in the dead of night

he eyed the bottle of vodka like it might grow teeth and bite him. the setting sun meant it was almost, blissfully acceptable to drink dark liquor, but ethan still paused to contemplate. he caught himself thinking of what might impress sybil and cleared his throat. he tried to do just that earlier; it backfired spectacularly.

ethan turned to the bartender. “old fashioned, please. heavy on the whisky, light on the sugar. use, uh, talisker if you have it.” he glanced back at sybil “i hope to god you’re not planning on drinking that all yourself.

sybil rolled her eyes as she set about grabbing two shot glasses and pouring the vodka into them. she thought ethan jarsdel was, for all intents and purposes, a showy person and if there was one thing she hated, it was empty flash.

“what a picky one you are,” she said, sliding him one of the shots. “just down your alcohol like the rest of us.”

ethan took a long drag of his cigarette, mostly to avoid giving her an answer. he’d been so careful today, sipping his fizzy orange juice when everyone else was knocking back mimosas. hell, he even got fucking ice water when sybil ordered vodka on the rocks. he considered her offer, and swiftly came to a decision. fuck it.  

“sounds nice enough.” he exhaled, letting the smoke unfurl around them, and fixed her with a half-smile. “lead the way, ms. tennenbaum.”

she took him to her favourite bar, one where everyone used to know her by name, but when she arrived back months ago she discovered that they’d changed staff and she had to ingratiate herself all over again. sybil nodded at the bartender and he put a bottle of vodka on the bar. 

“alright, what’s your poison, jarsdel?”

“this particular piece is by an artist that is in rather high demand.”

he leaned forward, cigarette between his lips, and inhaled deeply to light it on her open flame. “thanks,” he mumbled between drags. ethan contemplated for a moment, or, rather, pretended to. he had no reservations about ditching the reinaldis’ early, and if sybil was half as interesting as she pretended not to be, the best part of his evening had yet to happen.

“why the fuck not?” he shrugged, playing at nonchalance. in truth he was just as eager to leave as she, if not more so.

she bit her lip and pocketed the lighter. as well as she could play at being agro, sybil was a softer soul than she cared to realize and her earlier issues with ethan had burned off in the summer sun. 

ethan’s hand went to his cheek. cordelia’s wound had scabbed over a few hours ago, and he almost forgot it was there. “oh, this? no, i have my ex-girlfriend and her gaudy engagement ring to thank for that. turns out she doesn’t like it much when i bring up our ugly past at her coming out party, as it were.” the rest of his appearance, however, was all lexi’s doing.

“but, you know. lesson learned, right?” he fished out another cigarette from his pocket.

sybil snorted. it seemed like they weren’t so different after all. she’d heard whispers that tor was back in town, but she didn’t want to believe them. after fighting with him for so long, she just couldn’t find the energy.

ethan have her a wry smile. he was halfway down his cigarette and already considering fishing out another one. everything about this event left him on edge, from the encounter with lexi to the pretty little slice cordelia’s ring left on his cheek. he took another hungry drag before speaking.

“you shouldn’t speak ill of the devil, or he – or she, in this case, maybe – will surely come knocking on your door.” despite everything, ethan hadn’t yet managed to shake his catholic roots. his voice took on a lighter note. “and besides, if gossip girl is anything like half the people here, she doesn’t have a day job. doesn’t even need to. she just gets to sit back and watch the rest of us scramble, or get lung cancer.”

sybil snorted. “the devil can suck my dick for all i care.” she looked him over again, taking in his more disheveled appearance and the cut on his cheek. “did the devil give you that war wound there? you didn’t have that the last time we talked.”

ethan pressed his free hand to his chest. “you wound me, sybil.” he shot her a lopsided smirk. “most of them are, but i personally get off on snide remarks and disappointing my parents.” he took another drag, wondering what exactly her damage was. Clearly her return to high society was just as grudging as his.

“yeah,” he sighed after few moments of silence. he did his best to keep the bitterness out of his voice. “and everyone else at this fucking party, apparently. you know, rumour has it she’s actually here, and not just using her little birdies as usual.”

sybil blew smoke rings out of her mouth, one floating through the other. she thought she’d forgotten the skill, but clearly she hadn’t. “you know what i don’t get about gossip girl,” she said, looking ethan clear in the eye. “is that she obviously just does this for fun, so what the fuck is her day job? i make goddamn art and i don’t have a single minute to myself, so what must her day look like?”

she sighed. “she’s a fucking bitch, though. she didn’t threaten me with anything, just telling my ex where i am, which-- hell, bring it the fuck on. gossip girl has absolutely nothing she can use to hurt me.”

“ They definitely aren’t boring, this just isn’t something I enjoy it’s far from the world I grew up in.”

“where did you grow up?” she asked, head cocked to the side. it was a far cry from sybil’s upbringing too, but she never really fit into her family.

