretty dense, perhaps you’d fair better with a more minimalist modern writing style- or indeed other books as chaotic and absurd as Goldman’s work.”

the response was surprisingly nice, and delilah was surprised to say the least. the girl in front of her looked like someone who would put up a fight when talked to like delilah just had, but clearly she was softer than that. when she ordered delilah another drink and seemed to charm the man behind the counter she decided she liked this girl. her tone of voice shifted completely to one that was much more friendly as she continued to rub at the stain on her shirt, probably just making it worse. “oh, that’s okay. you don’t have to pay for it.” she smiled at her and gave her a small shrug, “i’ll just use my parents’ credit card, it’s fine.”

“sorry i snapped at you earlier,” she apologized, hoping the girl wouldn’t hold any hard feelings since she seemed to be someone delilah may actually enjoy. and just by the way she carried herself she could tell that she was confident and probably somewhat influential in the town. and wasn’t delilah’s whole purpose of coming to west hollow to gain power in the supernatural ranks? “it’s been a long day,” she continued and threw away the napkins she had been attempting to clean her shirt with. “i had to go to an event at a hospital and it was just pretty depressing, i would have much rather been somewhere else.” the statement caused her mind to wander to all the things she could have been doing if she hadn’t had to go to that stupid networking event, and it naturally fell to lupe. the girl had been dominating her thoughts recently, and just at the idea of her a lovestruck smile spread onto her lips.

A fight wasn’t the way to get a friendship going, at least not this one. From what she could already tell about Delilah that would lead to rivalry, competition. She didn’t want their interactions to be tainted with that desire to always come out on top. Not at first anyway, though maybe it’d play in later. Couldn’t be sure yet but perhaps a good angle would be to get closer and closer to Lupe, incite some kind of jealous hatred. Or perhaps the other way around, making Lupe jealous of their closeness- it might depend who was easier to sway.

Parents credit card? Nice, classy. (People could assume what they liked, but Nova had made her own money over the years thank you very much, that investment in Alastor was legit.) But at least it meant she had disposable income, enough to go clubbing and whatnot. “Fair enough.” She shrugged, like she hadn’t been loathing the idea of forking out for dry cleaning when the incident had been all Delilah’s fault in the first place.

Nova dismissed the apology with a wave of her hand, “don’t worry about it! Jeez just imagine the mess we’d be in if I hadn’t already had my macchiato I’d be screaming at you.” She laughed airily, and imaged having caffeine craving to use as an excuse, could’ve started a fight, could’ve ripped out chunks of her hair and launched a chair at her face. She smoothed a hair through her hair and listened to the girls’ story with faux sympathy etched on her face, “yeah, sounds like a major downer.” It wasn’t hard to guess at what might’ve put that big smile on her face, but Nova didn’t point it out, afraid it might make her cagey. 

Her order came through and Nova swiped it off the counter, pretending to read the name of the cup as she handed it over. “Delilah? Cute name. I’m Nova.”

Elaina listened curiously, smiling as she found herself relating to her a little more. She hadn’t been taught things the traditional way either. School certificates had been forged for her when she came to town and signed up for the college. Beforehand, the only education she’d recieved was from the arch angels. And, although it had been very strenuous and very, very informative, she’d never earned any degrees.

“My… first school? Or first job?” She hadn’t told the woman what she was yet, and she wasn’t sure if the other had figured it out or if she didn’t and if it wasn’t a good idea to let her know. So Elaina kept up her practiced story. “Well, it isn’t my first school, of course. I needed my high school degree to get in.” Although it was. “But this is my first real job. Otherwise I worked a little for father in Cuba. We was an anthropologist and professor. I helped grade exams and such.” More lies, but at least they were so well imbedded in her mind she could easily give them. And it was necessary.

Nova’s mother had been her first teacher along with a handful of other demons, but education of the traditional human trajectory hadn’t been a priority at all, though eventually she had studied in more typical ways if for no other reason than to immerse herself in American student culture, figure out how the young people ticked. 

“First degree.” Nova clarified, sipping her drink, “It’s possible you’re as young as you look, but that’s quite the assumption to make.” Regardless of whether she was actually an angel as she was leaning towards, Elaina was not human, and often their age was not what it looked to be. When her story is finished Nova leans in a little closer, one eyebrow raised, “we’re not gonna sit here all night pretending we’re nothing more than the humans we look like, are we?”