beautiful hubris

SILAS SMIRKED AT THE POSSIBILITY OF being completely happy one day. a flash of chester crossed his mind and he flushed at the concept. ❝ but my unhappiness is fundamental to my being? what would i complain about to my plants if i were happy? how would my sardonic humour ever survive? my ramblings would only duplicate! despair is my only cause for silence, ❞ he teased, throwing a hand to the sky. 

❝ i shall never forgive myself. i will forever loath myself for taking away your life. you may see this accursed half-existence as life, but by robbing you of your mortality i have taken everything worth something and turned you into the very beast i hate about myself. so mi luz you may not hate me, but it is what i deserve and i shall do it enough for the both of us. ❞

❝ w-well, those are some odd choices! ❞ maddie cleared her throat, her cheeks radiating warmth. ❝ professor gold and i are not particularly close, so i suppose i would — as you’ve barbarically decided — kill him. and i’m sure he takes no offence as he would do the same to me. and well, this would never be a possibility, but i would gladly marry james and if channing were ever interested, i would... sleep with her. i believe our friendship could survive it, ❞ she chuckled. / @knave-ofhcarts & @selcnophile & @adundas

❝ and then where would we be? ❞ evie laughed, rolling her eyes. ❝ besides, we all know hayes has the puppy eyes of the three of us. so like it or not, i’m taking the last dumpling and you can fight it out with puppy-eyes for the last spring roll. ❞ she grinned and grabbed the dumpling.

❝ trust me. if you cannot trust your mind, trust mine. ❞ she reached a hand out and placed it on helena’s cheek. ❝ please, mi— ❞ she held back, not wanting to throw herself into yet another unsuccessful relationship. ❝ just... if you trust me at all, listen to me. ❞

MADDIE HAD BEEN WANTING TO SEE helena since the moment she awoke the day after new years. despite that, she’d forced herself to stay away from the witch for a little while. she sighed. her arm came up and held onto the other arm’s elbow. ❝ you have no idea what i was going to say, helena. ❞ she looked down at the ground then back up. ❝ how was your midnight? ❞ she slowly made her way to the bench, sitting beside the other.

HER EYES FLUNG OVER AND IMMEDIATELY she felt the regret of her alcohol consumption. to wake up with a hangover was more than embarrassing for a vampire. she was sure by the afternoon it would be gone and she would be fine but to still be feeling its effects? she’d drank more than she could remember drinking in any recent century. if that had been her only discovery that morning, she might’ve been fine. but not long after that did she realize she was not wearing clothes & was most definitely not in her apartment. she mustered up the courage and was both shocked and ashamed to find the criminology professor beside her. ❝ madre de dios, ❞ escaped her lips. ❝ mr. gold? ❞ she’d slept with the man, formalities could truly be tossed out. she sighed. ❝ mercury, please wake. ❞ she pressed her lips together. she was clinging the sheet to her body. ❝ i cannot find my undergarments, ❞ she murmured through a clenched jaw.

THE ONLY SMALL MORSAL OF GOOD luck maddie had received was that mercury lived only a few blocks away from her. the downfall was that given the amount of liquor she’d consume, she didn’t exactly feel like sprinting home. madelena could count on one hands the amount of one night stands she’d had. it felt comical to her, a vampire with a hangover. and that comedy might’ve been sufferable if it hadn’t resulted in seeing james croft outside his home while she was still dressed in the same gown as the previous night, with her heels in hand and hair an unkempt ( for madelena’s standards ) mess. ❝ good morning, ❞ she sheepishly. 

SURE, SHE WAS GOING THROUGH A LOT of exes and the drama that that inspired, but that didn’t mean she didn’t still like most of them as people. ❝ morgan, ❞ she said with a smile on her face. ❝ i was wondering if you were free for lunch? ❞ she wanted company but most of the people in her usual roster brought up memories of a certain recent evening and she couldn’t begin to tackle that emotionally yet. ❝ if not, maybe dinner? ❞

SILAS WOKE UP WITH A JOLT AND MOMENTARILY felt his breath catch. it took a beat but then the previous night came flooding back. flashes of flesh, memories of stolen breath. he was swept up in just the reverie that he forgot to look beside him. slowly his head rolled over to the side and a smile spread across his lips. it felt like a dream, and not his usual hellish fears, but the sunshine & sparkling dreams people desired. his fingertips reached out to touch chester’s face, confirming for himself he wasn’t hallucinating the angel beside him. he paused when the other stirred and held his breath. ❝ if you’re awake, i’m not being weird, well i mean i am weird, but... i hope you’re asleep and didn’t hear that, ❞ he whispered, unable to take his eyes or his hand off the older man.

SILAS FLUNG HIMSELF ON THE COFFEE house’s couch. ❝ okay, i know this is cheesy... ❞ a smile crawled across his face. ❝ but my night was incredible. like, this might be the best year of my life if that new year is supposed to be a sign. ❞ no matter how long he pulled back his smile, it always bounced back like an elastic. he flopped his head to the side to look at his friend. ❝ and what about you? how did things go with you? ❞

ANYTIME HER FRIENDS WERE INVOLVED it was maddie’s business. ❝ that is not your decision. ❞ go and get a drink. for a vampire normally that was the equivalent of ‘take a walk’ but madelena had already indulged. imbibed and repressed, the girl snapped. ❝ vete a la mierda, you prick. and do not think that you can speak to me like that, diego. you fuck and you drink and you go on living your shallow life. you’ve made diana incredibly proud. ❞ she had crossed several lines that night but for once in perhaps hundreds of years she just didn’t want to care. 

EVIE COULDN’T HELP BUT LAUGH AT her nearly-second-surrogate brother. evie was fortunate to not have gotten drunk, at all, throughout the night. ❝ what do you think makes you so hungover with champagne? it’s not any higher in sugar than most sweet white wines. ❞ she wrinkled her nose. ❝ wait, do you normal drink wine? ❞

[ no fire → S. GRANT PARKER ]