Disappear Here

Nora felt something strange creeping up from within at the sight of that smoke column rising. She was a fire nymph, the spark of life and vibrant power from her element had always been something that she held close to her heart, it was a part of her… but her relationship to fire had changed a lot since her father’s corpse was taken out from within embers and ashes. “I can’t fucking believe this keeps happening” she muttered through gritted teeth, loosening her grip around her backpack’s strap after taking notice of just how hard her fist was wrapped around it. The nymph glanced at Quinn after he spoke, considering his words very seriously. “Knowing the Council, they’ll let this slide again” she mentioned with evident disdain. The arsonists had been periodically striking again and again for months and no real measures had been taken to prevent such attacks from happening or to apprehend those who had caused so much damage already. “If we want to get shit done I guess we’ll have to do it ourselves” she said with a light nod, waiting for his response. Quinn was a good friend and she knew he had her back she wasn’t sure if he was willing to take this particular risk.

Quinn had a tendency to do things without thinking. It was the reason why every mistake had happened in his life. His impulse issues got people killed which was why he was often alone. However, now here he was with one of the few people in his life he honestly trusted beyond a measure of doubt. Nora had been through hell lately and Quinn could relate to that fact well. He’d help her out because of what had happened the last bad fire there was and because she was his friend. Because he wanted those assholes to stop too. “ Councils are  not really the get their hands dirty kind of people.“ He grumbled for a moment before heading in the direction of the fire. “ We’d better hurry. Maybe we can catch who it is. ”

Brad leans against the tree trunk, his legs dangling down from the branch he sits on. With Terrance’s under repair, he doesn’t have much to do around evening. Taking care of gardens and farms in town is usually done by afternoon… So he is just chilling in the woods, hanging out with his friends. He takes a bite out of the apple, throwing pine cones to play with one of the squirrels (he calls them Snickers). Hearing a voice calling him, he wraps his legs around the branch and hangs down. He finds the neighbor werewolf there, standing upside down– although that has to do with Brad hanging down from the tree. “Hey, Quinn! How’s it going, man? It’s been a while.” He asks. “Do you want some apples? Or, uh, Terry made some pesto yesterday if you want a jar?”

Quinn had to admit he didn’t like to share any space near anyone, but if he had too Bradley was probably the person he would pick to socialize with. They seemed to have similar ways of living in nature and it was one of the few thing’s he could see eye to eye with. He hadn’t expected to see the guy hanging from the tree though when he picked up his scent. “ Yeah, I’ve been finishing up stuff and the shop is open again, so I’m glad to be working again. “ he hated not building or fixing things so he was glad the mechanics shop was back in order. He was also the type to never turn down any food offers so he nodded at the suggestion of apples. They guy still ate like he lived in the woods under a tarp sometimes. “ Pestos for pasta right?” He asked glancing back at his neighbor. “How long you been up there?”

Quinn had finished building the patio to his house and needed a little time away from staring at tools and the deck. The werewolf decided the easiest way to do it was with just taking a walk in outside his property. He wasn’t the type to go into town and socialize. Quinn was the type who could go weeks without talking to someone else so he wanted to avoid seeing people if he could help it. However as he walked by the familiar path outside  and past his land he picked up the scent of someone else. “ Brad?” He asked looking around to see if he could find the young man in question. 

Date: Friday, April 30th, 2021 Time: 8:12 pm Location: Asmodean Autos

@quinn-cameron​

The workshop had closed a few minutes ago and the nymph was out in the back, gathering her things from her locker and throwing on a jacket. The whole day had been quite gray with a threat of mild rain, though not a single drop had fallen from the sky yet. With any luck, it wouldn’t rain on her way home, because she hadn’t packed an umbrella in her backpack. “See you tomorrow!” she called out as she made her way out to the street. Nora stopped on her tracks just as she stepped out of the building, noticing that in the distance a smoky column that was a few shades darker than the sky was rising up. She felt a presence close by and turned to see Quinn coming out of the workshop. “It looks like smoke, doesn’t it?” she asked quietly as she looked in the direction of what she thought was another fire. Another arson.

