that's so wicked~

vera didn't see what the issue with her greeting was - jesus fucking christ, what the fuck seemed like a perfectly reasonable response to her considering dylan being there should've been seven shades of impossible. "uh, no, i'm not going to let you in." instead, she filled the space of the doorway a little more. "i know that hell was probably nice and cozy for you, but you'll live. or... whatever it is you're doing now."

and here dylan was, thinking vera might at least look a little pleased to see her again. such a shame. "i really did come a long way to see you. and you're going to make me stand out here like some stranger?" her brows lifted, faux wounded. "vera. that's cruel." there was a strange stillness to dylan's body when she wasn't moving. as far as she knew, she was alive, yes. but with...seams. like something had put her back together and had even gotten a little bit artistic with it. and she wanted nothing more than to show that to one of her favorite play things. "you know..." her voice dropped to something a little more intimate. "for a second, i was even thinking you might kiss me."

she wondered if this was what sacrificial lambs felt like when they were brought to the slaughter, and then she told her anxiety to shut the fuck up and stop dramatising things. that was kind of the last thing she needed right now. andy shrugged, attempting to go for coy but not dwelling on it long enough to fixate on whether she had or not. cain had called it - that was exactly why she was there, and that was enough for her to briefly avert her gaze from cain's. at least until she saw cain moving out of the corner of her eye and they snapped back to her. "uh… thank you? you are too. pretty, i mean." if she was trying to talk the blush from her cheeks, she was doing a terrible job. "the stories don't do you justice."

cain could practically smell the anxieties coming off of this one. but it wasn't entirely unpleasant. most of the time, fear turned sour in the air too fast to be anything but irritating to cain's senses. but this just seemed to prod at cain's mild curiosity. "stories?" cain murmured with the tilt of her head. her mouth almost pulled into a humorless smirk at that. she could only imagine the kind of garbage they'd built around her name by now. "did they tell you enough to scare you? or is this your default setting?" she paced in a loose circle around her, made sure to keep at least a few feet in between them until she determined how much of a threat she could've been dealing with. "what's your name?"

# missy & cain 😏

sure, there was a coatrack, but the tabletop just beside it worked well too, she guessed. hazel rolled her eyes, but she wasn't going to fix it. she wasn't in the mood to play domestic, so she ignored it all in favour of shrugging at the comment. it was crazy work, but she used it to her advantage. anything that got people to tread a little more carefully around her if not leave her alone entirely was just fine by her. "if i told you that, i'd have to kill you." she let the cliche hang as she closed and locked the door behind them. "and not to feed into those allegations, but i'm pretty sure the whole point of 'grave dirt' is for it to be from sacred or sentimental grounds." her head tilted, almost curiously, and tripp opening her bag was the only thing stopping her from shoving past to return to the comfort of her couch - candlelight included. the knife reveal was unexpected, but the story that went with it made all the sense in the world. even if she was fairly certain that on some level that must class as stealing. whatever, it wasn't like she was the police. and this was tripp's brand of sweet; a kind that she could actually appreciate, unlike a lot of the regular branches of it. "it's pretty," she agreed, because that was the same thing as cool as fuck. hazel reached out and delicately traced a finger along the handle, eyes flitting back up to meet tripp's with her first lazy little smirk of the night. "come on - we both know if it involved you, the stabbing wouldn't be accidental. are you guys talking this week? it's hard to keep track."

tripp's grin twitched into something wider when hazel complimented the knife. she'd been trying not to hope for that exact reaction but c'mon...how could she fight the redness heating up her skin? "so, you like it then?" she didn't want to watch hazel's expression after that comment. mostly out of some fear that she might've ruined the moment. she turned her head with her fingers brushing her hair back then she set the blade down on the coffee table. "yeah, we're on speakin' terms." she circled around to the couch and let her body flop down on the middle cushion. stretched both her arms out to rest them on the back of the couch comfortably. "for now. that might change once she figures out what i did to her mailbox on my way." to be fair, it wasn't tripp's fault that epoxy glue worked on pretty much everything, right? her fingers tapped out a beat against the couch fabric. "so, i got a question for you. what's it gonna take for you to tag along with me one of these days for a little adventure? just the two of us?"

"waking up early to see nick and gemma finally get their due? you know what, i don't know if i'm that petty actually." gabriela pretended to ponder it, before her expression lit up in a complicit smirk. "no, you're right, i am. guess i'll have to drop by tomorrow then. just in case you need a hand with the list of all their fuck-ups. i kinda know them by heart now, but i wouldn't want to ruin your night." the scenario was fake, but the heat between their bodies felt very real, and gabriela did her best not to react to those lips grazing her skin. fuck. she'd put herself in this spot, and right now she didn't want to move away, not from the picture hunter was painting. she could see it, neck full of possessive bites, thighs and wrists bruised from being held open .. she caught the soft gasp before it left her mouth, and instead hummed as she played along, trying not to look too affected. "i wouldn't expect anything else. you've always been hands-on as a boss, so i'm not surprised you're the type to like leaving marks." she tilted her head just enough for their noses to almost brush. "and yeah. i do love grabbing back. it's not a real fuck if i'm not fighting." she teased, voice low, hiding the disappointment in her eyes as hunter moved back. no - she wasn't disappointed, this was all pretend anyway. and she was not jealous of hunter's hands getting to toy with that pretty, impeccable hair, not at all. "yeah, sure, if i get the boss's seat." she grinned, moving to sit down in the large chair, making it swivel to the screens then back to hunter. "what time is it now - eleven forty five, fifty maybe?" she had a sense for it, and a quick glance at the screen proved her right. "they'll go down in like, ten, fifteen minutes. just around midnight is where they usually restock, if you know what i mean. and trust me, that doesn't look pretty." memories were enough to make her wince, as she turned back to hunter, relaxing in the chair and spreading her legs. "did you really not notice anything? i thought you were the observant type." it wasn't quite teasing, but closer to genuine curiosity mixed with playfulness. "i mean, if they keep up the usual routine, gemma will come back first, wiping her mouth. so fucking obvious. girl can't even do that right."

hunter hummed in curious acknowledgement at that because gabriela definitely tracked as someone that knew how to bite back when she needed to. she wondered just how much of a fight she was referring to and for a moment, she let the thought take shape in her mind. "so, you've got their fuck schedules memorized, then?" she didn't try to mask the amusement in her tone at the tease. "be careful. to someone with less information on the situation, that might read as a little bit of envy." she moved away from the desk and crossed to the small bar built into the side of her office. she grabbed two low glasses and poured tequila straight from the top-most shelf. "i'm observant, don't get me wrong. i'm just not psychic. and i don't have eyes in the back of my head." she capped the bottle and set it back where it belonged, then turned and leaned her hip against the counter for a second, watching gabriela spin in her chair. "if people around here wanna hide shit, they'll try their damnedest to keep it off my radar. that's why i need a second pair of eyes to keep watch when i can't."