hollowed out

“I’m sure you’d second guess that statement the moment you hit the water.“ She countered, lips twisting into a smirk at his remark. “What? Not up for the challenge, boss?“ Grace teased, words lost to the wind as she sprinted to the waters edge. The water was cold enough to steal the very breath from her lips as she dived into the dark depths. “–Jesus H Christ!“ The brunette cursed as she surfaced. “You call that a race? What’d you do, use your walker to get down here?“ She questioned, a hearty chuckle escaping her lips as she shook the excess water from her lashes.

      The ice of the water was more than welcome to his flesh but it was the bound down there that was enjoyable. If Rafe could have shifted in that moment he would have but his form remained that of a human. “Be gentle on an old man’s ego. It’s so very fragile.” Wet fingers pushed back the mess of brown that had matted into his face from the water. “What do you think the H stands for in that anyway? I suppose buying you coffee for a week isn’t the worst punishment in the world. You strike me as a mochaccino girl.”

“Thank you,” she replied, letting a small smile cross her features. “Yeah, and with so many people all around it, it’s like a sauna. Especially since half of them are drunk and sort of dicking around while the others are just.. well they’re just grieving and there’s really nothing wrong with that.”

      “Tears do nothing to solve problems.” He’d wept a few times in his many years but it never solved anything. Rafe had moved beyond that sense of himself. There was nothing to throw into the fire for him and the attendance was merely to get back out there. “I’m always hot anyway. Sweat in sixty degree weather. All those bodies packed together with the flames would probably kill me.”

“Call me princess again and you’ll be getting thrown in..“ Grace remarked, feigning a punch to his chest before stripping out of her jeans and t-shirt. “Last one in… has to buy the other coffee for a week.“ She remarked with a smirk, before tearing off towards the water.

      “You’re acting like I wouldn’t like you putting your hands on me, Grace.” His own remark was half jest and half serious. It didn’t take much to get him to strip off his own clothes. “For a week. Shit.” Rafe waited a few seconds and folded his jeans into a ball before he tossed the beside her clothes. When she was well ahead of him he tore off after allowing a wide grin to paint his face.

“Ah – swimming? At this time of night? You must be crazy. I agreed to coming along sure, but I don’t remember agreeing to that..“

      “Don’t be a wet rag. Or do by leaping into the lake with me. C’mon, Princess.”

“Okay, I hope you don’t mind me sitting here but—” Without even looking at who she was speaking to, Alexis laid down and let out a long sigh. “—there are just too many people over by the fire and I need a small break from all the.. chaos. Plus, you can see the stars better over here.”

      “Sit where you want.” Rafe gave a small shrug and slipped his cigarette between his lips. It had been a long time since he had one and the mass of people made it seem like a natural idea. “Too damn hot by the fire.”

“Yeah - I’m good watching from right here, you’re not going to get me any closer to that boat when it goes up… nope.”

      “You sure you don’t want to inch even a bit closer? Might just sizzle your face off when it goes up. Gonna be a big fire.”

“Both. There’s a difference but for those who actually do work on them you can sit and bitch about the differences or you can draw, for most artists anyway. People are just idiots though and it’s so easy to get complacent when you’re as old as we are but that’s what gets you killed. If you not on your guard then maybe you deserve it. Yeah, the tech part had kind of made things a lot harder - it’s annoying actually, that and people are just paranoid as fuck lately. Wizard it is then but uh, wizards are usually male so tech witch? Plus the only way one would be able to stand being around a mockingbird was if you were swimming in tequila. “

      “Theme for the next two months is minimalism but if you want to submit some shit or come down to Expressions I own the place. I might be dumb in the head with some stuff and I might play a dumb game with the more modern art styles but I’ve been painting for as long as I’ve been alive. My stubbornness has limits and I’d be interested in peeking work to learn more. Now that the serious side of myself has peeked out let me get rid of it. In this day and age witches and wizards are interchangeable I think. At least we’re all adaptable. Imagine the vampire that’s too stubborn to learn what a cell phone is. We have to give ourselves credit. A thousand years is a long fucking time to be alive. Longer for the royal imps. They predate the myths of Christ. So let’s go swimming in tequila.”

“You want to go with that one?” Alina smirked at the other, leaning back in her chair as she watched, “just remember– you’re the one who agreed to play this game.” And the Imp loved games, she’d been playing them for over two millennia, after all. “I’m not liable for anything that happens from this point on.” She smiled, only partially joking as she glanced at them with a raised brow.

      “Yes.” Rafe settled on his seat and offered the eldest Royal Imp one of his usual lazy grins. While he and Nachton couldn’t ever seem to be on the right side of the spectrum Rafe often found himself admiring Alina. Hell it wasn’t uncommon for him to reference her as the hot older sister. “I don’t regret agreeing to it either. Just give me the drink and we’ll see how it goes.”

“That’s pretty hypocritical, don’t you think?”

      “Yes but I have always been a giant hypocrite. Hasn’t changed once. Ever.”

Bastian tightly hugged his brother for as long as he could without it being awkward then only allowing himself to take a step backwards as he grinned like a total idiot “I would have warned you the hug was coming but even I didn’t know it was going to be like that.”