Quinn gestured a wave to Nora as she was heading out. He was on he way out too, but wasn’t gonna ask for her to wait, since that wasn’t usually what he did. However, when he walked out, throwing his jacket on he noticed Nora had been standing in one spot and felt something strange creeping up in the air. “ Shit” He grumbled as he caught sight of the smoke. “ Fucking assholes” Quinn muttered again knowing it had to be those same people. “Might be enough time to catch them this time” He thought out loud already making up his mind on what to do about the situation. He knew how Nora had been coping with everything and what she had lost and was there for her if she needed him. 

“Well luckily I don’t need to worry about any of that quite yet… seems like a lot of hassle,” she smiled then, a lopsided as she thought about all of that. Right now, reading about love was more than enough to deal with. She always read about how when you find YOUR person, that’s it. No one else would ever compare and although loved her Papa, she wondered if that was the case with her mom since she had been in Ilya for over a year and she had never been on a date or so much as glanced at a man. She nodded at what he said and nodded, “Some people would say it’s stubborn,” she mused, recalling her grandmother’s voice when she was around four. Somehow it always stuck with her.

There was a moment’s consideration for what he said since she didn’t really know what to say to him. She wished she could just tell him to go and talk to her mom and sort everything out, but she couldn’t say that without revealing she knew who he was. She chewed on her bottom lip and then spoke, “Well have you tried lately? It doesn’t hurt to try one last time,” she tried to add the statement so he didn’t feel like he actually had to reply to her. It seemed to be a pretty intense conversation for them to be having so she was glad for the slight lightheartedness at the end. “Damn… maybe they hired wrong after all”. A quick glance at her watch alerted her to the fact she needed to head home. “I gotta go,” she told him as she stood up and put her things in her backpack. She was ready to just walk off but turned to face the blue eyes that had been given to her, “Maybe see you around,” she turned and headed off before she asked something she would regret; it was up to her mom and him to speak about what happened in the past.

“Yeah you shouldn’t force anything. You’re a little young to be waiting for some great love to hit” he joked but it hit him that he was also saying this from a protective standpoint too. This was his daughter and he now felt a sense to protect her even if he didn’t know her. He wanted to though. Quinn had no family for what he knew they were all dead. He had no blood, no name and no history. With aalis he had a lot of that. There was also the fact that maybe she didn’t want him to know about their daughter. He wondered why she hadn’t said anything when they met up. “ there’s nothing wrong with a little stubbornness otherwise you let people push you around. And no one wants that in their life “

Quinn was taken by surprise with her comment. He felt like this was too intense of a situation to discuss with the girl he believed to be his own daughter. What was he to say? That he was still hopelessly in love with her mother but wasn’t sure if it was mutual? “ I worry that the door is closed. That they moved on. “ he muttered more to himself than to the girl. He hadn’t moved on. He spent a year living like he had no future because he was trying to move on but in the end he was only killing himself. “ That’s the scary thing isn’t it? Thinking that it’s the last time. ... Maybe you’re right” he debated before shrugging. He took a step back messing with the pack of cigarettes in his pocket, knowing he had to smoke soon. He was overwhelmed and stressed out and on top of it all his confusion only grew. “ You still have time to train. You’re a pretty good investigator “ He joked before nodding his head. “ Yeah see you round” He replied as his slight southern accent seemed to pop out more. He needed a moment to really think about what had just happened and it would take a lot to process things. He wasnt sure if he was mad, shocked or understanding at what had been dropped in his lap. All he knew was he needed time to deal with it

Inny listened quietly to him talking about The Great Gatsby; it was so clear how much he had thought about the book and she suspected the amount of times that he’s read went far beyond the amount of times she had. And it showed. But what really made her stop to think was the fact they both seemed to be into the same sort of thing. He really seemed like he was her dad; not just based on how similar they were to look at but also in personality too. Inny realised she had stopped talking for longer than she had intended and cast her eyes back to him. “Yes, I feel like its a warning more than anything else… what not to do. Obviously I don’t know a lot about love but I don’t think I’d want to do it like that. I’d want to do it like my mom… love someone so much that they’re always with you, even when they’re not,” she nodded to herself, satisfied with her answer.