The man was walking away from the party scene, trying to find some peace and quiet for himself before he had to come back and entertain other people like he cared about the weather and who cooked the eggs benedict. He figured a good hiding spot would be at the very back of the building but then apparently someone else is there as well.

“Trying to,” he shrugged. “Maybe for you; unfortunately I have to wait for my wife and I don’t think she’s going anywhere anytime soon.”

sybil smiled into the rim of her drink and attempted to keep her composure. somehow it was comforting knowing that someone else was just as unhappy as she was at the party. of course, usually those who were unhappy tried to mask it. sybil didn’t really find much use for things like that.

“oh? is she off attempting to play croquet or nibbling on the perfectly sized quiche bites?” sybil snarled. “sorry, i’m sure she’s just lovely.”

“oh, i shall apologize. i’ll never do it again,” dominique nodded at her. she understood that some people never really liked terms of endearment. “you have every right to be angry– i’m sorry, i’m afraid i haven’t asked for your name? i’m dominique, dominique hawthorne,” she says as she held her hand out. “people do really love to meddle with things they shouldn’t be even meddling with.”

“sybil. pleased to meet you, dominique.” sybil’s learned politeness kicked in despite her awful mood. she wondered how quickly she could leave without adriana taking notice and becoming the handful sybil knew her to be. “enjoying yourself?”

Georgia was started to get hungry now so she picked up a plate and started to get herself some food, she wasn’t sure what she wanted as it all looked so good, so trying a bit of everything seemed her best bet. It didn’t take her long to fill her plate and there was still so much she wanted to try, but for now, she was going to head back and work on emptying her now full plate before going back for more.

Walking over to Sybil’s table she shook her head. “Not at all I love this thing, I come every year it’s one of the highlights of my Summer.” She replied smiling as she looked at the women. “ Name’s Georgia.” 

sybil looked up at georgia. “really? hanging out in the blistering heat with people who don’t even bother to walk into a wal-mart is your idea of a fun summer outing?” she couldn’t exactly talk; it was once her highlight of the summer too. truthfully, sybil was just in a bad mood. “sybil. sybil tennenbaum.”

he took another drag, letting the smoke filter out with his words. “too much, i think.” ethan sucked on his cigarette almost hungrily, as if he could will the nicotine into his bloodstream faster that way. his fingers still itched. he thought of what mary would say, if she knew of her son’s transgressions on his first day back into polite society,  and nearly grimaced. 

“and if i didn’t know any better i’d say the heat and the alcohol were going to everyone’s heads.”

sybil laughed. “i didn’t take you for someone who enjoyed pointing out the obvious. i thought pretentious high society males were more into dithering hot takes and faux-nuance.” she didn’t know why she was being so biting; maybe she just needed someone to snipe at and no one else here could take it.

she smoked her cigarette for a moment. “she get to you too?”

ethan needed a smoke after the ordeal with lexi, or ten. his hands trembled at his sides, and he knew without something between between his fingers he’d be fumbling with his phone for the rest of the day, or worse, try to engage with the other guests. unfortunately, the only outdoor ashtray in the place was currently occupied by sybil, who, last they spoke, hardly seemed keen on spending any more time with him than she had to.

“careful,” he warned, fishing a spare cigarette out of his pocket, “you almost sound excited to see me.” he lit up beside her and took a long drag. “didn’t take you for a smoker.”

she barked out a laugh at that, smoke curling up from the corners of her mouth. her cigarette burned down the the filter ad she reached for another one. “i’m not,” she replied. it was true: she wouldn’t call herself a smoker, but she wasn’t exactly someone with virgin lungs either. 

she flicked ash onto the ground. “caused any mischief lately?”

sybil leaned against one of the steel rods on the back of the main marquee. she couldn’t fathom why the brunch was outdoors this year; she much preferred the freedom to squirrel herself away in one of the corners of an existing building. in the plastic monstrosity that is an event marquee there’s nowhere to hide.

she was smoking, which she hadn’t done in years but felt the sudden urge to do. at the first rush of nicotine, she remembered why she used to. turning to the side, she saw ethan jarsdel approaching.

“oh,” she said flatly. “it’s you.”

sybil loved adriana, that much she could actually say, and at one point she may have loved the brunches and parties her family tends to throw, but she felt like crawling out of her skin. everything felt oddly foreign ever since she had gotten back to new york city and she couldn’t get her bearings. after a disorienting three hours in the hot sun, she teetered on her unstable heels towards adriana and lightly touched her shoulder.

“how long is long enough before i seem ungrateful for the invite you so graciously extended to me?” she asked, leaning on her friend. “at least tell me some gossip that isn’t about me; i feel like i can hear everyone whispering.”

[ text: sybil → anonymous ] most likely boring someone about his insufferable golfing hobby