#councilstarter

Eve: are u home

Eve: Nadine and I found something weird going on with the trees

Eve: we need to have a meeting asap

Eve: please

Eve: take care, drink some water

if people thought that balfour was the grumpiest feline in the lair currently, then they hadn’t encountered the miniature form of death as of late.  not only had he been zapped around the world by a glitchy-mitch, but he was also recovering from something of a catnip induced hangover-slash-comedown, courtesy of bree.  and his miniature kitten brain felt as though it had been through a blender.

worse still, the longer he was stuck like this - the more he seemed to be inclined to adopt the traits of the animal whose form he had taken.  about five minutes ago, he’d pounced on a pair of his own boots just to play with the laces.  which is why now - he’s settled on his own bed ( nested in a lump of duvet ), firmly away from any mind altering, trippy substances and anything that might be otherwise tempting to the more forcefully emerging kitten brain.

besides... standing at a stately six inches tall, and morbidly opposed to venturing out into the storm ( another thing he blames the ‘cat’ side of himself for ) - perhaps a temporary retreat was somewhat called for... at least until he can collect himself to maybe be of some vague use... 

but ears prick at a sound from the doorway and there’s something of a no nonsense voice from within the lump of bedding.

❝ do.  not.  pet.  me. ❞

She shuffles. It is one of few things she is genuinely skilled at with her hands, others being knitting and invading privacy, naturally. Her cards buzz with a gentle life that she can tune out now that she has handled them hundreds of times. If they had anything new to show her, it would mean something significant. For now, they are not unlike the Council they represent - brimming with potential yet to manifest.

The anxiety in the air doesn’t linger in her cards the same way it does in her friends, though. She was the one caught up in that. Too many questions tumbled around her mind to ask the deck any one thing - because no matter what she said, there was really only one question that mattered. Where is Feiyan? The cards couldn’t tell her that.

A presence approached, one she might not have noticed had she been more wrapped up in her distraction. She looked up into familiar eyes, her dark hair falling over her lap, obscuring her cards for a moment. 

When things went to hell, Bree went to the water. Ideally, she’d have gone to the Ocean but that was too far and she wanted to be close in case there was news. Instead, she simply made the water in the pool lap and wave in mimicry of the ocean on a calm day. She just needed some time to sit and collect her thoughts. 

Nearly half her life had been spent on the Council and Feiyan had been a constant through all of it. Her own mother had never been in the picture and in some ways, Fei had filled that role. She’d guided Bree through the discovery of her power and testing its limits, she’d helped her figure out what her role on the Council was and talked to her about the lives she’d forgotten. It didn’t seem fitting with what she knew of Fei for the woman to just disappear with no word to anyone. And then the Council had descended so quickly into chaos and selfish infighting. In some ways, she could understand the need for someone to take charge of the meetings and keep them on track, but that was assuming Fei was going to be gone for a long time. They wouldn’t need that if they found her. 

And then everyone’s magic had flickered. Bree loved her powers and she would definitely miss them if they were to go for good, but it wasn’t her main concern. It bugged her that everyone was more focused on that than on finding Fei. Her feet dangled in the water and she sighed. Maybe she wasn’t being fair. The loss of power and the disappearance of Fei could be connected, but figuring that sort of thing out really wasn’t her strong suit. She just felt helpless and worse than that, useless. 

“This blows.” 

Everything looked the same as it had over two weeks ago, sun-drenched and exploding with life with no parallel on earth. The most beautiful place she’d ever seen with one notable exception: the jagged ridge of solid rock that ripped through the center of the otherwise serene garden, a great scar of brown and grey amid a sea of dazzling, endless color. This was the first time Azra dared visit the place since she spoke to the monster with her face. She feared if she returned on her own, it would appear again, violent and angry with intentions of making her suffer for her misstep. 

Azra stood on the edge of the garden, shoulders lifted tensely as she held her breath and waited for an ambush that never happened. Time ticked on but nothing appeared, and so her shoulders dropped and she tentatively stepped closer to the ridge of sharp rocks. Where she managed to mostly repair the damage she did to the lair itself, she couldn’t bring herself to fix this too, and so it remained, a permanent, ugly monument to her own cowardice. She deserved it, in her mind.

Hesitantly, she reached towards the wall and brushed the top ridge of a lower portion with her fingertips. Sharp and rocky, nothing unusual save its very sudden appearance. The last time she was here, frost licked the top in spindly white patterns, and the cold air stung with every inhale. Now with the temperature in the mid-90s and DC’s natural humidity, the rocks felt hot to the touch, sun-warmed and absent of any evidence of their frigid beginnings.

A sound behind her caught her attention and she whirled, ready to bolt, only to recognize the approaching figure. “You scared me,” she said, her voice weaker than she would have liked.

The slick, cold tile of the roof felt almost more comforting than the soft cushioning of one of the plethora of plush chairs inside. Jack almost entirely uncertain of when she’d crawled out to perch the rooftop. Charcoal and a loose sketch pad in tow as the mottled and tainted images of nothing and everything etched themselves to stain her fingertips black. There was something in the weight in her chest that she’d never wanted to rise to the surface again, yet there it was, lingering as unmistakable as the cloud of tension that lived within the Lair with them. Nobody willing to find some sense of civility beyond their clashing nature, the tip of the spear gone to leave little more than a blunt end behind. It was among the plethora of things that Jack had always hated about this place; feeling so utterly useless, even if that’d fallen in part to her own faults. What more could she do than see the world the subconscious created? Twist it to her liking, to punish or ease the efforts of slumber. Even if Fei had claimed there lay more truth and meaning in such a thing; she’d never seen it. 

The sound of the window she’d slipped through hours before hand drew her attention only momentarily before she looked back up to the inky darkness above, setting aside the sketchpad, flipped over and out of sight. “I swear to high heaven, if you come out here and mention either Fei or.. whatever happened the other night,” Hues drew closed at the burning discomfort the reminder brought on, “I have absolutely no problem pushing you off the roof completely.”

mitch tilted his head and let out a breath at the multiple cracks that sounded from the movement, some of the pressure let out of his neck. he’d recovered from the 24 hour transportathon a while back, let himself begin shifting around the lair again soon after, not daring to touch the global stage just yet. then more chaos unfolding, the world descending into the insanity he knew was there, and suddenly he was in high demand.

here there and everywhere, his phone constantly pinging with locations and coordinates (as though he knew how to use the second set) to go to, people to pick up, places to take them to. he sort of felt like a taxi-service, especially with the vague nausea he left them with each time, and the speed of the journey. he’d tried the taxis in each major city and had decided that he didn’t like any of them.

This wasn’t right. Feiyan’s disappearance was bad enough, throwing their entire Council into disarray and imbalance, but now that magic seemed to have vanish as well? Even for just a moment, it wasn’t to go ignored. Aalin could feel her heart trying to beat out of her chest, struggling to make its way out of her throat. Panic attacks weren’t unfamiliar to the woman, but it had been so long since she’d had one, a real one, that she nearly forgot what it felt like.

She needed a walk.

Drift through the hallways of The Lair, Aalin wasn’t paying attention to where her her feet were taking her until she noticed a body blocking her path. Without her abilities, it was difficult to discern who it was or their mental state. Not that it really mattered. Her words would be the same, regardless.

“How are you holding up?”