She wasn’t sure what to say to him to begin with when he spoke about not being very lucky. She was only ten; she couldn’t offer him life advice because she hadn’t lived very long. “You don’t know unless you try,” was what she felt was a suitable answer to give him. Her mom had always told her to keep trying until you’re satisfied you can do no more. Fair enough she mostly said that about school but the idea was there. She actually laughed at what he said next before nodding, “They start us young now and you were my first assignment,” she grinned before shaking her head and picking up her book again, letting the old worn pages fall open at a random annotated page. She thought about beginning to read but all of a sudden she was aware of the photograph that held the page she was on so instead, she closed the book again and reached for her Diet Coke. It was hard act like she wasn’t sitting in front of her father. She wanted to ask him a million questions and yet, nothing was coming out.

“ I think there’s a lot of books out there that are warnings what not to do about love that are disguised as romance” Quinn explained as he glanced over to her again, finding more similarities every time he looked at her face. Her words also seemed to echo in his brain and he didn’t know what to do with them. If her mom was who Quinn thought it was did it mean Aalis was thinking of him all those years? That seemed too good to be true though considering. He had seen her last name. Even though he could have maybe assumed the phone call was to the girl in front of him there was still questions he needed answered. Things a ten year old probably couldn’t give him. “ Sounds like she had a good way to go about it. Very romantic” he nodded thinking that really did have to be Aalis she was discussing and smiled at the thought.

The more Quinn listened the more the girl was filling in the gaps in his brain. There was no way this kid could be related to him but he was having a hard time not seeing the resemblance. She looked staggeringly like him. The eyes were the biggest giveaway but it was the subtle things like the smirk or the way they could stare into you. It was uncanny. And he wondered why he hadn’t seen it instantly. He was brought back into reality at her comment and realized what conversation was happening and he shook his head. He didn’t want to act like he didn’t care because the truth was he cared too much and it was why he was avoiding running into Aalis again. If he saw her he’d forget everything that was making his head spin. “ Maybe. What if every time you do try for something nice you’re too late? It can become disheartening after a while” he replied more so about everything he had done in his life hand not just the situation with Aalis. It was clicking in and registering that if he was right about everything the girl in front of him was his. He had a child with Aalis that he didn’t know about and inside he was panicking. Completely unsure if he was right or had finally gone completely mad. But he couldn’t ignore the signs and the fact that her copy of the book she had was very familiar. If he opened it would he have found his own scribbling in the pages? He was pulled again from his thoughts and realized there had been another conversation and he smiled a bit at hearing her laugh.At least one conversation wasn’t making his head spin.” Probably shouldn’t be telling me that sort of thing. Your friends at the FBI might not catch me since you leaked that information” He smirked but inside his chest was hurting. He knew. Something inside of him told him this was his daughter and he really needed a cigarette or something to process this.

This hadn’t been the first time that Inny had read The Great Gatsby; she had probably read it more times than she could count on her hands. Every time she felt as though she found something knew to take note upon and it was only as she got a little older and watched the movies based on the book, she realised just how misguided many of the characters were. There had been times when Inny had questioned if her mom was doomed to follow a similar path of holding out for someone she loved, or moving on from someone she loved. It seemed no matter what, there was no way to win. And she wanted her mom to win, to actually be happy. “They sorta fell apart trying to put the other together again,” she mused after a moment, noting she probably had read too many classics. She nodded along with what he said “Being foolishly in love isn’t always bad, from what my mom says. But to the point of Gatsby would be a problem”.

