southern hospitality

Phantom!

     – Wow.

     A car could manifest out of nowhere and strike her dead, and Millie would still be less surprised by it than the encouraging speech she just received. To be able to drum up such kind and true words and rattle them off the cuff is a talent; one she’s always privately been jealous of.

     She fumbles for a response more articulate than her moon-eyes and vigorous nodding but finds her mouth stuffed with cotton, words lost to her amazement. “Wow,” she tries, and the response sinks like a stone to the ground. Millie repeats it, near to breathlessness. Wow. 

          Bless her heart, the girl had no way of knowing why her words brought a fit of laughter shaking through Nina’s core. One hand on her stomach, and the other lifted to her painted lips, the madame couldn’t contain her amusement. “Oh honey, I’m sorry, that just tickled me a little bit. I can’t imagine anybody bein’ much interested in what I had to say in front of a crowd, but I do appreciate it.” 

          It was the thought that counted, and all that. 

          “If I motivated you, that’s good enough for this old girl.” With a warm smile, Nina pulled one of the business cards she kept tucked into a pocket. “If you’re ever in the market for a chat or a cup of tea, this is my address. Second floor apartment, can’t miss it. Don’t worry, I won’t charge you.” 

          She would’ve reached a hand out for the girl’s shoulder, in fact she almost did--hand lifting from her side, only to think better of it and find a resting place on her own hip. The madame’s touchy ways weren’t always well-received by the more nervous folk, and this poor soul seemed to fit the ‘nervous’ bill all too well. 

          “Look around you, honey. Every person you see around here has one thing in common, and that’s bein’ very concerned with whatever it is they’ve got going on in their lives. Too concerned to pay much mind at all to a young lady with a little smudge on her skirt. Why, I’d bet anybody who saw you like this forgot about it the first second their phone buzzed.” Nina grinned, something knowing in her expression. 

     Cheeks blazing red, she hastily (gratefully) takes the sweater and ties it around her waist, her hands shaking with embarrassment the whole way. This is a brand new skirt, too! “Thank you so much, I – oh, wow, how completely fucking MORTIFYING. I’ve been walking around like this for hours and you’ve been the only one to say anything.”

          “Oh, don’t you mention it.” The woman offered with a reassuring smile. “There isn’t much I’m afraid to say.” That, she added with a wink, though perhaps it wasn’t necessarily a good quality to have. She found difficulty being afraid of much when she’d survived so much already. 

          his head whipped towards the sound of the voice—at first casey thought it was mocking him and his brutal rejection of a guy who was no less than twice his age. armed with a narrow stare and stiff shoulders, he softened a bit when he realized she wasn’t making fun of him. instead of retorting with yet another snarky comment, he responded with a laugh. a dry, disbelieving laugh. 

          In the wave of amusement that hit her, Nina struggled not to snort as she laughed. “Jesus, no.” A hand found the stretch of skin over her heart, ever one for melodrama. “No, honey, the government and I ain’t on speaking terms, and I’m not doing any recruiting.” Not at the moment, at least. Though he did have a face that might turn a head or two... 

because it’s ridiculous that female ocs should have to be twice as developed or half as strong as male ocs to get attention. a little list of lovely female identifying ocs that i’ve come to love – this is by no means exhaustive, but i really do love seeing all these lovely ladies on my dash and wanna give them some applause for daring to write strong, nuanced, complex, female characters unapologetically.

without further ado …

@@virtuedmagic, @ruinaa, @feralgods, @peacable, @honeycrafts / @malckh, @magicxecustos, @exulantis, @preconcievedxdisaster, @dochvolkov, @adellaenchanted, @dolcevitc, @aravensflower, @stakelike, @deiific, @daayaan, @sansmort, @sympath, @pearledpriincess, @hopeofarose, @voidcall, @bibuns, @voidcall, @cocktailrings, @umbrathea.

queueth