      “I figured as much. It’s been long enough that I don’t think I’ll mind that reaction from anyone. I also think I should expect it. How have you been?” Rafe ruffled a bit of Sebastian’s hair before the younger werewolf released his hug.

“Red carpets are reserved for Royalty. Not ancient wolves with oversized egos.”

      “And you base all of this off of your hearsay. All the Talbots are as good as royalty. That ancient thing counts for a lot more than you seem to think it does.”

“When I pull my grand coup, I’ll just have to make sure to shut you up, now won’t I?” Blair winked. “I’m sure there’s some other people here with a sense of humour. I mean, I think I saw someone laugh the other day.”

      “There it is. I like this side of you Red. You should show it more often.” He was pleased. Even if it was something small. “You think. Kick up the game. You could have nice and innocent fun. Your brand.”

“That distracted?” she said looking at him. “Nothing.” she shook her head. “How long have you been away?”

      “You wouldn’t believe all of the shit I have going on in my head right now. “That’s not important. Does new girl have a name? And does new girl want the real time I was away or an estimation?” 

“God, I missed you,” she said, pulling back, almost as if to inspect her brother’s face– it had stayed the same all these centuries but she never stopped missing it when he was gone. “Did you just get back?”

      Lara was comfort. There was warmth that spread through her that Rafe could never explain but always welcomed. She had an aura of peace that followed her everywhere. He couldn’t remember when she wasn’t so serene. There was reluctance when she peeled away. “I missed you too. Yeah I just slipped back into town. Haven’t even been here a day yet.”

“Can’t believe you haven’t done that. I was secretly crossing my toes that you had and yeah, you have to because I’m almost demanding to see it. Hell, I’ll even join in because surprise, I haven’t done that either. All I’m hearing is the things you haven’t done, I’m disappointed in you. I’m wearing someone else’s skin as we speak.” which being a shifter she firmly believed to be the truth “You don’t look all that heavy.” a stupid joke but it made her laugh. “Cozy. So, who the hell are you anyway?”

      “If you want to see me dance in nothing but a tutu you have to get some liquor into me first. I am most malleable in that state and I’ll do almost anything you ask. Not the presence of the word almost there. Of course it’s different if you do it with me. This is starting to sound like a good plan for a fun evening. You wouldn’t believe that most people would react poorly to something like that. They might come after me with pitchforks. Don’t tell anyone you stole someone else’s skin. I’ll keep the secret, too.” Rafe felt his grin spread wide at her joke. It was true. He always looked so little but the weight was there, hidden with the strength. “Rafe Talbot. And you?”

“Yeah that’s exactly what it is, that’s how the comic world works these days. Well what, I wasn’t just going to leave the dude’s phone with him. If someone realized he was missing and tracked his phone they would know he was dead, if I take the phone and disable the tracker then nobody is the wiser and he just ran off to find himself, never to be seen again. Tech savvy yes, wizard no. But it’s not hard to sniff out a total geek who will do it if you bat your eyelashes at them. Okay well this is “your” town so lead the way, I haven’t really given enough shit to find out where everything is yet.”

      “I know jack shit about comics. Wait. Comics or graphic novels? Or both. I learned there was a significant difference between the two a few years back. I think I almost lost my head over that conversation. I like your style, Ainsworth. It’s so lacking nowadays. You can really only find it still in one or two of the Carmikael vampires. Or in a rogue if you’re lucky but everyone is so careful. Not to reminisce but it was better years ago. Many. I’m going to go ahead and continue thinking that you’re a tech wizard. It sounds a lot more impressive than tech savvy. Alright then let’s head to Tequila Mockingbird. I like that name. Rolls off the tongue.”

“Barely.” She remarked, hanging more shit on him; not unlike any other time he’d been around. “Do you really need to ask though? I mean, isn’t it enough to say that the last forty years haven’t been any different to the previous forty? I think Chris might have developed a whole new set of frown lines just over me.” She was happy to see him; for whatever that was worth. The idea that finally there was a sibling around who didn’t have another shitty opinion and speech lined up for every choice she made might have made her feel even the slightest sliver of relief. “That sounds almost at pathetic as none at all. Not going to lie, the idea of you in a gang might just be the most laughable thing I’ve heard all year. Clearly they didn’t own mirrors wherever you were.”

      “I swear you become more bitter with age, Cass.” There was still teasing in his own voice. It was hard to be mad at Cassidy. Each of the Talbot siblings had their better and poorer qualities and despite any of them he always found himself most easily connected to Cassidy. They knew how to peel away and make something fun. They knew how not to take their lives so seriously. It was important with forever looming. “Chris is the only person I’m a little hesitant on seeing, if I’m being honest.” He wasn’t afraid of their oldest sibling. Their pack leader. He was defiant of the rules typically. He was reluctant to stir the pot of shit so soon. “After the gang I spent a few years moving and on the road. No stopping in one place for more than a few nights. I wanted to experience something new. There’s nothing new out there, Cass. Just the boring shit we always imagined or always see.”