Inny had a give him a half smile at he said about her being invasive and she shrugged. “You’re the one who mentioned genuine love like you’ve know it; I just wanted to clear it up,” she countered before adding, “I’m sure you could get that back if you tried”. She wasn’t saying it to make him angry or to make it seem like she didn’t think he had in the first place, but more because she didn’t want him to give up on her mom. She wanted to tell him that she was still waiting on him. But how could she without telling him so much more? “No one? That sounds exactly like a person that the FBI would take an interest in,” a smirk moved over her mouth as she tilted her head to the side to observe him again. It really was her dad.

He knew the book well and while he hadn’t read it in a long time he knew so many of the quotes and phrases well. Back then he’d probably scribble in the pages about it being sentimental garbage or unrealistic or even just plain obsessive. Now that he was older and experienced love and heartache from it he understood some aspects to it more. He was hoping not to end up the way Gatsby did but he knew he wasn’t that close to the character to end up in a swimming pool. He nodded his head before letting out a sigh. “ I think at a certain point they realized they could relive the past. Too much had changed and trying to fit something into a shape it wasn’t built to fit is sometimes a persons undoing too. He realized she was never going to accept him regardless of what he had and that she wasn’t going to live up to the image he had of her. Unrealistic expectations. “ Quinn muttered. He didn’t have any expectations with people so he couldn’t actually relate to this whole high standards thing but he understood seeing it in others. “ she does have a point because love is kind of foolish “ He nodded. “Gatsby is digging yourself into a hole you can never get out of and can never satisfy. It’s something screwed up”

Quinn was stuck on his thought now noting the girls personality more so now that he realized there was a similar quality. They both had a tendency to evade questions and question people the same way. It was how Quinn functioned because he had it instilled in him to always be apprehensive around others and to never give too much of yourself away. He could see how careful she was with her words as well. Even if she blurted out things.He could also relate to not having a filter work. “ Didn’t say I did, officer. But that’s a fair assessment. “Quinn smirked glancing at the kid noting how clever she seemed to be but swore she couldn’t be any older than ten. He shook his head at the mention of getting the love back he had lost. Over the years Quinn had gone back and forth over whether or not he was able to have Aalis back in his life and every time he thought he was close something happened. It was his own inability to get out of trouble, or being too late, or throwing up the wall as soon as he doubted if she was single. Maybe he wasn’t one of the lucky ones. “ I accepted a long time ago that I was lucky to have that once in my life. I’m not the luckiest person so I’m not sure how that would turn out “ Quinn shrugged not wanting to dwell on his thoughts from the last couple of days with a kid. His mood shifted slightly at the FBI question and he smirked again. “ is the FBI hiring ten year olds? You got some big case to track down some guy in a picture?” He joked but then noticed her expression again. The way she would smirk and tilt her head in a questioning manner. It hit him he had said ten years old when he had never actually asked her that. And then there were her eyes. The only time he had seen eyes like her was when he’d catch his own reflection. If anyone had a photo of him it was Aalis. The pieces were coming together but Quinn wasn’t sure how to process the answer .

Where: Lethe City Hall  When: January 3, 2020

Comedy, as they said, was all in the timing. So were unexpected visits. It wasn’t like that “council” Quinn had mentioned had a website, an email, a phone number. Hell, he’d have settled for a fax. Wasn’t that he was nervous, exactly. Not exactly. J.T., he’d always had plenty of imagination - but he couldn’t picture Lethe, or the people who’d be waiting there. From what Quinn said, this town was touchy, and different. Touchy, as in, you had to go through some sort of interview to be left alone to do your business. Different, as in the kind of different that should be able to help him out with his little problem, hey? That’s what he’d heard. And that’s all he needed. A quick fix. Then he’d be on his way.

