the hair on the back of crow's neck bristled to attention as they finished topping off the gas in their old, puttering truck. a steady hand clasped the gas cap closed and flipped the cover door shut before returning the pump to the meter. "I hate feeling like I'm being watched." they grumbled. both eyes started to search across the street for the source. "you've gotta have something better to do!" they called out like a challenge.

echo wasn't on the stage tonight which was altogether fine with her. while the tips weren't as lucrative, people were less prone to gawk and stare at her while she was behind the bar. unfortunately, they were still keen to talk. "mm." she hummed and found the bright metal shaker filled with ice. she picked it up and started to rattle it loud enough to ignore the next question. admittedly, the selkie girl was not the ideal conversationalist. it wasn't that she was necessarily opposed to the idea at large. she liked people who could comfortably talk to her. the problem was that most people just talked at her, and there was no desire in her to respond to that anymore. "mhm." echo poured the drink and set it along with a small napkin which had the word 'hex' embossed clearly in the corner on the bar top and nodded. she turned away from them and onto the next patron, lifting an eyebrow as if to ask 'what will you have?'

as usual, kori's thoughts were running even faster than her body could keep up while she made an honest attempt to clear her mind jogging. this edition of the chronicle was already sent to press and there was an entire week until she needed to focus on her next piece, but she was eager for something. something good, something interesting. she collided with something hard that knocked the breath out of her. "oh. sorry! I'm so sorry. I wasn't paying any attention. are you okay?"

ophelia jolted awake with a sharp gasp that quickly turned into a yawn which somewhat obviously could not be restrained nor suppressed. "how long was I out? what time is it?" she glanced around to try and spot a clock or perhaps simply process what lighting the sky had. instead, she mostly just blinked. "where am I?"

"hold that thought." jinx lifted a single index finger into the air without removing her eyes from the illuminated screen of her cell phone. she answered the call by lifting the device to her ear. "go. mhm. mhm. stop wasting my time. schedule within the restrictions I provided for you or do not get the meeting. no negotiating." tck. the call cut off with someone on the other line still speaking. jinx popped the gum in her mouth loudly. "what a fucking menace." she had a thick jersey accent which only just managed to hide the romanian threatening underneath. "I swear these secretaries are getting lobotomized by their terrible botox." she popped her gum again, and finally, looked up from her phone. "so can I help you or what?"

the marble pressing against eurydice's back had grown bitingly cold since the evening sun sank behind the desert horizon. still she sat, struggling against the fading light to read just one more page of her book. caliban cawed and hopped forward to alert her that someone was nearby. she looked up and tried to catch their eyes or thoughts. "it is a bit late for a pleasure stroll through the headstones. isn't it?"