that's so wicked~

"Well, it looks like your plans are not coming to fruition the way you intended, don't you think?", Meliha leaned over to whisper the words into the vampire's ear, knowing that in a place as public as this, her making a move that would seriously endanger her was unlikely. And playing cat and mouse with her was too entertaining to stop. Not that she allowed her guard to drop. She saw the other as a potential threat, but she had to admire the tenacity of not giving up. A trait she shared when it came to the things she truly desired.

a little bit of negotiation never hurt anyone, did it? price rested one elbow against the bar and looked down at her own fingertips for a moment as she thought through the possibilities. money was boring and favors were far too vague. information had value, but not enough to tempt someone this guarded. besides, she had no way of knowing how much general information the witch possessed. so...she decided on one of the few things she assumed would get a witch to drop her guard. some degree of perceived leverage.

"you ask a lot of questions." bonnie stated before pressing her lips together, because she had not meant to say that; it was supposed to remain a thought. since being on the other end of questions meant answering, she nodded. "yes, i'm aware that it isn't just a hobby for you." the nodding stopped, replaced with an almost confused incline of her head. "and no, i hadn't considered that. i'm not sure why i would?" then, curiosity decided to be her friend. "how am i a distraction?"

"and yet...you're asking just as many questions as i did." she raised an eyebrow at the boldness, however temporary it may have been on her roommate's part. her eyes went briefly back to her screen where she could see her viewer's chats bursting with activity. she could only imagine what had them so riled up. "for one thing, i can't focus on the task at hand when my whole chat is asking about you." she settled back in her chair. "they have a one-track mind. should i read some of what's being said out loud before my moderators mute them?"

"every time? come on, gimme more credit than that." she knelt down to unzip one of the dufflebags they'd brought and fished through it to find her half-scrabbled notes and printed articles. "so, before takin' this job, i did a little bit of research on it. found out that there's a box on the property with somethin' trapped inside." she flipped to the page she'd been looking for before showing him the page. "this...kinda looks like the jewelry box i dropped upstairs, right?"

the look on her face was incredulous if it knew how to be casual. clearly, tripp had forgotten who she was talking to here. "yeah, no." hazel shook her head once, then arched a brow pointedly. "we both know i'm not going to do that. spill."

tripp rubbed her chin for a second, still thinking it over. she knew hazel wasn't gonna promise shit, and a large part of her liked that. hazel looked good when she was annoyed. "alright, uh...i might've tried to speed up the paranormal activity tonight. didn't wanna waste footage on nothin', so..." how was she gonna say this? "...i fucked around with the weird ouija board upstairs. just a little bit."

well, with that kind of expression, tripp wasn't too certain if she wanted to tell them exactly what she'd done. "c'mon, promise it's not somethin' that's life or death or whatever." hopefully. "don't freak out. but…i might've done somethin' kinda stupid back in that room with all the old portraits." not that it wasn't out of the ordinary for her. "i kinda..." she reache behind her back and tugged a small booklet from her back waistband. "...found this book? it had some weird names and i might've read a few out loud before i knew what it actually was." she hesitated for a moment before holding the tattered, dusty book out towards her companion.

sidney smiles, shaking her head. "you have a strong sense of faith in me then," she murmurs, bumping their shoulders together. she wouldn't hold it against cain for not feeling the same way. she brings the can to her lips and takes a few sips. "this is my second- and a half? finding out i don't like the raspberry flavor. much prefer the mango."

"what can i say? i'm an optimist." the words sounded funny as they left cain's lips. even if they weren't necessarily the truth, she wasn't going to backtrack at this point. better to stay seemingly solid right now. "slow down, then." she reached up to grasp the bottom of the can but her hand paused just an inch away. her fingers twitched for a moment before she redirected and carded her hand through her own hair. "look, i want to talk to you. ideally somewhere not so...open?" she scanned the area, eyes glossing over the drunken, stumbling bodies. "outside, maybe?"

muse: sidney chen, early twenties

it should have likely been easier for cain to disclose her own feelings when sidney seemingly laid her whole heart out on the table. but there was still skepticism there that she wasn't sure how to address. she wasn't used to the intense feelings she got when she looked at the other woman. and that was partially the reason she opted to focus her gaze on the drink in her hand as opposed to some degree of eye contact. "i don't know...i think you could handle a little more before midnight hits. what's a party without an adrenaline rush or two?" she gestured to the drink with a nod. "how many have you had so far?"

Meliha had learned very early on in her life that if she wanted to stay alive, she had to watch her own back because no one else would do it for her. That was the price a covenless witch had to pay. Not that that had ever been her choice to make, but she had learned to adapt over the years and be vigilant against bloodsuckers who would just wanna use her until they burnt her out and threw her away like trash. She had seen too many young witches who shared that fate, and she had sworn to herself she'd never become one of them.

seemed that this stranger wasn't too keen on price's kind. it wasn't like price hadn't encountered people with a particular distaste in that regard. it wasn't as much of a deterrent as it was in her earlier decades. if anything, she kind of liked the challenge of it all. "well, bar one was just for observations. i have a whole method in place for this sort of thing." she shook her head slightly, made sure to keep her voice soft because adding an edge would have probably made the witch put up more walls. "compulsion is just the natural way of things. if i wasn't meant to use it, it wouldn't have been among my abilities."

"The truth. Why is a gal with fangs thinking she can follow me around all night without me noticing? I'm a witch, not stupid", Meliha said, turning over to the blonde she had led through multiple clubs to make sure she was tracking her and it wasn't just a coincidence.

price was well aware that she wasn't exactly being subtle tonight. with that comment it seemed that this woman had clocked her quickly, which said something about her level of awareness. "thirty seconds feels a little tight after the effort i put in to find you. you're a hard one to keep track of." she leaned against the bar counter and let her nails tap against the solid surface a couple of times. "maybe i just saw someone that's worth having in my corner?" her eyes dropped to the woman's lips with mild interest before dragging down to the curve of her neck and shoulder. "or are you just not used to people being friendly? i'm not here to cause you trouble. just want to talk, babes. and i'm willing to buy you a drink while we do it. whatever you want. or...should i choose for you? nothing wrong with being an indecisive little thing."