First, though - City Hall. That’s what he’d been told, so. He’d do it right, no fuss, no trouble. The walk in from the nearest Greyhound stop had been long, and, honestly, a little too reminiscent of that hike that started all this in the first place. Tall, looming trees, a fogged up blue-grey sky. After that stroll down Memory Lane, the sight of a bizarrely average town was almost welcome. Almost. Kind of eerie, in its own way. Too normal, right. A normal square. A normal hall. A normal receptionist who smiled in a thoroughly normal way, and had him take a very normal number, so he could wait in a totally normal foyer. For what he had to assume, by the general atmosphere of sour exhaustion, was a painfully normal amount of time. A while, that is. A long while. Made longer by that… funny tension, to the air. Wasn’t just him. The whole place was off, somehow. People talking too low, too tight. A character sketch of nerves, rubbed the wrong way. Whoever, whatever, was waiting past that desk couldn’t be so bad. Could it?

J.T. sighed, eyeing his phone’s last nine percent of battery. Should probably save that. For finding someplace to stay, tonight. Podcast off, earbuds stowed, he started circling back around the hall. Again. For what felt like… he’d lost track. Pack hanging heavy over his shoulder, J.T. paced, turned. Paused, then pushed himself just, just barely, into the eyeshot of somebody who didn’t look as lost as he was. Or as entirely in a rush as those run-haggard secretaries. “Ah - hey, there. Sorry to bother you,” he started, with a short wave. “Don’t suppose you’ve got a sec to spare for helping out a… tourist?” Yeah, sure. A tourist. 

Quinn rarely spent time in town unless it was work related but he had to stop at City Hall for something relating to the paper work for building his house in the middle of the woods. He really hated leaving any sort of paper trail to his existence. It meant that there was a way for his past to eventual catch up with him and now that he wanted to stay in one spot, he knew it was important to lay low. Now that he knew for certain Aalis was in town he couldn’t risk it. The werewolf walked out of an office and started heading for the exit, until a familiar voice made him stop in his tracks. 

He didn’t make friends usually. It was another thing that left a trail in his life, but for how long and lonely his existence had been up until the past couple of years there were a few faces that had been memorable. Two out of the three now were in town. It was clear moving here had been some sort of beacon. “ J.T?” Quinn replied chuckling a bit at his question. Maybe he just hadn’t realized it was him. Quinn did often have a habit of making himself scarce even if he was friends with someone.” You got here fast. It go okay in there?” 

Inny had spent a long time studying that picture of her parents. It was the only one she had ever seen of the two of them together… and the only one of her dad ever. She was trying to tell herself that she was perhaps just wanting to see him in this man. But no, there was no doubt in her mind that this was him and she doubted her mom had any idea. Maybe all the times she had noticed how sad she had been would be worth it if he was here now. Fairytales didn’t really exist though… not really.

Inny moved her head back up to look at him when he spoke and she tilted her head to the side as she considered this side of the argument. She wanted to ask him if would have let someone go or if he would have held on but despite what her mom had told her about him, she was scared the answer he’d give her might not have been the one she wanted. She felt as though the book had eyes and they were burning a hole through her; all the notes and annotations in the margins seemed so much more meaningful now she was in front of the man who made them. “Maybe they both were fools then,” she answered, not sure if she believed that completely but she felt the need to say it anyway. She paused for a second when she heard him speak of love and she couldn’t stop herself from speaking up, “Have you? Known genuine love?” She couldn’t have been surprised he asked who her mom was but it made her a little more defiant in that sense, wanting to protest her. “Who are you ?” she countered, making it clear that she didn’t know who he was (even if she did).

The more she spoke the more Quinn started to feel like he really knew this girl. There was a familiarity to her that he hadn’t expected to notice when he stopped but the more he stayed the more little actions and mannerisms presented them-self. It was honestly getting a little frustrating but he was gonna put it together.

When Quinn was younger he would have never entertained the notion that his life would have had any similarities to The Great Gatsby. He believed he was smart enough to not try to hold onto someone for so long yet here he was still in love with the same person he had been ten years ago and he didn’t know if he had a dog in the fight. He wast some millionaire now but he had acquired a lot of money through various means and while a lot of it was through hard work and never spending anything he couldn’t claim he was completely innocent in how he acquired others. So there were the similarities to Jay but he he told himself they were still completely different. He was pulled out of his thoughts by her question and raised a brow. They were both fools, he couldn’t argue with that. “ Yeah they were. Complete fools trying find something that isn’t there. And trying to live lives they think will make them happy but it only leaves that hole inside. “ He paused for a moment knowing currently the life he lived had always had a hole in it, but he was doing it so he didn’t recklessly get himself killed. “I don’t necessarily think being foolish is a bad thing though. Not all the time at least. It’s what you do with that mindset that makes the difference. love can very easily turn to obsession, specifically in their case and that’s toxic. “ Quinn explained. He was never gonna make a case for Daisy Buchanan and Jay Gatsby, but he wasn’t going to just act like his own past had no effect on who he was now either.

It was almost as if all the air had been knocked out of him at her question about love. Yes, he had been in love. Was still in love, but knew there was a chance he had been holding onto something for far too long. How do you say that to a kid you don’t even know? Quinn raised a brow giving a bit of a face as he nodded his head. “That’s a little invasive but yeah. I have once. It was incredibly genuine. “And he didn’t realize it would only have lasted a short time and he’d spend the next seven years trying to get back to her, followed by a year of going off the rails to who he was now. He tilted his head and looked at her with a smirk when it came to the defiant response. He couldn’t help but chuckle at that“ What are you, the FBI with that question? I’m no one “ He replies shrugging a bit. It was then though that it clicked through her response who she reminded him of and it was himself.

Nora smiled a little at his response. Her friend wasn’t a social buttlerfly but the fact that she could call him ‘friend’ and that he thought of her in the same way was pretty damn special. “Come on, your magnificent self couldn’t be regular” she stated back in a more light-hearted manner before the nymph also turned a bit more serious. “Thank you, Quinn. That really means a lot” she told him, softly smiling at him, truly grateful for his support and his willingness to be there for her. Her eyebrows rose a little and her smile was subtly turned more playful “Fair warning. I’m going to hug you now”. And she went ahead to do just that. Quinn might not be as much of a hugger as she was, but it was a way in which the nymph showed her appreciation for those close to her and so the werewolf was going to have to accept that for a few seconds.

She ended up nodding along his words, agreeing with them fully. She definitely didn’t want to feel stuck. She had already felt pretty damn stuck in the first few weeks following her dad’s death and it was the most suffocating, exhausting and distressing feeling ever. Living through the pain was the only way, even if the process was rough. “I don’t have the whole context and I obviously can’t know how this history with your ex affected you, both positively or negatively,” the nymph began, offering an empathetic smile “but life’s too short to not tell others how we feel about them”. Her dad’s death had made her rethink certain things, relationships mostly. Nora had even gone ahead to confess her feelings for Damien little after her father died. “If you think it’s an option, have a chat with your ex. You don’t have to dump everything on her if you don’t feel like it, but at least you might find out if there’s still a chance, if it’s actually not too late”.

The werewolf raised a brow at her comment. She had a point, he was far from regular. He assumed those he considered friends now would have a shocked reaction to how he looked and lived a five years ago, None of them had a regular existence.” I assume this is a compliment. “ He smirked before nodding his head at her next comment. He was bad with thing’s like this,because in all honesty Quinn didn’t think high of himself to warrant thanks from others usually. Getting a hug was more shocking, but he accepted Nora’s gesture and wrapped an arm around her. He was perfect but he was trying to be a good friend. “Thanks for the warning. “

He wasn’t sure how the conversation had turned to him, and Quinn had a hard time talking about himself, but if Nora wanted to move on from such an upsetting topic, he’d respect her wishes. “ It’s been nearly ten years. It’d be understandable if she had moved on” Quinn  replied trying to be realistic about thing’s.He hadn’t moved on n his own life but he had every intention of returning, he just had a horrible concept on time. “ I don’t think I’d dump information on anyone in general, but maybe talking would be good again...eventually.  It ended weird”